Pope’s ability to explain Word of God brilliant, says Cardinal Ruini

Rome, Italy, Nov 5, 2008 / 20:46 pm

During the November 5th presentation of the book, “Homilies: The Liturgical Year Narrated by Joseph Ratzinger, Pope,” at the Valdina Palace in Rome, Cardinal Camillo Ruini, the former Vicar for the Diocese of Rome, said Benedict XVI has a brilliant way of making “the bread of the Word of God and the mystery of our salvation understandable for all.”

 

According to the L’Osservatore Romano, Cardinal Ruini first explained that “for the life and mission of the Church and for the future of the faith, it is absolutely necessary that the dualism between exegesis and theology be overcome,” which the Pope stressed at the recent Synod of Bishops.

 

Cardinal Ruini emphasized the “essentially biblical, patristic, liturgical and historical” nature of the Holy Father’s theology, which has made him “an extraordinary preacher of homilies and an extraordinary catechist who, with the simplicity and substance of his words, makes the bread of the Word of God and the mystery of our salvation understandable to all.”

 

He went on to add that Benedict XVI does not leave the Scriptures “locked in the past,” but rather relates them to the great problems the world faces today, with profound understanding of their meaning and their origins.

 

“For this reason,” the cardinal continued, “his homilies and his theological works and magisterial statements speak to us and compel us to be light and encouragement for our lives today.”

 

He went on to explain that these homilies by the Pope that are “collected in this agile volume show how the texts of the biblical readings of the unique celebrations can be understood in all of their full and authentic, historic and theological meaning.”