Pope Benedict XVI: Servant of the Truth [Hardcover]

Peter Seewald (Editor), Brian McNeil (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2006

Do you know the real Pope Benedict?
Journalist Peter Seewald does. After writing an unfair attack on Cardinal Ratzinger, he was urged by Catholic readers to meet with the man he was maligning. He did so—and the result was two book-length interviews, Salt of the Earth and God and the World. Seewald also returned to his Catholic faith, saying that Ratzinger was the one who "taught me what it meant to swim against the stream." This book, written mainly by Seewald, describes the paths of Joseph Ratzinger’s life from his birthplace in Bavaria all the way to being the first German Pope in 482 years. It is illuminated with a stunning collection of some of the most personal, and most surprising, photographs. These show the Pope as he really is: "a humble servant in the vineyard of the Lord".
LAVISHLY ILLUSTRATED WITH OVER 150 PHOTOS

Product Details

• Hardcover: 190 pages
• Publisher: Ignatius Press (October 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586171518
• ISBN-13: 978-1586171513
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,072,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #100 in Books > Christian Books & Bibles > Catholicism > Popes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Has It All!, November 30, 2006

By 

A. Ryan (Spokane, WA. USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pope Benedict XVI: Servant of the Truth (Hardcover)

This glorious coffee-table photo-biography of Pope Benedict is a wonderful,unique combo volume - some 150 striking photos of the Pope's life from his boyhood thru the first year of his papacy, and really excellent commentary on the life & impact of Benedict/Ratzinger by Peter Seewald.
As the book blurb says, Seewald wrote those two popular book-length interviews of Cardinal Ratzinger (SALT OF THE EARTH, GOD AND THE WORLD) which dramatically changed Seewald's own life, bringing him back to the practice of his Catholicism after having fallen away for many years. So Seewald knows this man so well, and he is such a good writer, that his fine writing & insights on the various stages of the Pope's life are a great complement to the amazing photos in this keepsake of a book.
It is the ideal Christmas gift book!

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coffee-table Perfect, January 9, 2007

By 

B. Brady - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pope Benedict XVI: Servant of the Truth (Hardcover)

Informative about our new Pope. One picture is worth a thousand words! I leave it out on our coffee-table for all to see. I consider it a treasure to have ammong my books! It is well done!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Couldn't be better, August 5, 2010

By 

matt (the reading room) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pope Benedict XVI: Servant of the Truth (Hardcover)

While I am not Roman Catholic, I have a deep appreciation and respect for the office of the Papacy as one of the main voices of Christianity in the world, a world (in the West at least) increasingly hostile to traditional concepts of human rights (based in the Judeo-Christian tradition) and the relevance of the questions that the Faith addresses. So from that perspective I opened this book. I am glad I did. It has confirmed my love of the papacy as an office for the good of the Church and the world.

It is not only lavishly illustrated, making it a pleasure to browse through, but it is a detailed (and sympathetic) biography of Joseph Ratzinger that leaves me with the impression of a man with both amazing intellectual capabilities and a deep and mature love of God and humanity, perfectly fit to be Pope. From his Bavarian youth, anti-Nazi upbringing (and the sacrifices and suffering that this entailed), ordination with his beloved brother, to his rise to cardinal and Pope, this book feels like a family photo album.

I read it in one sitting in the afternoon a few weeks ago and have gone back to it a few times since; a real pleasure to read and an inspiration to follow my Christian convictions wherever they lead.