I think it fitting to share on the Corner a few highlights of Benedict XVI’s remarkable career, which included being the chief theological adviser for John Paul II, and the mind behind Dominus Iesus, which sought to refute then-popular theological speculations that in fact all religions were ways to the Divine Logos, or that the positive aspects of other religions could be put on the same level as Christian revelation.
Instead, Joseph Ratzinger and John Paul II championed the historic teaching of the church that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. And that salvation comes exclusively through him and the mystical body which is his Church, which does extend beyond the membership roles of the visible Church:
In this sense, one can and must say that Jesus Christ has a significance and a value for the human race and its history, which are unique and singular, proper to him alone, exclusive, universal, and absolute. Jesus is, in fact, the Word of God made man for the salvation of all. In expressing this consciousness of faith, the Second Vatican Council teaches: “The Word of God, through whom all things were made, was made flesh, so that as perfect man he could save all men and sum up all things in himself. The Lord is the goal of human history, the focal point of the desires of history and civilization, the centre of mankind, the joy of all hearts, and the fulfilment of all aspirations. It is he whom the Father raised from the dead, exalted and placed at his right hand, constituting him judge of the living and the dead”.45 “It is precisely this uniqueness of Christ which gives him an absolute and universal significance whereby, while belonging to history, he remains history’s centre and goal: ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end’ (Rev 22:13)”.46