Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI upheld traditional Catholic moral teaching with consistency. As prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith he signed the 2003 document stating that laws in favour of same-sex unions are contrary to right reason, and as pope he named the protection of life from conception to natural death and of marriage between a man and a woman as 'principles which are not negotiable' (2006). He made the defence of unborn life a constant theme of his teaching.

Benedict XVI gave the traditional liturgy a central place in his pontificate. His 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum declared the 1962 Missal 'never abrogated' and allowed its wide use as the extraordinary form of the Roman rite. In his accompanying letter to bishops he wrote that 'what earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too', framing the measure as a matter of continuity and reconciliation.

Benedict XVI addressed social questions mainly through teaching documents. His 2009 encyclical Caritas in Veritate called for an economy oriented to the common good and spoke of the earth's ecological health, and his migration messages stressed migrants' inalienable rights as well as the 'right not to emigrate'. At the same time, he told European politicians in 2006 that the Church's public priority lay in 'principles which are not negotiable': life, the family and parents' educational rights.

As pope emeritus, Benedict XVI never publicly criticised Francis and in 2018 wrote of an 'interior continuity between the two pontificates, even with all the differences in style and temperament'. His theological and liturgical emphases nonetheless differed from Francis's programme. His contribution to a 2020 book by Cardinal Robert Sarah defending priestly celibacy, published while Francis was weighing the Amazon synod's proposals, was widely seen as an unusual intervention, and he later asked that his name be removed as co-author.

Benedict XVI regarded interreligious dialogue as necessary but insisted that it be grounded in truth and reason. As prefect he signed Dominus Iesus (2000), which affirms the unicity and salvific universality of Jesus Christ and rejects treating the Church as one way of salvation alongside other religions. His 2006 Regensburg lecture on faith and reason provoked controversy in the Muslim world, then led to new Muslim-Christian exchanges such as the 'A Common Word' initiative.

Benedict XVI's communication was scholarly, measured and centred on texts, homilies and lectures rather than spontaneous media appearances. He nonetheless encouraged the Church's presence online, urging priests in 2010 to use digital media while being 'less notable for their media savvy than for their priestly heart', and in December 2012 he became the first pope to post on Twitter under the handle @Pontifex.