On the occasion of the third anniversary of the death of Benedict XVI, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, emeritus prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presided over a Mass in memory of the German Pope in St. Peter’s Basilica, in which he emphasized the centrality of Joseph Ratzinger as cooperator veritatis, “cooperator of the truth”, and highlighted the permanent value of his theological work for the universal Church.
Benedict XVI, living member of the Body of Christ
During the liturgical celebration, concelebrated by several priests and with the presence of the president of the Joseph Ratzinger–Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation, Father Federico Lombardi, Cardinal Müller affirmed that Benedict XVI “is not a person of the past”, but a living member of the Body of Christ, which is one in heaven and on earth. In this context, he also directed a thought to Pope Leo XIV, pointing out the spiritual and theological continuity between both pontiffs, especially in their common reference to St. Augustine and in the centrality of Jesus Christ as the core of the faith.
A life in service to the Word and the Magisterium
In his homily, delivered in English, Müller traced the trajectory of Joseph Ratzinger as a theologian, bishop, cardinal, and Pope. He recalled his participation in the Second Vatican Council as a theological expert, his close collaboration with St. John Paul II as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and finally, his pontificate from 2005 to 2013.
According to the cardinal, both in his academic work and in his service to the Magisterium, Ratzinger distinguished himself by a “very high diligence”, an uncommon intellectual precision, and an incorruptible fidelity to the Gospel. After his resignation, he added, he lived the last years of his life dedicated to prayer and study in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, until his death on December 31, 2022, at the age of 95.
A theological legacy of permanent value
Cardinal Müller emphasized that the theology of Benedict XVI constitutes “a gift for the entire Church and for future generations”. In this sense, he highlighted the magnitude of his Opera Omnia, a publishing project of sixteen volumes that gathers around 25,000 pages and covers everything from dogmatic theology to liturgy, the Second Vatican Council, and contemporary cultural reflection.
Despite the extent of this work, Müller noted that Benedict XVI never showed intellectual pride, recalling a personal anecdote in which the Pope emeritus himself humbly wondered who would read such a corpus. For those seeking an essential introduction to his thought, the cardinal especially recommended the three volumes of Jesus of Nazareth, published under the personal name of Joseph Ratzinger to distinguish his theological authority from the papal one.
Faith and reason in the face of the crisis of modernity
One of the axes of the homily was the reflection on the relationship between faith and reason. Müller recalled that, since the Enlightenment, a conflict has frequently been presented between Christian faith and scientific or philosophical advances. However, he insisted that there is no contradiction whatsoever with revealed truth, since faith is founded on the Word of God and does not depend on the always fallible conclusions of empirical science.
In this line, he highlighted that even thinkers distant from faith, such as Jürgen Habermas, sought dialogue with Ratzinger, convinced that believers and non-believers could collaborate to prevent modernity from leading to anti-humanism, transhumanism, and nihilism.
Christianity, encounter with Christ, not an ideology
Cardinal Müller finally recalled a central idea of Benedict XVI’s thought: Christianity is not a theory, a worldview, nor an NGO with an ethical or social program, but a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, who is the Truth. In this sense, he affirmed that the Church is not a human organization, but the community of disciples who bear witness to having contemplated the glory of the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
In conclusion, Müller assured that Joseph Ratzinger “is not far from us”, since the earthly liturgy participates in the heavenly liturgy, in which the Pope emeritus joins the pilgrim Church to adore and glorify God for all eternity.