Benedict XVI : a life. Volume 1, Youth in Nazi Germany to the second Vatican Council 1927-1965

First Title Value for Searching:

Personal Author:

Seewald, Peter

Physical Description:

500 pages, 16 unnumberd pages of plates : illustrations (black and white) ; 24 cm.

General Note:

Originally published in 2020 in Germany as Benedikt XVI: Ein Leben by Droemer Verlag.

Summary:

Based on countless hours of interviews in Rome with Pope Benedict XVI himself, this first volume of an authoritative biography follows the early life of the future Pope, from his days growing up in Germany and his conscription into the Hitler Youth during World War II to his career as an academic theologian and eventual Archbishop of Munich.

Subject Term:

Popes -- Biography.

Popes -- Interviews.

Additional Credits:

Livingstone, Dinah

Publication Info:

London ; New York : Bloomsbury Continuum, 2020.

Subject:

Popes -- Biography.

Popes -- Interviews.

Benedict XVI, Pope, 1927-2022

Benedict XVI, Pope, 1927-2022 -- Interviews.

Ratzinger, Josef, 1927-2022

Ratzinger, Joseph, 1927-2022

Ratzinger, Cardinal (Joseph), 1927-2022

Ratzinger, Josephus, 1927-2022

Ratzinger, Jozef, 1927-2022

Benedictus XVI, Pope, 1927-2022

Benedikt XVI, Pope, 1927-2022

Benedicto XVI, Pope, 1927-2022

Benoît XVI, Pope, 1927-2022

Benedetto XVI, Pope, 1927-2022

Bento XVI, Pope, 1927-2022

Binidīkt XVI, Pope, 1927-2022

Benedykt XVI, Pope, 1927-2022

Holy See

See, Holy

SAILS ISBN:

9781472979193

Available:

Library	Shelf Number	Shelf Location	Status
Searching... Taunton Public Library	B B434S	3RD FLOOR STACKS	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

The long-awaited and authoritative biography of Pope Benedict XVI, a giant of the Catholic Church.

Benedict XVI: Volume One offers insight into the young life and rise through the Church's ranks of a man who would become a hero and a lightning rod for Catholics the world over. Based on countless hours of interviews in Rome with Benedict himself, this much-anticipated two-volume biography is the definitive record of the life of Joseph Ratzinger and the legacy of Pope Benedict XVI.

Volume I follows the early life of the future Pope, from his days growing up in Germany and his conscription into the Hitler Youth during World War II to his career as an academic theologian and eventual Archbishop of Munich. Volume II , to be published in 2021, will cover his move to Rome under Pope John Paul II, his ascension to the papacy, and his controversial retirement and news-making statements under his successor, Pope Francis I.

This necessary companion to Benedict's own memoir, Last Testament , is the fullest account to date of the life of a radical Catholic leader who has continued to make news while cloistered in retirement in the Vatican gardens.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

This stimulating yet flawed first volume of German journalist Seewald's duology, his English-language debut, takes the reader through the first four decades of the life of Pope Benedict XVI, Joseph Ratzinger, including his youth and education under the Nazi regime. Seewald bases his account on interviews with Ratzinger, members of his family, and "one hundred contemporary witnesses." The early chapters describing Ratzinger's childhood, including his father's career as a high-ranking policeman and his mother's work in the family's bakery and sometimes as a house servant, are the most successful. Seewald emphasizes Ratzinger as a studious youth--nearly monastic from a very young age--and discusses at length his reading of St. Augustine and Herman Hesse. Unfortunately, those looking for insights into Ratzinger's relationship with the Nazi state or his thoughts on the actions of the Catholic Church during the rise of Hitler will be disappointed. Seewald avoids these topics and only notes that Ratzinger joined the Hitler Youth when membership was made compulsory by state law. While Catholic readers will enjoy the thorough investigation of Ratzinger's intellectual development, Seewald fails to place the youth of Pope Benedict XVI in full context. (Nov.)

Library Journal Review

Journalist Seewald writes the first in a two-volume biography of Joseph Ratzinger (b. 1927), detailing his life from birth through his participation in the Second Vatican Council. The author artfully weaves together politics, church history, philosophy, and theology to show how these influenced and shaped the man who would become Pope Benedict XVI. This creates an engaging portrait that engrosses the reader in the subject. No detail of Pope Benedict XVI's life or relevant influences is left out of this thorough biography, including details on his family history as well as discussions of the people, works, and events that influenced him. For example, the author spends several paragraphs describing the life and work of St. Augustine of Hippo. Though this kind of information may be helpful for many readers, it is perhaps not necessary to include in a work as large as this one, which is more likely to appeal to researchers and subject experts than the casual reader. While the book does not shy away from including details on Ratzinger's personal and professional struggles, the overall tone of the work and treatment of the subject is slightly more positive than objective. VERDICT A well-suited biography for an academic or special collection.--Sarah Mazur, Noel Memorial Lib., LA

List of Illustrations	p. vii
Foreword	p. ix
Part 1 The Boy
1 Easter Saturday	p. 3
2 The Impediment	p. 10
3 The Dreamland	p. 17
4 1933: 'Holy Year'	p. 28
5 The 'German Christians'	p. 37
6 With Burning Concern	p. 47
7 The Calm before the Storm	p. 62
8 The Seminary	p. 73
9 War	p. 89
10 Resistance	p. 100
11 The End	p. 113
Part 2 The Master Student
12 Zero Hour	p. 129
13 The Scholars' Mountain	p. 141
14 Guilt and Atonement	p. 152
15 Upheaval in Thinking	p. 161
16 The Glass Bead Game	p. 176
17 Augustine	p. 188
18 Storm and Stress	p. 202
19 The Key Reading	p. 222
20 The Major Orders	p. 238
21 The Curate	p. 248
22 The Examination	p. 262
23 The Abyss	p. 276
24 The New Heathens and the Church	p. 291
Part 3 The Council
25 A Star is Born	p. 307
26 The Network	p. 320
27 Council	p. 332
28 The Battle Begins	p. 343
29 The Genoa Speech	p. 356
30 The Spin Doctor	p. 370
31 The World on the Brink	p. 382
32 Seven Days That Changed the Catholic Church For Ever	p. 393
33 German Wave	p. 408
34 Power Sources	p. 424
35 In the School of the Holy Spirit	p. 437
36 The Legacy	p. 449
Notes	p. 465
Index	p. 491

Available:

Bound With These Titles

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Summary

Summary

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

Library Journal Review

Table of Contents