Values in a Time of Upheaval: Meeting the Challenges of the Future

by Pope Benedict XVI

T.V. watchers will be familiar with Ratzinger's famous clarion call for unwavering truth in a time of changing values. In this book of recent material, Ratzinger addresses these and other pressing social questions of our day.

Genres: Theology, Religion, Catholic, Philosophy, Politics, Essays

174 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Originally Joseph Ratzinger , a noted conservative theologian before his election in 2005, Benedict XVI strove against the influence of secularism during his papacy to defend traditional Catholic teachings but since medieval times first resigned in 2013.

After Joseph Ratzinger served a long career as an academic and a professor at the University of Regensburg, Pope Paul VI appointed him as archbishop of Munich and Freising and cardinal in 1977. In 1981, he settled in Rome as prefect of the congregation for the doctrine of the faith, one most important office of the Roman curia. He also served as dean of the college of cardinals.

Benedict XVI reigned 265th in virtue of his office of bishop of Rome, the sovereign of the state of Vatican City and the head of the Church. A conclave named him on 19 April 2005; he celebrated his inaugural Mass on 24 April 2005 and took possession of his Lateran cathedral basilica of Saint John on 7 May 2005.

Benedict XVI succeeded Saint John Paul II, predecessor and his prolific writings on doctrine and values. Benedict XVI advocated a return to fundamental Christian values to counter the increase of many developed countries. Relativism denied objective truth and moral truths in particular; he viewed this central problem of the 21st century. With the importance of the Church, he understood redemptive love of God. He reaffirmed the "importance of prayer in the face of the activism" "of many Christians engaged in charitable work." Benedict also revived a number and elevated the Tridentine Mass to a more prominent position.

Benedict founded and patronized of the Ratzinger foundation, a charitable organization, which from the sale of books and essays makes money to fund scholarships and bursaries for students across the world.

Due to advanced age on 11 February 2013, Benedict announced in a speech in Latin and cited a "lack of strength of mind and body" before the cardinals. He effectively left on 28 February 2013.As emeritus, Benedict retained the style of His Holiness, and the title and continued to dress in the color of white. He moved into the newly renovated monastery of Mater Ecclesiae for his retirement. Pope Francis succeeded him on 13 March 2013.

(more info on Ratzinger Foundation: https://www.ewtn.com/library/Theology...)

Reviews

[Torp Moniantt]

Kratka knjižica velikog mislioca novog doba, možda i najvećeg.
Opis knjige je zaista ono o čemu se radi u knjizi pa nije potrebno tu ništa dodavati.
Benedikt XVI piše lijepo i razumljivo, ne gubi se u širini, niti je previše uzak. Amaterski filozofi (kakvim se na neki način smatram) shvatit će pročitano bez problema i moći tome pridodati svoja razmišljanja, bilo slagali se s piscem ili ne. Benedikt XVI daje dovoljno materijala i obrazlaže ga nekom finom strukturom i redoslijedom tako da je lako pratiti njegov tijek misli. Tema je jako zanimljiva u današnje vrijeme gdje se mnogi pozivaju na savjest, a mnogima se pravo na nju i krši i zabranjuje.

Osobno mi se jako sviđa razmišljanje pape emeritusa, kako o ovoj temi tako i o mnogočemu ostalome, i imam jako pozitivno mišljenje o njemu kao osobi, papi, misliocu i piscu, iako sam svjestan da nije u svemu bio u pravu, niti da je u svemu ispravno postupao. Ne mogu ni zamisliti teret koji je nosio kroz život, težinu odluka i odgovornosti (ovdje ne priznajem argumente "pa mogao je ovo ili ono..."), ali vjerujem da mogu prosuditi kako će pred Bogom on biti pravedan čovjek, ma koliko se sam smatrao bijednim i običnim, ili koliko ga drugi napadali.

[Henryk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone with even an iota of Christianity in their soul - or for that matter any other faith or secular credo - should read this!

[David Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

Times of upheaval

I love reading books by (pope Benedict XVI). I always come away feeling like I've learned something important, something everyone should know. I always come away feeling smarter.I miss him, hopefully he will still write more books. Very thought provoking. Loved the book.

[Isabella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely a wonderful book. It is very scholarly as all Pope Benedict’s writings. Most of these speech/homily excerpts were taken from 1992 - 2004. Even though that is not terribly long ago, they seem prophetic. The chapters are not that long. I suggest reading one chapter at a sitting and giving yourself time to process what has been read. There sometimes seems to be a lot to digest but the writing is amazing in its directness and in discerning why people do the things they do. I’m amazed at his accuracy in foretelling future events that are happening now. One thing he didn’t predict is a pontificate such as that of Pope Francis’ which seems to have allowed or provoked the acceleration of the demise of our civilization. Every person who is interested in being a public servant should read this book.

[Othy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recently I've stumbled across a few books that, when I picked them up, thought they to be simple philosophy, but instead they turned out to be speeches given written form. Most of them were good, though in this case I was disappointed. Perhaps these speeches (or "repsonses" as the author writes in the introduction) were better in their original form. I felt good things were said, but not really anything discussed in full. The author also seemed to be somewhat...wayward in his writing, and I couldn't tell much of what he was getting at.

[Lisa Cindrich]

Of course, all my ILLs came in at once. Better hop to.