Pope Francis will preside at the requiem Mass and impart the final blessing before the burial of Benedict XVI at a solemn ceremony marked by simplicity in St. Peter’s Square on the morning of Jan. 5.

“Benedict XVI did theology on his knees,” the pope wrote in the book’s introduction. “His explanation of the faith was carried out with the devotion of a man who has surrendered all of himself to God.”

Long before he became Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger wrote an essay for America on the universal church.

Archbishop Georg Gaenswein’s “Nothing but the Truth: My Life Beside Pope Benedict XVI” is being published this month by the Piemme imprint of Italian publishing giant Mondadori.

Zen was elevated to cardinal by Benedict in 2006, which he said signaled the pope’s focus on China.

Pope Benedict XVI's life and writings for the church show that one can be a staunch defender of order in the church’s teaching while still respecting God’s infinite love and mercy.