"One person who knows Pope Benedict well is Father Joseph Fessio..."

...  a former theology student of Josef Ratzinger when he taught at the university of Regensburg in Germany. Father Fessio is now the editor of Ignatius Press that has published the English translation of almost all of Josef Ratzinger's books. 

Asked about the personality of the Pope, Father Fessio says "he was a wonderful teacher, very kind, very intelligent... with an ironic sense of humour... .we all loved him." Father Fessio also has high words of praise for the Pope's skills as a theologian: He's not simply "one of history's great theologians, he's really a creative and original theologian"... somebody who "always finds a new insight, a new idea that will inspire you." When it comes to the main priorities of the Pope, Father Fessio says that the theme of new evangelisation, especially for Europe, "is a key motive of his papacy and that's why he took the name Benedict."

That is the introduction to this April 18th Vatican Radio audio interview with Fr. Fessio and John Allen, Jr., in which the two men discuss the seventh anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI's pontificate. For more about books by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI published by Ignatius Press, visit Ignatius Insight or this dedicated site.