VATICAN CITY — Shortly before Pope Benedict XVI made his apostolic visit to the United States in 2008, EWTN commissioned German philosopher and filmmaker Raphaela Schmid and myself to film and produce The Papacy of Reason — Inside the Mind of Benedict XVI — an hour-long documentary looking into the mind and teaching of the pontiff.
Working with the news agency Rome Reports, we sought to create an overview of Benedict's life. We examined the principal teaching themes of his pontificate and his extraordinary ability to convey the deep mysteries of the faith in an accessible and relevant way, guiding the people of God in truth and love.
The documentary comprises interviews with key Church leaders and Vatican experts including the late US prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal William Levada, the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, now Archbishop of Colombo, Rome’s Chief Rabbi, Riccardo Di Segni, the Irish theologian and former student of Joseph Ratzinger, Father Vincent Twomey, the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, the German Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, and the Italian politician and philosopher Rocco Buttiglione.
Full version:
Excerpts:
1. The Papacy of Reason — Tradition and Catechesis
2. The Papacy of Reason — Faith and Reason in Europe and the US
3. The Papacy of Reason — The Meaning of Life, Papal Trials