Fr. Lombardi: ‘Benedict spent his life seeking the face of Jesus’|
“Soon I will stand before the ultimate judge of my life. Although in looking back on my long life I may have much cause for fear and dread, I have nevertheless a joyful spirit because I firmly trust that the Lord is not only the righteous judge, but, at the same time, the friend and brother who has already suffered my inadequacies himself and therefore, as judge, is at the same time my advocate. Looking at the hour of judgment, the grace of being a Christian thus becomes clear to me.
Of the many things that can be remembered about his pontificate, the one that honestly seemed and continues to seem to me the most extraordinary was that in those years he was able to write and complete his trilogy on Jesus. How could a Pope, with the responsibilities and concerns of the universal Church, which he carried on his shoulders, manage to write a work like that? Certainly, it was the result of a lifetime of reflection and research.
Joseph Ratzinger’s intellectual and cultural value are too well known to be reiterated. The one who knew how to understand and value him for the universal Church was John Paul II. For 24 years out of the 26 years of his predecessor’s pontificate, Ratzinger was the Prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. Two different personalities but - allow me to say it - a “formidable pairing.