Benedict at Regensburg

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Annotated Bibliography

Below is a selection of works that might shed insight on certain aspects of the Regensburg incident. Selected Vatican documents are listed together at the bottom the the page.

Allen, John L. Pope Benedict XVI : A Biography of Joseph Ratzinger. New York: Continuum, 2005.

Beginning with a tour through Ratzinger's early life in Bavaria toward his eventual high Vatican office, Allen gives a biographical account mainly focused on explaining Ratzinger's theological positions and changes in position. The book has been roundly criticized by conservatives for a liberal bias, which Allen attempts to make clear and untangle in his preface. Overall, it reads like one informed observer's attempt to come to terms with a thinker he disagrees with on a lot of issues. The chapter "Holy Wars" is extremely useful to the discussion of Ratzinger's ecumenism and position on non-Christians. It reviews a number of the important controversies of this sort over the course of Ratzinger's career and how the future Pope dealt with each of them.

Arinze, Francis Cardinal. "The Church and Interreligious Dialogue." Logos 4.1 (Winter 2001).

In a brief article, the influential Nigerian bishop (who some considered a candidate for the papacy after John Paul II), summarizes the Church's position on interreligious dialog. In particular, he addresses the connection between proclamation and evangelization, and their place in the process of dialog, as well as the flexibility of the church to local cultures and forms of expression. This latter point arises throughout the Regensburg speech, as Benedict argues for the necessity and coherence of the specifically European roots of Christian tradition. See also his books Christian-Muslim Relations in the Twenty-First Century and Meeting other Believers. When compared to the Regensberg speech, Arinze appears to emphasize the particularly European character of Catholic culture than does Benedict.

Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal [Pope Benedict XVI]. Truth and Tolerance: Christian Belief and World Religions. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004.

A collection of the Pope's writings and lectures as Joseph Ratzinger from as far back as 1964, though mainly from the last decade. It takes up the problem of religion among religions. What does religious "truth" mean in the midst of many attractive, competing claims to it and the practical, political necessity of tolerance? Ultimately and consistently, he reasons against the unbridled, "relativist" conception of freedom to the more Augustinian: true freedom is only found in true virtue. World religions are part of a historical sequence through which truth is tested and through which it can be purified. Value and insight can be found in any of these expressions, but final truth itself is singular. Belief can only be justified as good if it is in reference to the truth as best as it is known. As a result, all religious beliefs cannot be regarded as equally good.

Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal [Pope Benedict XVI] and Vittorio Messori. The Ratzinger Report: An Exclusive Interview on the State of the Church. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1985.

In the form of quotations from interviews compiled thematically, Vittorio Messori tries to locate the then-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on a variety of his favorite issues. Particularly critical is the early chapter on Ratzinger's understanding of "the true" Vatican II, a council he was instrumental in and has since been seen by some as an opponent to. From there, the struggle between fixed, revealed truth and the attitudes of today's world are as much as ever prevailing themes. There are chapters on women, liturgy, and Ratzinger's notorious critique of liberation theology. The final chapter, perhaps most relevant to the Regensberg crisis, is about missions, the injunction to proclaim Christ, and the encounter with non-Christian peoples.

Ratzinger, Joseph Cardinal [Pope Benedict XVI] and Marcello Pera. Without Roots: The West, Christianity, and Islam. New York: Basic Books, 2006 [2004].

With four back-and-forth essays, the theologian-clergyman Ratzinger and the philosopher-politician Pera compare notes on the problem of "relativism" in modern society and politics. They are mainly in agreement. Most centrally, they are concerned with the destiny of Christianity, "the greatest force in Western history," in Europe. No society can exist without ideological roots, they contend, and European culture's apparent decision to relinquish its Christian roots threatens to debase the civilization and the political principles on which it stands. Both understand interfaith dialog as directed toward both mutual tolerance and the Christian's persuasion of the other. But perhaps it is the preoccupation with Europe so evident here that is most significant in interpreting Benedict's papacy.

Relevant Vatican Documents

Nostra Aetate (Vatican II), 1965.

The central text on interreligious relations and theology from the Second Vatican Council. On the whole it strikes a positive note about the unity of all peoples in their origin from and ultimate goal in God. The two paragraphs of section three addresses Islam, emphasizing an appreciation of Muslim worship and the common Abrahamic heritage. Recognizing the violence that has scarred the history of Christian-Muslim relations, it enjoins both faiths to work toward mutual understanding and social justice.

Evangelii Nuntiandi (Pope Paul VI), 1975.

This encyclical explores the imperative to evangelization, with particular attention to its role in the essential consitution of the Church.

Dialogue and Proclamation (Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue), 1991.

Coming 25 years after Nostra Aetate, this document reflects on the progress of interreligious understanding since then. It expands on the Church's teachings about its relation to others faiths, emphasizing positivity and openness as well as the need to engage the basic contradictions that do exist between them and Christianity. In this way, it places the project of dialog firmly within the framework of evangelization and proclamation.

Dominus Iesus (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith), 2000.

Written by Benedict (while Prefect for the Congregation of the Faith) and his now-Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone, this document comes in the wake of a half-century of reflection on salvation in other faiths. Primarily, it reasserts the unique place of the Church in the drama of human salvation. While affirming the possibility of partial truth and salvation in faiths outside of Christianity, particularly for people who are ignorant of Christ, it stresses that people outside the Church are "in a gravely deficient situation" compared to those within. As a reaction to the stalemate of religious pluralism, particularly as we learn to appreciate other religious traditions, this document exhorts Christians to the ongoing requirement of evangelization.

2006, UCSB Catholic Studies