With God You Are Never Alone

These contemplative speeches by Pope Benedict XVI, who died in 2022, center “the inviolable dignity of man, made in God’s image” in matters both earthly and eternal. Spanning Benedict’s 2005 to 2013 tenure as pope, the 10 addresses fall into two categories: those concerned with the “life of the Church”—including reflections on the legacy of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, and commentary on the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s—and those that engage politics, history, and ethics more broadly, including the collection’s most affecting entry, a 2006 speech delivered at the gates of Auschwitz-Birkenau, in which the German pontiff sought “forgiveness and reconciliation” and offered “a plea to the living God never to let this happen again.” While the lack of historical context might leave some readers lost (each speech is only introduced with the year, place, and occasion), this succeeds in painting a comprehensive portrait of an intelligent, articulate, and often compassionate leader equally willing to discuss disturbing concrete issues (such as the sexual abuse scandals that came to light during his papacy, for which he implores “forgiveness from God and from the persons involved” ) and abstract theological concerns. It’s a worthy tribute to a vital figure in the history of the Catholic church. (Sept.)