Father Fessio

“But mine were not the feathers for that flight, Save that the truth I longed for came to me, Smiting my mind like lightning flashing bright. Here ceased the powers of my high fantasy. Already were all my will and my desires Turned–as a wheel in equal balance–by The love that moves the sun and other stars.” (emphasis added) Father Joseph Fessio, founder and editor of Ignatius Press, helps us understand the love that undergirds Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger’s theology, liturgy, writing and, ultimately, his pontificate (as Benedict XVI). Fr Fessio tells us that Benedict’s first encyclical, “Deus Caritas Est” (“God Is Love”), is a distillation of the homilies presented in the latest book about Joseph Ratzinger, On Love. These homilies help us to know both the heart of the man and his brilliant intellect, as he helps guide his various flocks into God’s Kingdom. They contrast sharply with the portrayal of him by pundits throughout both his cardinaliate and his pontificate, as “God’s Rottweiler”–so named simply because of his stout support for and defense of Church teaching. Fr Fessio notes that Ratzinger writes in a way that makes his works both majestic and understandable, so that the message speaks to everyone. Aired 4/3