His resignation was a dramatic step towards the demystification of the papacy, a development his successor continued by replacing the monarchical model with a servant-leader model of papacy.
For decades, as Cardinal Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and as Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger, who has died at the age of 95, set the rules of theological debate in the Church, drawing clear lines and investigating those who crossed them. He was quick to defend his theological positions and pursue a cautious interpretation of the 1962-65 Second Vatican Council, which had unleashed the forces of contemporary Catholic renewal. As a result, he earned a reputation as the enforcer of doctrine, the “Panzer Cardinal”, or “God’s Rottweiler”.
The death of Benedict XVI and what happens now – Ruth Gledhill talks to Christopher Lamb |
The full article by Christopher Lamb can be read by Tablet subscribers here.
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