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The collaboration between a future pope and young prelate is
transformed into profound friendship when circumstances thrust
Joseph Ratzinger into the Apostolic Palace, even as he expected to
be released in retirement to his beloved Bavaria. Monsignor Georg
Gänswein never left his side, and witnessed one of the most
influential people of this century conduct his papacy on both sides
of the curtain. From his appointment as private secretary in 2003,
which was meant to be temporary, until the abdication of the pope
in 2013 and subsequent years as emeritus, Monsignor Gänswein
walked the same steps and weathered the same storms as his dear
friend, the Roman Pontiff Benedict XVI. Here he offers the truth
regarding the man and the papacy as a spiritual testament of a pope
whose formidable legacy is often subject to unfounded
characterizations of rigidity and secrecy. Written with the
involvement of the regarded Vaticanista Saverio Gaeta, Mons.
Gänswein offers an account of a particular decade in history and
confronts false claims of intrigue and cover-up (Vatileaks, the
Orlandi abduction case, the sexual abuse scandal, among other
issues) to tell the real story of a pope who faced a changing
landscape and a public who largely misunderstood him and his style
of governance. Here we meet one of the most affable and
intellectually formidable popes the Catholic Church has ever known,
and a priest who might also be considered a prophet of the
post-modern age. Gänswein brilliantly contextualizes many of
Benedict's most poignant theological positions, and in giving us a
sense of their origin reveals that Benedict seamlessly lived
everything he promulgated. His faith was the single bulwark upon
which his personality as both teacher and leader were built. No
biography has yet to establish the integrity and heart of Joseph
Ratzinger as well as his friend, Georg Gänswein, does here. As a
spiritual testament more than just a journalistic exposé,
Gänswein provides something only he can give––namely, the
candid intelligence and sanctity witnessed up close. This is a
remarkable and singular contribution to the history of the papacy
and the record of the life of a saint. As Gänswein asserts,
knowing this man is to encounter heroic virtue and an invitation to
meet God, the greatest lover of mankind. Pope Benedict's own
friendship with God will continue to provide warmth for as long as
there are people on this earth who believe. Â
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