Edward Pentin, The Catholic Herald's Rome correspondent, has posted a short interview with Peter Seewald, co-author of Light of the World, the 239-page page interview with Benedict XVI due out this coming Wednesday from Ignatius Press:
Mr Seewald, how important do you think the book will be in helping people become better acquainted with the Pope?
Benedict XVI is still always falsely portrayed. Fundamentally, he is a very dear man and extremely lovable. Here is someone who is inexhaustible, a great giver. And if I’m honest, I know of few young people who are so fit, so productive, so alive, so curious and in a certain sense so young and as modern as this seemingly old man on the throne of Peter. This book contains not only an analysis of the crisis in the Church and society, but it is in some ways also a portrait of the Pope.
How much has the Pope changed since your last conversations with him?
Well to begin with, he’s quite simply gotten older. Aged 83 and leading the universal Church with 1.2 billion members is no trifling matter. Of course, this office has a tremendous aura, but the Joseph Ratzinger of earlier times is also the Joseph Ratzinger of today. He is like hard wood when it comes to the basic tenets of the faith – but he is also a shepherd, even more sensitive, humble and wiser now. Above all, he has kept his beautiful, subtle humor. Basically he is a very dear man, extremely lovable and his willingness to help others is positively touching.
Read the entire interview. Also, there is this from an interview in The Catholic Herald (that I missed when it first appeared on November 1st) with Seewald by Anna Arco:
Speaking at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Mr Seewald said: “The book is in fact a small sensation or a big sensation. It is the first time that a Pope gives an account of himself in this form. It is the first personal interview with a Pope in the Church’s history.
“The events in the news around the abuse scandals and the wider situation of the Church naturally give this conversation an incredible explosiveness and I can only already reveal to you now that you are expecting a very exciting, very extensive book.
“It will also upset certain people in the Church, functionaries who are properly taken to task and many people also will be pleased to experience Josef Ratzinger’s view of things, first hand in his original tone. He did not reject any of my questions. He answered all the critical questions and answered them openly and unvarnished.”
Much more information about the book will be posted here on Insight Scoop over the next several days, as well as at www.LightOfTheWorldBook.com.
This true?
BBC News - Pope Benedict 'condones condom use in some cases' http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11804398
Hoping not but guess I'll find out when I get the book Wednesday!
Posted by: Mikhail | Saturday, November 20, 2010 at 10:30 AM