“The Infancy Narratives," the third volume of Benedict XVI's trilogy dedicated to Jesus of Nazareth, was presented this morning to journalists and invited guests, including members of the diplomatic corps and the various publishing houses who have printed or will produce the book in various languages.

In addition to Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, one of the speakers, there were three bishops in attendance as well as Pope Benedict’s personal secretary, Msgr. Georg Gaenswein.

“The Infancy Years” will be in Italian bookstores on Wednesday in Italian, German, Croatian, French, English, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish, and will be sold in 50 other countries. It will be available in 20 additional languages in 72 countries in coming months. Just over a million copies have been printed. The Pope’s first book on Jesus of Nazareth, published in April 2007, was translated into 41 languages for over two million copies. His second volume on Jesus was published in February 2011 in 40 editions and one million copies.

Unlike the previous volumes that were presented in the Holy See Press Office, the presentation today took place in the Pius X Room of a nearby Vatican building. Presenters include Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture; Maria Clara Bingemer, professor of theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro; Fr. Giuseppe Costa, director of the Vatican Publishing House; Paolo Mieli, president of Rizzoli (RCS) Publications, and Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J., director of the Holy See Press Office. (I posted a brief video on my youtube page, joansrome, to give you an idea of the atmosphere)

The book, defined by its author as a "small antechamber" to the trilogy on Jesus of Nazareth, is 176 pages long in Italian and comprises a Foreword, four chapters, and an Epilogue. It is 132 pages in English, though there are 12 pages (roman numerals), before the Foreword, including the Table of Contents. English does not have an alphabetical index at the end, nor a reference to Biblical quotations.

Cardinal Ravasi.

Of the eight titles I saw, only English has Pope Benedict XVI. The other volumes eliminate the title ‘Pope’ and all use only Benedict XVI (Bento XVI, Benedikt XVI, Benoit XVI, etc), in addition to his birth name, Joseph Ratzinger. I also noted that the English version is also the only one not to have the publisher’s name on the cover: it is on the spine

What I found fascinating was that the original German title of this book is “Prolog, The Infancy Years.” The use of the word “prolog” is interesting because the Pope himself, in the Foreword, speaks of an antechamber, something that comes before the main event: “I can at last consign to the reader the long promised little book on the narratives of Jesus' childhood. It is not a third volume but a sort of small ‘antechamber’ to the two preceding volumes on the future and message of Jesus of Nazareth.”

The presentation speeches for Benedict XVI’s book did not appear in the daily bulletin of the press office, though the Vatican Information Service offered a summary:

"The first chapter is dedicated to the genealogies of the Savior in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, which are very different, although both have the same theological and symbolic meaning: the placing of Jesus in history and his true origin as a new beginning of world history.

"The theme of Chapter Two is the Annunciation of the birth of John the Baptist and that of Jesus. Rereading the dialogue between Mary and the Archangel Gabriel in the Gospel of Luke, Joseph Ratzinger explains that, through a woman, God 'seeks to enter the world anew'. In order to liberate man from sin, he writes, quoting Bernard of Clairvaux, God needs 'free obedience' to his will. 'In creating freedom, he made himself in a certain sense dependent upon man. His power is tied to the unenforceable yes of a human being'. Thus, only thanks to Mary's assent can the history of salvation begin.

"Chapter Three is centered on the event in Bethlehem and the historical context of the birth of Jesus, the Roman Empire under Augustus, which extends from East to West and whose universal dimension allows for the entry into the world of 'a universal Savior'; 'it is indeed the fullness of time'. The single elements of the story of the birth are dense with meaning: the poverty in which 'he who is truly the first-born of all that is' chooses to reveal himself, and therefore 'the cosmic glory' that envelopes the manger; God's special love for the poor, which manifests itself in the annunciation to the shepherds; and the words of the Gloria, whose translation is controversial.

"The fourth chapter is dedicated to the three Magi, who saw the star of the 'King of the Jews' and who had come to adore the child, and to the flight into Egypt. Here the figures of the 'magoi', reconstructed through a rich range of historical, linguistic and scientific information, are outlined as a fascinating emblem of the inner unrest and search for truth of the human spirit.

