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  • Explorations in the Theology of Benedict XVI ed. by John C. Cavadini
  • Jonathan Martin Ciraulo
Explorations in the Theology of Benedict XVI, edited by John C. Cavadini (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2012), 328 pp.

A collection of essays from a conference by the same name at the University of Notre Dame in 2012, Explorations in the Theology of Benedict XVI is precisely that: an appreciative, critical, and in no way slavish engagement with Ratzinger/Benedict’s long career as a theologian. The book is not intended to be an introduction to Benedict’s thought, as several serviceable options for such a text are already available (e.g., those by Aidan Nichols and Tracey Rowland). Rather, it is truly a Festschrift, though of higher quality than often found in that genre. Written and published while Benedict was feliciter regnans, the importance of this volume is only increased now that he has resigned from the office of bishop of Rome and his theological and papal career can be assessed as a whole. It is a celebration and interpretation of the latest instance, in what has been a rather rare occurrence, of a theologian-pope.

In addition to summarizing the articles, John Cavadini’s editorial introduction offers a hermeneutical lens through which to interpret-the collection as a whole. The theme is “God is Love,” taken as both a particular characteristic of Benedict’s theological project, exemplified in Deus Caritas Est, and an encapsulation of the Christian faith. In exploring the reality of a God characterized as love and manifested decisively in the Incarnation, the authors acknowledge themselves “to be following the footsteps, most proximately, of Pope Benedict XVI” (1). The book looks in two directions, with some authors more focused on one than the other: at Benedict and his vast corpus, and with [End Page 716] Benedict, or perhaps better, through Benedictine eyes at various issues concerning the Christian faith. In both cases, all authors acknowledge that they are in large part favorably disposed to, if not entirely in agreement with, Benedict as a theologian.

Of the articles that more nearly look at Benedict, the first and longest piece in the collection, by Cyril O’Regan, provides the most panoramic vision of Benedict’s thought. It seeks not only to identify recurrent themes that link his six decades of writing, but also to find a place for Benedict within history. Because one’s friends are a sure way to learn about one’s priorities, Benedict’s place is found among his friends. In Benedict’s case, not only are his contemporary friends, especially de Lubac and von Balthasar, illuminating for getting to the heart of his concerns, but more historical “friendships” can also be telling. His primary theological friends are Augustine and John Henry Newman. For O’Regan, Benedict is Augustinian in both a conscious reliance upon the bishop of Hippo and, even more substantively, in his repetition of predominantly Augustinian themes and emphases. If anything confirms O’Regan’s Augustinian ascription, as well as the Newmanian connection, it is the simple fact that Augustine and Newman (and we could add Bonaventure) are frequently cited by the other authors in the collection. There seems to be an implicit consensus among the authors, made explicit by O’Regan, that Benedict’s legacy belongs on an axis that includes Augustine and Newman, on the basis of a variety of common characteristics, but preeminently for a shared eschatological sensibility and a strong emphasis on the corporate prayer life of the Church.

In a volume on Benedict’s theology, we thus find what anyone would hope and expect to find: faith and reason, liturgy, ecclesiology, and biblical interpretation. These have all been constant preoccupations for Benedict and, thus, ought to have received attention. Yet, just because these issues had to be discussed does not mean that these essays are in any way perfunctory or redundant. For example, though Francesca Aran Murphy’s essay on ecclesiology outlines the major points, such as eucharistic ecclesiology, she also emphasizes themes that are typically forgotten when looking at Benedict’s ecclesiology, such as the place of martyrdom and “Ratzinger’s continuous practice of keeping...

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