Some readers are characterizing Pope Benedict XVI’s last book as a posthumous attack against the condition of the Catholic Church under Pope Francis’ leadership. The pope emeritus, who died Dec. 31, had instructed that the book be published only after his death.
The book is titled, What is Christianity? Some of its contents are previously published essays, while some of the writing contained in it is being published for the first time.
Much of the published focus on the book comes from where it says that a “vast collapse” in training for ministry took place under the tenure of Pope Francis and that during that time homosexual clubs operated in seminaries. The book also alleges incidents of lay students and priesthood candidates in Germany living together with married representatives, spouses, children and also girlfriends.
Premier Christian News reports:
The late Pope goes on to claim that a bishop had allowed seminarians to be shown pornographic films “presumably with the intention of enabling them to resist against behaviour contrary to the faith.”
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Benedict died in December at the age of 95 and is buried in the Vatican. His book, entitled ‘What Christianity Is’ is the latest work by recently deceased Vatican leaders to criticise Pope Francis.
Read the full article here.
Pillar Catholic published a full review of the book’s contents. PC says that some commentators consider the second chapter essay, “Monotheism and tolerance”, to be the book’s true highlight. PC continues:
In the text, Benedict laments “the growing intolerance exercised precisely in the name of tolerance” in Western societies. “The intolerance of this apparent modernity towards the Christian faith has not yet turned into open persecution. But it presents itself in an ever more authoritarian manner, aiming to achieve, with the legislation that follows, the extinction of what is essentially Christian,” he writes.
The essay is followed by a brief reflection on what Benedict sees as the shortcomings of many efforts at dialogue between Muslims and Christians. The text, entitled “The Christian-Islamic dialogue,” was finished on March 1, 2018, but not published until now.
Photo by Catholic Church England and Wales
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