He is unrivaled as an astute and balanced theologian. I have little patience with his critics, who often enough have never read his writings. Anyone who reads what Joseph Ratzinger has written—either before or after his election as pope—can see that he is never heavy-handed or rigid, but always speaks the mind of the Church, as he understands it, with a firm but gentle voice.
Pope Benedict is a person who knows how to speak the truth with love. In my dozen or so encounters with him, I found him to be engaging, humble and serene. Several times, I met him on the street on his way to or from a bookstore. He wore a simple black cassock. He stopped to visit for a few minutes, and he had a phenomenal memory for names. In fact, once when our paths crossed, Cardinal Ratzinger smiled, waved his finger at me and said, “Ah, yes, büchlein, büchlein, the little book” which is what my surname (Buechlein) means in German!
While a lover of the tradition and heritage of the Church, Pope Benedict is thoroughly committed to the complete implementation of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council. He knows the origins and development of the Council’s documents because he was there and had a direct hand in crafting several of them. He is also thoroughly acquainted with the Church Fathers and with the development of the Church’s doctrines during the past two millennia.
This pope is a profound exponent of the complimentarity of faith and reason in a society that wants to relegate God and religion to the private sector as if they are irrelevant to the economic, political and cultural realities of the modern world. He is an ardent champion for the dignity of human life, and he is a sensitive man, who is both sophisticated and simple—a holy, gentle man.
From Surprised by Grace: Memories and Reflections on Twenty-Five Year’s of Episcopal Ministry by Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein, OSB, who returned to the Lord on January 25, 2018.
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