Visit the Acton Institute’s special section on Pope Benedict XVI to keep up-to-date about the new pope and the media activities of Acton staff.

An excerpt from Cardinal Ratzinger’s “Homily at the Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff,” given yesterday:

How many winds of doctrine we have known in these last decades, how many ideological currents, how many fashions of thought? The small boat of thought of many Christians has often remained agitated by the waves, tossed from one extreme to the other: from Marxism to liberalism, to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism, etc.

Read more on A Dictatorship of Relativism…

God and the World: A Conversation with Peter Seewald
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Ignatius Press, 2002

Comments by Dr. Samuel Gregg:
As Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger has demonstrated again and again that he is one of the world’s leading theologians. In this extended interview with the renowned German journalist, Peter Seewald, we are given an insight into Ratzinger’s thought on a range of topics fundamental to Christian belief. This includes profound meditation on the theological virtues (faith, hope, and love), Creation, Revelation, the Personhood of Christ, the Cross, the Sacraments, and the Church itself. This book is especially interesting insofar as the interviewer has only recently returned to the Catholic Faith, and is thus far from obsequious in his questions. The ensuing discussion between the once-secularist journalist and a Prince of the Church thus deeply penetrates into some of the very essences of Christian belief, and confirms Ratzinger’s reputation as a Christian critically engaged with modernity and not afraid to state where it sheds both light and darkness upon the truth revealed to man by faith and reason.

Read more on Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger is Pope Benedict XVI…

A defense of Pope John Paul II’s Centesimus Annus. For example,

On Globalization

The Claim:

"John Paul II . . . thinks that capitalism goes way too far and results in oppression of people in the developing world. So economic redistribution would be a very radical position . . ." Lisa Sowle Cahill, professor of theology at Boston College.

Read more on Ignoring Centesimus Annus…

After Pope John Paul II’s death on April 2, the European Parliament was torn over a “difficult” decision – whether to lower the flags of the European Institution to half-mast. It seems that some members thought it was inappropriate to honor one of the most pro-European statesmen who ever lived with such a simple gesture. Eventually, they came to their senses and agreed to do so.

Read more on The Extent of European Antipathy Towards Christianity…

When asked about the legacy of Pope John Paul II, Prof. Gregory R. Beabout responds “that the life and legacy of John Paul II is best understood in light of the history and culture of Poland.” The important distinctions between nation and state, culture and government, were operative both in Polish history as well as in the life of Karol Wojtyla.

Read more on What is the Legacy of Pope John Paul II?…

What one book would you send to the next pope to read? William Rees-Mogg has decided what his “inaugural present” would be: The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith.

What follows below is a narrative by Kishore Jayabalan, director of the Acton Institute’s Rome office (Istituto Acton):

“My journey to the Catholic Church began in a very simple way, tried and tested over the centuries in just about every country of the world: Catholic schools. Like my non-Catholic parents in India, I was educated by priests, nuns and laypeople, first at St. Mary’s Queen of Angels in Swartz Creek, Michigan, then on to Luke M. Powers Catholic High School in Flint. The first of these was especially instrumental, as it was there that l learned the basics of the faith, through religion classes, the daily practice of the faith, and the Mass.
Read more on Received into the Church by Pope John Paul II…

Rev. Robert Sirico, president of the Acton Institute, will join The Laura Ingraham Show tomorrow beginning at 9:30 am EDT to discuss events from the Vatican. Follow the link here for a live broadcast of Laura’s show via Cleveland’s 1420 WHK Radio. Check local listings in your area for other broadcasts of the show.

Read more on Acton on the Laura Ingraham Show…

Jonah Goldberg on NRO takes issue with interpreting the pope according to left-right categories. Here’s the last paragraph:

“Some of John Paul the Great’s detractors saw his ‘social conservatism’ as a contradiction to his criticism of capitalism run amok, or regarded his opposition to the death penalty as at odds with his opposition to abortion. John Paul confounded so many because his views on these and other issues were unswervingly consistent with a vision of the world bound not by the ideological categories of the moment but by the standards of eternity. My guess is his vision will be debated long after words like right and left have melted away like the snows of Canossa.”

Read more on More on JPII…