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.

Though he is criticized for the sexual abuse crisis in the church during his papacy, Benedict XVI did more than anyone before him to turn the Vatican around on clergy sexual abuse.

There was not the air of sadness that pervaded those who paid their last respects to John Paul II when he died. It seems that the mourning for Benedict took place around the time of his resignation.