"In the Footsteps of Joseph Ratzinger"

This morning, I received a new book co-published by the Catholic Herald and Family Publications: "In the Footsteps of Joseph Ratzinger" by Alessandra Borghese (translated by Sebastian Cresswell-Turner from the original Sulle Tracce di Joseph Ratzinger.)

The author describes her "pilgrimage to the places most dear and important to the Pope", travelling with her friend Gloria von Thurn und Taxis not long before the Holy Father's visit to Bavaria. Her charming account makes evident her affection for both Bavaria and for Joseph Ratzinger, whom she had known before he became Pope. Throughout the book, there are reminiscences and anecdotes about the Holy Father from her own experience and those of people she spoke to along the way.

We are taken to Munich and Freisung, the abbey of Scheyern, where he often went on retreat, the shrine of Altötting, the towns where he spent his childhood: Marktl am Inn, Tittmoning and Traunstein ("the most beautiful town in the world" in the eyes of the Holy Father). A chapter is dedicated to Regensburg ("A small Rome")

At the end of the book, Borghese describes her experiences of meeting the Holy Father on his visit to Bavaria and offers an epilogue "From Regensburg to Istanbul" discussing the Holy Father's visit to Turkey in the light of the controversy over his lecture at Regensburg.

ISBN: 9781871217810. Price £7.95. Paperback 128 pages. Can be ordered direct from Family Publications or from the Amazon link below

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