August 04, 2012: Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican Secretary of State, has added
to speculation that Pope Benedict XVI is writing a new encyclical for the Year of
Faith. Cardinal Bertone, who is vacationing in the Italian Alps, told reporters
that the Holy Father might now be drafting an encyclical, since he has completed work
on the 3rd book of his trilogy, Jesus of Nazareth. The cardinal did not claim any
direct knowledge of the Pope’s current writing schedule, however. Pope Benedict
has produced 3 encyclicals during his pontificate. Along with his social encyclical
Deus Caritas Est, which appeared in 2005, he has also written an encyclical on hope
(Spe Salvi, 2007), and an encyclical on charity (Caritas in Veritate, 2009). A new
encyclical on faith, completing the trio the theological virtues, would be perfectly
timed for the Year of Faith that the Pope has proclaimed, which begins in October.
The Vatican has made no announcement regarding a new papal encyclical. In March,
Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, said that the
idea of an encyclical on faith was a "hypothesis"--although a reasonable one. He said
at the time that the Pope had not told him of any immediate plan for another encyclical.