PRESENTATION OF THE HOLY FATHER'S BOOK ON THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH IN ST. AUGUSTINE

Vatican City, 15 March 2012 (VIS) - Yesterday eventing in the German embassy to the Holy See, the presentation took place of a work by Joseph Ratzinger: "The People and the House of God in Augustine's Doctrine of the Church". The book, the Pope's doctoral thesis from 1953, is part of a series of sixteen volumes which aims to bring together all Joseph Ratzinger's theological works up to the time of his election to the papal throne in 2005.

During the presentation, Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller of Regensburg, Germany, who has published the book in collaboration with the Pope Benedict XVI Institute, also based in Regensburg, recalled that "St. Augustine is a thinker, bishop and saint who still spiritually accompanies our Holy Father. The Pope continues to maintain a familiar but in-depth dialogue with the saint, to which his Wednesday catecheses bear ample witness".

Among others, the presentation was attended by Cardinal Paul Josef Cordes, president emeritus of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum"; Cardinal Walter Brandmuller, and Archbishop Robert Zollitsch of Freiburg im Breisgau, president of the German Episcopal Conference.