“The Role of Women in the Development of Human Rights”, by Prof. ThDr. Mgr. Helena Hrehová, PhD., Philosophy and Canon Law, Tom 1 (2015): pp. 51-65. Available in pdf format on this page of Czasopisma humanistyczne.
See also this related text in same volume:
“New Feminism as a Response to the Modern Crisis of Community”, by Prof. Aneta Gawkowska, Ph.D., Philosophy and Canon Law, Tom 1 (2015): pp. 67-83. Available in pdf format on this page of Czasopisma humanistyczne.
See this list of selected online texts and ebooks by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI and about him and his thought that have been previously indexed on the Project, as outlined thus:
I. Texts and ebooks by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI
A. Articles and Addresses by Joseph Ratzinger before his election as Pope Benedict XVI B. Official Ecclesiastical Documents promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI C. Homilies and Allocutions by Pope Benedict XVI D. Other Texts by Pope Benedict XVI not constituting official ecclesiastical documents or allocutions
II. Texts and ebooks approved by/under Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI
A. CDF and ITC Documents approved under Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger B. Curial Documents approved under Pope Benedict XVI
III. Texts and ebooks concerning Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI and his thought
Please note that this is not an exhaustive or complete list. A more extensive online list is available at The Ratzinger Archives (Online works and resources for Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger) linked by The Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club.
I. Texts and ebooks by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI
A. Articles and addresses by Joseph Ratzinger before his election as Pope Benedict XVI
“The Anguish of an Absence: Three Meditations on Holy Saturday”, by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), 30 Days, Issue 03-2006. May be read online (on this page) at 30 Days. [Note: This was published after his election as Bishop of Rome but was attributed to “Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger”]
“Concerning the Notion of Person in Theology”, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI, Communio, Vol. 17, No. 3 Fall 1990. Available in pdf format through this page of Communio.
“Europe in the Crisis of Cultures” (also titled “Cardinal Ratzinger on Europe’s Crisis of Culture” and, in the Opus Dei collection, “On the Crisis in Cultures”), lecture delivered by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in Subiaco, Italy on April 1, 2005.
“The Feeling of Things, the Contemplation of Beauty”, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI). 2002 message to a meeting of the ecclesial movement Communion and Liberation. May be read online at Zenit and on this page of Cossroads Initiative, which summarizes the text as a “Lenten and Holy Week meditation on Psalm 45 and the contemplation of beauty”. [N.B., According to John Jang in his thesis “Beauty as a transcendental in the thought of Joseph Ratzinger”, page 5, footnote 21, this text was re-titled “Wounded by the Arrow of Beauty: The Cross and the New ‘Aesthetics’ of Faith,” when published in On the Way to Jesus Christ (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2005)]
“The Holy Spirit as Communio: Concerning the Relationship of Pneumatology and Spirituality in Augustine”, by (then Cardinal) Dr. Joseph Ratzinger, translated by Dr. Peter Casarella, Communio, Volume 25, No. 2 (Summer 1998): pp. 324-337. Available in pdf format through this page of Communio International Catholic Review.
“Introduction to Christianity: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow”, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Communio: International Catholic Review, vol. 31, no. 1, Consecration and the States of Life (Fall 2004): Available in pdf format on this page through this page of Communio.
The audio, read out by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf, with o is available in mp3 format on this page of Fr. Z’s Blog, and it is published on this video (embedded in this post) at the bedwere Youtube channel. [The meditations and prayers for each Station are in English, while the responses are in Latin.]
B. Official Ecclesiastical Documents Promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI
Apostolic Letter in the Form of ‘Motu Proprio’ “Quaerit Semper“, by Pope Benedict XVI (August 30, 2011). Available at the Holy See, which states that with this document, “the Apostolic Constitution Pastor Bonusis amended and certain competences transferred from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments to the new Office set up at the Tribunal of the Roman Rota for processes of dispensation from ratified and non-consummated marriage and for cases concerning the nullity of sacred ordination.”
Carta encíclica “Caritas in veritate” sobre el desarrollo humano integral en la caridad y en la verdad, del Papa Benedicto XVI, 29 de junio 2009. Disponible en Catholic.net y la Santa Sede.