"Finally, the Epilogue, with the story - according to the Gospel of Luke - of the last episode in the childhood of Jesus, the last account we have of him before the beginning of his public ministry with his baptism in the Jordan. It is the episode of the three days during the Passover pilgrimage to the Temple in Jerusalem, in which twelve-year-old Jesus leaves Mary and Joseph and stays in the Temple to discuss with the rabbis. Jesus, who was growing 'in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man', manifests himself in his nature as true God and, at the same time, true man, who 'thought and learned in human fashion'."

Publishers allowed certain excerpts from “The Infancy Narratives” to be used today. I have selected a small portion of those excerpts.

Chapter I, “Where are you from?” (John 19:9) The role of Mary in world history

“Yet, most important of all is the fact that the genealogy ends with a woman: Mary, who truly marks a new beginning and relativizes the entire genealogy. … In Jesus’ case there is no reference to fatherhood, instead we read: ‘Jacob (was) the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.”

“The genealogy is still important. Joseph is the legal father of Jesus. Through him, Jesus belongs by law, ‘legally’, to the House of David. And yet he comes from elsewhere, ‘from above’ - God himself. The mystery of his provenance, his dual origin, confronts us quite concretely: his origin can be named and yet it is a mystery. Only God is truly his father. The human genealogy has a certain significance in terms of world history. And yet in the end, it is Mary, the lowly virgin from Nazareth, in whom a new beginning takes place, in whom human existence starts afresh.”

Chapter III. The Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem The historical and theological framework of the nativity story in Luke’s Gospel

“’In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled’. With these words Luke introduces his account of the birth of Jesus and explains how it came to take place in Bethlehem. A population census, for purposes of determining and collecting taxes, was what prompted Joseph to set off from Nazareth for Bethlehem, together with Mary, his betrothed, who was expecting a child….”

“The context in world history is important for Luke. For the first time, ‘all the world’, the ecumene in its entirety, is to be enrolled. For the first time there is a government and an empire than spans the globe. For the first time, there is a great expanse of peace in which everyone’s property can be registered and placed at the service of the wider community. Only now, when there is a commonality of law and property on a large scale, and when a universal language has made it possible for a cultural community to trade in ideas and goods, only now can a message of universal salvation, a universal Savior, enter the world: it is indeed the ‘fullness of time’.”

Chapter IV. The Men from the East and the Flight into Egypt Astrology and Religion in the Magi story

“Gregory Nazianzen says that at the very moment when the Magi adored Jesus, astrology came to an end, as the stars from then on traced the orbit determined by Christ. …”

“… Hence, in the letters he wrote from prison to the Ephesians and the Colossians, Paul emphasizes that the Risen Christ has conquered all the powers and forces in the heavens, and that he reigns over the entire universe. The story of the wise men’s star makes a similar point: it is not the star that determines the child’s destiny, it is the child that directs the star. If we wish, we may speak here of a kind of anthropological revolution: human nature assumed by God – as revealed in God’s only begotten Son – is greater than all the powers of the material world, greater than the entire universe.”

SYNOD ON NEW EVANGELIZATION: FINAL PROPOSITION 12

Proposition 12 : DOCUMENTS OF VATICAN II

The Synod Fathers recognize the teaching of Vatican II as a vital instrument for transmitting the faith in the context of the New Evangelization. At the same time, they consider that the documents of the Council should be properly read and interpreted. Therefore, they wish to manifest their adherence to the thought of our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, who has indicated the hermeneutical principle of reform within continuity so as to be able to discover in those texts the authentic spirit of the Council. “There is the "hermeneutic of reform", of renewal in the continuity of the one subject-Church which the Lord has given to us. She is a subject which increases in time and develops, yet always remaining the same, the one subject of the journeying People of God. [...] However, wherever this interpretation guided the implementation of the Council, new life developed and new fruit ripened” (Benedict XVI, Address to the Roman Curia, 22 December 2005). In this way it will be possible to respond to the need for renewal required by the modern world and, at the same time, faithfully preserve the identity of the Church’s nature and mission.

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