"John Allen's book goes a long way toward explaining the central enigma surrounding Ratzinger: How did this erstwhile liberal end up as the chief architect of the the third great wave of repression in Catholic theology in the twentieth century?

Based on extensive interviews with the cardinal's students and colleagues, archival research in his native Bavaria, and a thorough familiarity with his writings, Allen's account shows how the roots of Ratzinger's deep suspicion of "the world," his preoccupation with human sinfulness, and his demand for rock-solid loyalty to the church go deep. They reach into his childhood "in the shadow of the Nazis" and reflect his formative theological influences: St. Augustine, St. Bonaventure, and (oddly for a Catholic) Martin Luther rather than the more world-affirming St.

Thomas Aquinas." "When the cardinals of the Catholic Church next gather in the Sistine Chapel to elect a pope, Allen argues, they will in effect be deciding whether to continue the policies Ratzinger has been the central force in shaping. John Allen's book offers an insightful, informative, sobering account of those policies and their impact on the church throughout the world."--BOOK JACKET.