Carta encíclica “Deus caritas est” sobre el amor cristiano, del Papa Benedicto XVI, 25 de diciembre de 2005. Disponible en Catholic.net y la Santa Sede.
Encyclical Letter “Deus Caritas Est” on Christian Love, by Pope Benedict XVI (25 December 2005). May be read online at the Holy See.
Letter to the Bishops, Priests, Consecrated Persons and Lay Faithful of the Catholic Church in the People’s Republic of China, by Pope Benedict XVI, 27 May 2007. Available at the Holy See.
A “Compendium of the Letter of the Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI to the Bishops, Priests, Consecrated Persons and Lay Faithful of the Catholic Church in the People’s Republic of China”, which reproduces the letter in question-and-answer format, is available in pdf format at the Holy See.
The text of the address may be read online at the Holy See.
The video of the address, with the English text in the video and with the Italian translation in audio, is available in 3 parts at the channel Felix Nobilis: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
Christmas Address to the Roman Curia, by Pope Benedict XVI (22 December 2005). Available at the Holy See. [N.B., This important address affirms the hermeneutics of reform and continuity, “of renewal in the continuity of the one subject-Church which the Lord has given to us”, in the interpretation of the Second Vatican Council, and refutes the hermeneutics of discontinuity and rupture.]
“Having a vision from on high” (“Apostolic Succession: Spiritual and Historical Tie to Christ”), General Audience Address of Wednesday, 10 May 2006. May be read online on this page and, under the title “Apostolic Succession: Spiritual and Historical Tie to Christ”, on this page of Catholic Culture; on this page of the EWTN Library, and at the Holy See. A different translation is provided at Catholic Online.
Notes:
These addresses form the first part of Pope Benedict XVI’s Catechesis on the Apostles and First Disciples, which is indexed on this page and summarized on this page of the EWTN Library, and indexed on Catechesis of the Popes. They are followed by the Holy Father’s addresses on the Apostles.
As far as we know, these addresses have no collective label provided by the Holy See, though Catechesis of the Popes provides the title “Origins of the Church”. The label “Communion with Christ through Apostolic Tradition and Succession” is our own.
Easter Sunday Message Urbi et Orbi of Pope Benedict XVI, delivered on 16 April 2006. May be read online on this page of the EWTN Library, and at the Holy See.
Easter Sunday Message Urbi et Orbi of Pope Benedict XVI, delivered on 08 April 2007. May be read online on this page of Catholic Culture, and at the Holy See.
Easter Sunday Message Urbi et Orbi of Pope Benedict XVI (2008). May be read online at the Holy See.
Easter Sunday Message Urbi et Orbi of Pope Benedict XVI, delivered on 08 April 2012. May be read online on this page of the EWTN Library, and at the Holy See.
Faith and Reason according to Benedict XVI: Six Key Texts: Subiaco, Regensburg, Paris, London, Berlin (Opus Dei Information Office, 2017). Available in ePub format and Mobi format, and may be downloaded at iTunes iBooks and Google Play Books, through Opus Dei. Also available at Google Books.
The video of the lecture (with the English translation in voiceover) may be viewed at Youtube, with a second copy (without English voiceover) on this page and on this page.
“Message for the Celebration of the World Day of Peace “The Human Person, the Heart of Peace”, by Pope Benedict XVI, 1 January 2007, at the Holy See,
The Year of St. Paul, by Pope Benedict XVI. General Audiences from July 2, 2008 through February 4, 2009. Indexed on this page of Catechesis of the Popes, which states: “The series was started in honor of the Year of St. Paul (June 28, 2008-June 29, 2009) which was declared to celebrate St. Paul’s 2000th birthday.”
D. Other Texts by Pope Benedict XVI not constituting official ecclesiastical documents or allocutions
Spiritual Testament of Pope Benedict XVI, written 29 August 2006. English translation published 31 December 2022 on this page of the Catholic News Agency.
II. Texts and ebooks approved by or under Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI
A. CDF and ITC Documents approved under Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Instrucción sobre libertad cristiana y liberación “Libertatis conscientia”, de la Congregación para la Doctrina de la Fe, 22 de marzo de 1986. Disponible en Catholic.net y la Santa Sede.
Instruction “Donum Veritatis” on the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian, by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (24 May 1990). Available at the Holy See.
