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On the Pope and the Papacy:
Q. Many people have the idea that the Church is an enormous apparatus of power. Yes, but you must first of all see that these structures are supposed to be those of service. The pope is thus not the chief ruler–he calls himself, since Gregory the Great, "Servant of the servants of God"–but he ought, this is the way I usually put it, to be the guarantor of obedience, so that the Church cannot simply do as she likes. | READ MORE FROM GOD AND THE WORLD |
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The Ratzinger Report is a book-long interview with then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger that his friend and former student, Father Joseph Fessio, S.J., says could be called the “Magna Carta” of the papacy of Pope Benedict XVI. Following are some excerpts from this book, published in English by Ignatius Press in 1985. Fr. Fessio, founder and editor-in-chief of Ignatius Press, said the statements in The Ratzinger Report remain true today. | READ MORE FROM THE RATZINGER REPORT |
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That the primacy of Peter is recognizable in all the major strands of the New Testament is incontestable. The real difficulty arises when we come to the second question: Can the idea of a Petrine succession be justified? Even more difficult is the third question that is bound up with it: Can the Petrine succession of Rome be credibly substantiated? | READ MORE FROM CALLED TO COMMUNION |
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