Pope Benedict's interview-book presented and explained
At a formal presentation of Pope Benedict's interview-book, the Vatican says by agreeing
to this book the Pope is opening the door of his apartment and letting us in to share
his life and thoughts. This was how the President of the Pontifical Council for New
Evangelization, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, described the book, "Light of the World:
The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times," arising from a lengthy interview
with the Pope done by the German journalist Peter Seefeld .
Speaking at a packed
press conference to formally present the book, Father Lombardi said the pope agreed
to the interview-book because he wanted to talk informally and in a simple language
about some of the most pressing questions of our times. Another speaker, Archbishop
Rino Fisichella, said the book reveals the Pope’s humanity and through it he “opens
the door of his apartment and lets us in” to share with him a glimpse of his daily
life and his thoughts, his worries and his hopes for the future.
Peter Seefeld
the journalist was also present at Tuesday’s press conference and he expressed his
regret that the media has focused almost exclusively on the Pope’s remarks about condoms,
rather than looking at the book in its entirety and at the wide range of issues covered.
Father Lombardi clarified to journalists that the Pope’s comments about condom use
being a lesser evil than transmitting HIV Aids, also apply to women. The confusion
arose because the Italian translation of the book used the feminine for prostitute,
whereas the original German used the masculine.
Archbishop Fisichella says
the impression gained from the book is of a Pope who is optimistic about the life
of the Church despite the many difficulties it has always encountered. He said it
is also a church with sinners within its midst but on the other hand if it weren’t
for the existence of the church, whole sectors of life would collapse because of the
good deeds it performs.
In his remarks about the sex abuse crisis in the
book, Pope Benedict acknowledged it was a huge crisis and likened it to the eruption
of a volcano that covered everything with its filth. He also disclosed that he never
considered resigning as a result of the scandal, saying “one can’t run away at the
moment of greatest danger.” When asked about the power exercised by a Pontiff,
Pope Benedict said being pope doesn’t mean presenting oneself as a sovereign full
of glory but instead rendering witness to the crucified Christ and carrying out his
ministry in union with Him.
Pope Benedict also spoke at length in his book
about the relationship between Christianity and modernity and stressed that modernity
does not only consist of negative things. It has, he continued, great moral values
that arise directly from Christianity.
Finally, one of the key messages that
the Pope is conveying in this interview-book is his desire for humanity to put God
once again at the top in order to contradict a large part of the culture of the past
few decades that seeks to portray God as superfluous. Susy Hodges reports: