VATICAN CITY (CNS) Technically, Catholics are not required to agree with Pope Benedict XVI’s comments on political and even theological issues in a new book-length interview, but they do owe the pope respect, a Vatican official said. "It is an interview, not a magisterial act, but it is still the pope speaking and he deserves respect," said Archbishop Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation.
The archbishop was one of the main speakers at a Vatican news conference November 23 to mark the official release of "Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times."
The 219-page book is a series of questions posed by the German author Peter Seewald and answered by the pope in person during six one-hour sessions in July. The pope reviewed the transcript of the interview and added a few clarifications but did not change what he said originally, Seewald told reporters.
After the news conference, Pope Benedict met privately with Seewald and representatives of the eight publishing houses releasing the book simultaneously in the original German and translations in Italian, English, French and Spanish. Jesuit Father Joseph D. Fessio, founder and editor of the U.S.-based Ignatius Press, was present for the news conference and the audience.
Archbishop Fisichella said he did not know if the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reviewed the text before publication, "but I do not think it was necessary" since the book is an interview and does not represent the formal exercise of his teaching authority in a church document.
"What degree of ‘assent’ must the faithful give it? Certainly ‘assent’ is not the technical term that should be used," he said. Just like the pope himself wrote in his book, "Jesus of Nazareth," the themes and the answers reflect the pope’s years of study and his pastoral concern as head of the Catholic Church, but the book is not a formal papal presentation of Catholic faith.
"I believe what this book, which is an interview and not a magisterial act although it’s still the pope talking requires of the faithful is respect," the archbishop said.
At the same time, in the book the pope "condenses his thinking, his concerns and sufferings over the past few years, his pastoral plan and expectations for the future. The impression one gets is that of a pope optimistic about the life of the church despite the difficulties that always accompany it," he said.
"What emerges most strongly is a humanity that is strengthened by simplicity," Archbishop Fisichella said.
"In many respects," he said, "the interview becomes a provocation to undertake a serious examination of conscience inside and outside the church in order to reach a real conversion of heart and mind" in personal behaviour and public policy on issues ranging from "society, ecology, sexuality, the economy and finance, and the church itself."
Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesman, said the pope is "not ingenuous" and demonstrated courage in accepting the interview request even though he knew there was a good chance that some of the questions and his answers would spark controversy.
The Jesuit said he asked Pope Benedict why he agreed to the interview and the pope’s answer was that "obviously is wasn’t just to respond to Seewald’s questions, but because he thought that speaking to people today in a language that was simple, colloquial, on many questions that people pose would be a service he could render," Father Lombardi said.
"There is a type of magisterium found in official documents that are written, studied and rewritten; there is the magisterium in the homilies and catechesis of the pope; and then there is the communication of Pope Benedict in a colloquial, direct way" found in "Light of the World," he said.