Writing in 1966 in his Theological Highlights of Vatican II, Professor Joseph Ratzinger pointed out that even in matters liturgical, Vatican II wanted greater decentralization and plurality within the Church. In 1970, the German bishops’ Conference received a proposal from some theologians, including Walter Kasper, Karl Lehmann, Joseph Ratzinger, to ordain married men of good character to the priesthood.

Years later Pope Benedict XVI imposed the new English translation of the Roman Missal on all English speaking parts of the Latin Church, even though Latinists, Scripture scholars, theologians and liturgists had questioned the quality of the translations. Now the retired pope comes out with a book defending priestly celibacy.

In an article on the new English translation of the Roman Missal, written in 2013, I said that Pope Benedict had forgotten what Professor Joseph Ratzinger wrote about liturgy. Now, in the context of the book on priestly celibacy, one international Catholic paper speaks of “Benedict’s estrangement from Ratzinger.” This is a very powerful indication that the institutional Church can domesticate a theologian; that organized religion can blunt the prophetical charism. May the Lord save us.

Subhash Anand, Bhupalpura, Udaipur-313001