Actio Divina: The Marian Mystery of the Church in the Theology of Joseph Ratzinger (Benedict XVI)

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This book is a study of a significant nexus in contemporary Catholic thought that has not had the attention that it deserves and is peculiarly relevant to the turbulent conditions of the Modern Church, especially in relation to Vatican II. It is a portrayal of Ratzinger’s discerning grasp of Vatican II Mariology and ecclesiology as a peritus of note during the Council’s sessions. The author lucidly sets out Ratzinger’s understanding of Marian theology as key to the Church’s self-understanding, which was the primary burden of Vatican II and still of the contemporary Church. Faithful to his hermeneutic, one of continuity in reform, the book casts Ratzinger’s appraisal of the Mary-Church relation as receptive to a new shift in the decision not to have a separate Council document on Mary because Mary is already the full realisation of the Church. One of the book’s strikingly novel contributions is its depiction of the Marian dimensions to the Church’s liturgy and missionary evangelization. The author shows that Ratzinger’s thought here is both intricate and coherent and that it discloses a profoundly unifying direction in the Council as a whole, that has not yet been fully understood.