Here is another biography on Pope Benedict XVI. In this short and inexpensive biography of Pope Benedict XVI, Fr. Michael Collins summarizes Pope Benedict’s life and his accomplishments. Collins gives an overview of his early life, but goes more in depth into his life after he is ordained a priest. One point of the pope’s life that Collins covers more in depth is his attendance at the Second Vatican Council as Cardinal Joseph Frings of Cologne’s theological advisor. At the Council he met several other major theologians and Council Fathers like Rahner, Kung, Conger, De Lubac, Chenu, Wojtyla and others.

After the Council, he returned to teaching until he was made Archbishop of Munich and later cardinal by Pope Paul VI. Benedict was in the conclaves of 1978 that elected Pope John Paul I and Pope John Paul II. Benedict was a friend and advisor to John Paul II from the days of the Council until that pontiff’s death.

In 1981, the Pope called Benedict to Rome to be the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Fr. Collins devotes two chapters to various issues and people that Benedict had to deal with as Prefect, notably Liberation Theology, Fr. Charles Curran, Fr. Edward Schillebeeckx, Archbishop Hunthausen, Archbishop Lefebvre, and others. He also mentions that John Paul II had Benedict head a commission to prepare a new catechism. The last two chapters cover Benedict’s election and the early events of his pontificate.

Fr. Michael Collins is a priest with the Archdiocese of Dublin, Ireland. He is an accredited journalist to the Holy See and is a commentator for CNN, the BBC, Ireland’s RTE, and others. He is the author of the new book, The Fisherman’s Net: The Influence of the Popes on History (2005), also published by Paulist Press.

This book is recommended to those wanting a short, quick biography on the new Pope. The book flows very well and has few typographical errors. It includes a short bibliography of Pope Benedict’s works.