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Vatican publishes Pope Benedict XVI’s private homilies in English

Ishmael Adibuah By Ishmael Adibuah for EWTN News

June 24, 2026 Ishmael Adibuah The Dispatch 2 Print

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI celebrates Mass in the chapel of the Vatican's Teutonic Cemetery for his former students during their annual gathering on Aug. 30, 2015. | Credit: Ratzinger Foundation.

The Vatican has published, for the first time in English, a collection of Pope Benedict XVI’s private homilies from 2005 to 2017.

According to Vatican News, the Vatican Publishing House has published “The Lord Holds Us By the Hand,” previously released in Italian in 2025 under the title “Il Signore Ci Tiene per Mano.”

[Editor’s note: The book has been published in North America by Ignatius Press.]

The book contains Benedict’s homilies delivered during private Masses both during his time as pope and after his resignation from the papacy in 2013.

The volume includes homilies from the seasons of Advent, Lent, and Easter, given at either the private chapel in the Apostolic Palace or the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican, and focused on developing a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

The book offers an example of the continuity of the late pope’s theological work since his time as Joseph Ratzinger, both as an acclaimed theologian and as head of the then-Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The book also highlights his focus on the person of Christ as an accompanying figure for today’s Christians.

“The Lord Holds Us by the Hand” includes a preface by Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Pope Benedict XVI’s former personal secretary, and an introduction by Father Federico Lombardi S.J., president of the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation.

A second volume, dedicated to Benedict’s homilies given during Ordinary Time, is forthcoming.

Next year, 2027, will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Joseph Ratzinger, who would later become Pope Benedict XVI.

• Books by Benedict XVI published by Ignatius Press

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One new cardinal did not attend the consistory due to heart problems — Here is what Pope Francis said:

August 27, 2022 Catholic News Agency 3
Pope Francis at the consistory in St. Peter’s Basilica, Aug. 27, 2022 / Daniel Ibáñez / CNA

CNA Newsroom, Aug 27, 2022 / 13:46 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis ended his homily during the Aug. 27 consistory mentioning that one cardinal-elect, Richard Kuuia Baawobr of Wa (Ghana), was not present. Francis asked for prayers for the African prelate, explaining Baawobr had been taken ill.

The Holy Father said Cardinal Baawobr had been hospitalized and, therefore, unable to attend the ceremony. 

“I do not want to end without recalling Cardinal Richard Kuuia Baawobr, Bishop of Wa, who yesterday, upon his arrival in Rome, felt bad and was hospitalized with a heart problem and I think they did some type of operation,” said Pope Francis after his homily for the day’s festivities. 

“Let us pray for this brother who ought to have been here and is hospitalized,” said the Holy Father. “Thank you.”

Bishop Richard Kuuia Baawobr of Wa, who was elected present of SECAM July 30, 2022. Courtesy of SECAM
Bishop Richard Kuuia Baawobr of Wa, who was elected present of SECAM July 30, 2022. Courtesy of SECAM

Elected President of the Symposium of Episcopal Conference of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) on July 30, the 63-year-old Baawobr is known in Ghana for “many acts of charity, key among them, his love for people suffering from mental challenges and who have been neglected by their families,” CNA’s sister agency ACI Africa reported in July.

Baawobr also serves as a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, a post he has held since July 2020. 

He is one of two newly created cardinals from Africa, the other – Cardinal Peter Okpaleke – hails from Nigeria’s Ekwulobia Diocese. Another Ghanaian cardinal, Peter Turkson, currently serves as chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

The hospitalization reveals how swiftly numbers for the conclave can change. With the cardinal, today’s consistory brings the total number of cardinal electors from Africa to 17 or 12.8% of the total cardinal electors. Sub-Saharan Africa is one of the world’s fastest-growing regions of Catholicism, according to statistics published by the Vatican in the Annuario Pontificio and the Annuarium Statisticum Ecclesiae.

In a July 28 interview with ACI Africa, Baawobr reflected on his mission as cardinal, saying, “It is an occasion to renew our commitment to serve and to serve in collaboration with the Holy Father.”

“It comes down very strongly that we are not alone in this mission. And the Holy Father is inviting us to share, to collaborate with him,” he said and added, “I think from there also I draw the message that wherever we are, if people are needing our collaboration in order to attain a specific goal, we should offer that with joy and humility and simplicity.”

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2 Comments

  2. I have been waiting for this book of homilies to be published in English since I heard about it last year. More reading ahead, on a theme I have been thinking about frequently,: deepening my personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

    Reply

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