Instruction sur la Liberté Chrétienne et la Libération “Libertatis Conscientia”, de la Congrégation pour la Doctrine de la Foi, 22 mars 1986. Disponible dans le Saint-Siege.
Letter to Ordinaries Regarding Norms on Exorcism, by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 29 September 1985. May be read online at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on Some Aspects of the Church Understood as Communion, by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, May 28, 1992. May be read online at the Holy See, EWTN Library, and Catholic Information Network.
The Primacy of the Successor of Peter in the Mystery of the Church: Reflections of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, (from L’Osservatore Romano, Weekly Edition in English, 18 November 1998, page 5-6). May be read online at EWTN Library and Catholic Information Network.
Profession of Faith and the Oath of Fidelity on Assuming an Office to be Exercised in the Name of the Church, by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. May be read online at the EWTN Library. The Doctrinal Commentary by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on the Concluding Formula of the Professio Fidei may be read online at EWTN Library.
Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church, by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (June 29, 2007). May be read online at the Holy See and at Catholic Eternal Truth.
B. Curial Documents approved under Pope Benedict XVI
Decree on the Reform of Ecclesiastical Studies of Philosophy, by the Congregation for Catholic Education (2011). Available at the website of the Holy See, with excerpt and link on Rorate Coeli.
Doctrinal Note on Some Aspects of Evangelization, by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (3 December 2007). May be read online at the Holy See. A summary is also available at Papal Encyclicals.net.
Responses to Certain Questions of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Concerning Artificial Nutrition and Hydration, by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (August 1, 2007). With a Commentary from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Available at Priests for Life.
Responses to Some Questions Regarding Certain Aspects of the Doctrine on the Church, by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (June 29, 2007). May be read online at the Holy See and at Catholic Eternal Truth.
III. Texts and ebooks about Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI and his thought
“Benedict XVI’s ‘Hermeneutic of Reform’ and Religious Freedom”, by Martin Rhonheimer, Nova et Vetera, English Edition, Vol. 9, No. 4 (2011): 1029–54. Available in PDF format at the University of Arizona [Parts of these texts were previously published online also in English at Chiesa. A response by Thomas Pink, “Rhonheimer on religious liberty: On The ‘hermeneutic of reform’ and religious liberty in Nova et Vetera”, may be read online at Rorate Coeli.]
“Fundamental Politics: What We Must Learn From the Social Thought of Benedict XVI”, by Dr. Thomas R. Rourke, Communio, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Fall 2008): pp. 432-450. Available in pdf format through this page of Communio.
“In Hope He Believed Against Hope (Romans 4:18). Faith and Hope, Two Pauline Motifs As Interpreted by Aquinas: An Approach to the Encyclical Letter of Pope Benedict XVI, ‘Spe salvi’” by Dr. Reinhard Hütter. Included in:
L’Interpretazione di San Tommaso delle Dottrine di San Paolo: Atti della IX Sessione Plenaria, 19-21 giugno 2009 / Saint Thomas’s Interpretation on Saint Paul’s Doctrines: Proceedings of the IX Plenary Session, 19-21 June 2009, in Doctor Communis: Rivista della Pontificia Accademia di San Tommaso d’Aquino / Review of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas (Vatican City: Pontificia Academia Sancti Thomae Aquinatis, 2009). Available in a single pdf file on this page of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas and at the Holy See.
“Joseph Ratzinger’s Philosophical Theology of the Person”, by Prof. Andrzej Proniewski, Ph.D., Rocznik Teologii Katolickiej, Vol. XVII, No. 3 (2018). Available in pdf format through this page of Rocznik Teologii Katolickiej, and in pdf format through this page of the Repozytorium Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku.
“Logos and Dia-Logos: Faith, Reason, (and Love) According to Joseph Ratzinger”, by Pablo Blanco Sarto, Anglican Theological Review, vol. 92, no. 3 (Summer 2010) pp. 499-509. Available in pdf format at the Anglican Theological Review [N.B., Although this is a non-Catholic publication, an online search indicates that the author is a professor at the University of Navarra/Navarre, a Catholic Christian institution directed by the Opus Dei Prelature.]
