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: