Conscience in Its Age by Benedict XVI (Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger). Read this and you'll know why his critics are so vociferous. He is a deeply learned man with impeccible adherence to the tenets of the faith. He cannot be derided as a fool or a closed minded bigot. To do so would reveal the accuser to be exactly that. I knew almost nothing about him before he was Pope. (Not that I know much more now). But it is plain to see not only how intelligent he is, but how well he writes and how widely he has read. I think even though he stands in a very long shadow he will step in to the light and cast his own in short order.

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