During
his eight year long pontificate, Pope Benedict XVI released three
encyclicals - open letters intended to teach and encourage Catholics and
engage non-Catholics -
Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love), Spe Salvi (Saved by Hope), and
Caritas In Veritate (Charity In Truth).
Since the first two focused on two of the three theological virtues,
love and hope, it was widely anticipated that he would write an encyclical on the last virtue in the set, faith. Indeed, when he
resigned in 2013, he left behind a draft of this encyclical, which his
successor, Francis, revised and promulgated. Some passages are redolent
of Benedict, with careful exposition of
biblical texts and references to German theologians, while others have
the more extemporaneous style associated with Francis. It is an
interesting game speculating on which pope wrote what, but entirely
beside the point.
The message of both men is the
same. Faith, they propose, is precisely the opposite of a subjective
closing-in. It is, in fact, the antidote to the relativistic solipsism
of postmodernity. Only in faith can the individual escape the horizon
of self and reach out in love to God and neighbor. Only in faith do we
discover the dignity of man and the giftedness of creation. Only in
faith, they submit, is there found meaning in suffering and hope for the
future.
Apart from the office its author holds,
Lumen Fidei is a short, intriguing work in the same vein as Cardinal Ratzinger's contribution to
Without Roots.
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