“Loving in the Present: The Theological and Pastoral Influences of St. Bonaventure’s Critical Retrieval of Joachim of Fiore on Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI”, by William L. Patenaude. Graduate Thesis, Providence College, Spring 2013. Available in pdf format at Providence College Digital Commons.
“Natural Law and Public Discourse: The Legacies of Joseph Ratzinger”, by F. Russell Hittinger, Loyola Law Review, Vol. 60, No. 2 (2014): pp. 241-271. A paper delivered on 21 November 2013.
A later version of the paper was published as “Natural Law and Wisdom Traditions”, The Muslim World, Vol. 106, Issue 2 (April 2016): pp. 313-336, which may be accessed by members at the Wiley Online Library.
“New Challenges for Catholic-Inspired NGOs in Light of Caritas in Veritate”, by Jane Adolphe, The Catholic Social Science Review, vol. 16 (2011): pages 181-193. Available in pdf format (on this page) at the Philosophy Documentation Center.
“Objective and Subjective Elements of Faith in John Henry Newman and Joseph Ratzinger”, by Father Bryce A. Evans (2017). School of Divinity Master’s Theses and Projects 18 (MA Thesis, Saint Paul Seminary School of Divinity, University of St. Thomas, Minnesota).Available in pdf format on this page of the University of St. Thomas.
“The Sacred Is Still Beautiful: The Liturgical and Theological Aesthetics of Pope Benedict XVI”, by Roland Millare, Logos, vol. 16, no. 1 (Winter 2013), pp. 104-128. May be read online and downloaded in pdf format at Academia.edu.
“Transparency in Business: The Perspective of Catholic Social Teaching and the ‘Caritas in Veritate’”, by Professors Antonino Vaccaro and Alejo Jose´ G. Sison, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 100 (2011): pp. 17–27. Published online: 6 January 2012. Available at Academia.edu (uploaded by Alejo Jose G. Sison) and ResearchGate.net (uploaded by Alejo Jose G. Sison).
Posted on the Feast of Saint Zotikos, Feeder of Orphans, in the Eastern Catholic churches, in tribute to Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI (+31 December 2022), past Defender of the Faith, future Doctor of the Church, and in service to his orphaned children, the faithful of the one true and Catholic Church. Goodbye and rest in peace, dearest and much-missed father, shepherd, and teacher, our beloved Papa Ratzi. For other texts and ebooks, you may access the List of Free eBooks (Arranged by Title), the List of Free eBooks (Grouped by Subject), the List of Worth-It Catholic Books & eBooks, and the main page of the Catholic eBooks Project.
“The power of teaching in the Church involves a commitment to the service of obedience to the faith. The Pope is not an absolute monarch whose thoughts and desires are law. On the contrary: the Pope’s ministry is a guarantee of obedience to Christ and to his Word. He must not proclaim his own ideas, but rather constantly bind himself and the Church to obedience to God’s Word, in the face of every attempt to adapt it or water it down, and every form of opportunism…
“The Pope knows that in his important decisions, he is bound to the great community of faith of all times, to the binding interpretations that have developed throughout the Church’s pilgrimage. Thus, his power is not being above, but at the service of, the Word of God. It is incumbent upon him to ensure that this Word continues to be present in its greatness and to resound in its purity…”
“[N]ot to act in accordance with reason is contrary to God’s nature… John began the prologue of his Gospel with the words: “In the beginning was the λόγος”… Logos means both reason and word—a reason which is creative and capable of self-communication, precisely as reason…
“[T]he faith of the Church has always insisted that between God and us, between his eternal Creator Spirit and our created reason there exists a real analogy… [T]he truly divine God is the God who has revealed himself as logos and, as logos, has acted and continues to act lovingly on our behalf… Consequently, Christian worship is, again to quote Paul—”λογικη λατρεία”, worship in harmony with the eternal Word and with our reason”.
“Stand firm in the faith! Do not let yourselves be confused!
“It often seems that science[s]… are able to offer irrefutable results at odds with the Catholic faith… [but] on the contrary, apparent certainties against the faith have vanished, proving to be not science, but philosophical interpretations only apparently pertaining to science; just as, on the other hand, it is in dialogue with the natural sciences that faith, too, has learned to understand better the limit of the scope of its claims, and thus its specificity…
“[O]ut of the tangle of assumptions the reasonableness of faith emerged and emerges again. Jesus Christ is truly the way, the truth and the life — and the Church, with all its insufficiencies, is truly His body.”
“Pro-Choice ‘Personhood’: An Abortive Concept”, by Andrew J. Peach, J.D., Ph.D., Life and Learning XIII: Proceedings of the Thirteenth University Faculty for Life Conference at Georgetown University, 2003, edited by Professor Fr. Joseph W. Koterski, S.J., Ph.D. (Washington, D.C.: University Faculty for Life, 2003): pp. 187-210. Available in pdf format on this page through the Table of Contents page of Life and Learning XIII (2003) at University Faculty for Life.
International Review of the Red Cross, No. 290 (September-October 1992). Special: 1492-1992: 500th Anniversary of the Discovery of the Americas. Contains the following articles:
“The Sino-Vatican Faith Diplomacy: Mapping the Factors Affecting Bilateral Relations”, by Professor Juyan Zhang, Ph.D., April 2017 (Los Angeles: Figueroa Press, 2017). Available at ResearchGate.net.
“Sino-Vatican Relations: A Conflict Transformation Perspective”, by Kaitlin Austermiller. Master’s Thesis, China and International Relations, Aalborg University and University of International Relations, 20 May 2013. Available in pdf format at Aalborg Universitet Project Library.
“True Catholic and Authentic Chinese: The Theologico-Political Polemic in China”, by Wing Kwan Anselm Lam, International Journal of China Studies, Vol. 11, No. 2 (December 2020): pp. 257-276. Available in pdf format at the Institute China Studies University of Malaysia.
‘The Vatican Accord with China: Riding the Dragon’: Testimony Before the Congressional-Executive Committee on China, November 28, 2018, by Thomas F. Farr, Available in pdf format at the Congressional-Executive Committee on China.
“China’s Modern Martyrs: From Mao to Now”, by Anthony E. Clark (2014). May be read online in 4 parts at the Catholic World Report: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4. Also available in pdf format at Whitworth Digital Commons under the citation History Faculty Scholarship, Paper 37 (2014): Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.
“Homily to Chinese Catholics at a Mass Celebrated for the Catholics of China in the Church of the Queen of the Angels and Queen of Martyrs”, by Ignatius Cardinal Kung Pin-Mei, Rome, June 30, 1991. Available in pdf format on this page of the Cardinal Kung Foundation.
Submission to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief (seeking the release of Bishop James Su Zhimin and Bishop Cui Tai). Available in pdf format at Christian Persecution News.
Pastoral Orientations on Human Trafficking (Vatican City: Migrants & Refugees Section, Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, 2019). Available in pdf format at Migrants & Refugees. [Note: This text includes quotations from relevant statements by Pope Francis, and other modern Bishops of Rome, on modern day forms of slavery.]
“On Making the Case for Life: St. Peter’s Counsel to Always Be Ready”, by Prof. Francis J. Beckwith, Ph.D., The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, Volume 13, Issue 4 (Winter 2013): pp. 601-609. Available in pdf format at the Baylor University for Studies of Religion.
See also these related texts specifically discussing the mortal sin and unspeakable crime of abortion: Continue reading →
“Human Identity and Otherness – Learning from Francisco De Vitoria”, by Professor Claus Dierksmeier, Ph.D. (September 29, 2011). Available in pdf format at the Humanistic Management Center and at the Social Science Research Network (SSRN). [Note: It is unclear if the author is a Catholic Christian. However his published body of work manifests at least the strong influence of ethical thought in the intellectual tradition of the one true Church.]
“Ethical Concerns with COVID-19 Triage Protocols”, by NCBC Ethicists, April 3, 2020 (Philadelphia, PA: National Catholic Bioethics Center, 2020). Printed in Ethics & Medics, Volume 45, Issue 5 (May 2020): pp. 5-6. Available in pdf format and may be read online on this page of the National Catholic Bioethics Center.
See also these related texts from the National Catholic Bioethics Center:
“Making Sense of Bioethics: Column 177: Thinking Through the Rationing of Ventilators”, by Rev. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, PhD, March 30, 2020. May be read online on this page and available in pdf format of the National Catholic Bioethics Center.