Fr. Fessio SJ on Jesus of Nazareth Volume II

The second volume of Pope Benedict XVI’s book series on Jesus was released on Thursday. Jesus of Nazareth - Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection has already had over one million copies published in seven languages. “When he speaks to us in this book, as Joseph Ratzinger, he is not engaging the faith of the Church – it’s not a magisterial document,” says Father Joseph Fessio, SJ, the publisher of Ignatius Press, the English-language publisher of the book. “But as far as who wrote, between the bone and the marrow of Joseph Ratzinger and Pope Benedict even the finest sword will not find any space.”

Father Fessio was a student of the then-Professor Joseph Ratzinger in Regensburg 40 years ago.

He says there are many insights in the book.

Father Fessio told Vatican Radio one interesting part is the passage in Matthew 27:25 ‘And the whole people answering, said: His blood be upon us and our children’, a passage which has led some to believe the Jewish people are cursed.

“He says the blood of Jesus is not like the blood of Cain that cries out for vengeance. The blood of Jesus is redemptive blood. It’s blood shed for the life of the world. Its not for punishment or vengeance, its for salvation and redemption. It’s a beautiful reflection on it – two or three pages – that really kind of changes your whole view on that part of the Gospel, which has been used in the past sometimes for anti-Semitic purposes.”

Listen to Emer McCarthy's full interview with Father Joseph Fessio, SJ: