Question 3.54

3.54 How would you describe the relationship between John Paul II and Joseph Ratzinger, his prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith?

I think that there was such harmony between the two men that it had become impossible for them to be separated from each other.

John Paul II was always amazed by the intellectual depth and obvious theological genius of Joseph Ratzinger. For his part, the cardinal was fascinated by John Paul’s immersion in God.

These two successors of Peter had the same vision of the challenges facing the Church: the need for a new evangelization, the dialogue between faith and reason, the battle against the “culture of death”, to use the expression of John Paul II, and resistance against various forms of ideological oppression, from Communism to liberal relativism. Above all, they wanted to lead each of us to develop a true interior life.

The cultures of the Polish philosopher and the German theologian, the athletic ascetic and the “Benedictine” professor, were different. Yet the popes met in the depths of their spiritualities. Indeed, they had one and the same mystique: God himself no doubt wanted his two sons to be similar.

The great bond uniting Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI is still suffering. John XXIII also suffered a great deal. He used to say, with arms outstretched, “I suffer painfully, but with love.” When his friends questioned him, at the time of the opening of the Council, he replied, “My portion will be suffering.”

There is no Petrine ministry without a share in the Cross of Christ.