Jezus i Jego Krzyż – rozważania na marginesie myśli teologicznej Josepha Ratzingera

Abstract

The article is a short analysis of the theological teaching of Joseph Ratzinger. It is focused on the idea of the Jesus’ Cross. The first part of the text considers a following subject: if Jesus were to be separated from His Cross, sooner or later such a theology would become a heresy. Such a heterodox consequence can be found in almost every Christological heresy. Cardinal Ratzinger discusses this kind of thinking which he meets in liberation theology, i.e. an ideological movement promoted by Gustavo Gutiérrez mainly in South America and Africa. The second part of the article is concentrated on the theology of liturgy, especially on that of the Eucharist. Joseph Ratzinger seeks to prove that the Eucharist is not a feast, a banquet, or a collective meal. The main sense of the Eucharist can only be found in the Cross where the Eucharist reveals its identity as a Holy Sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Victim-Priest. In the conclusion the author claims that one cannot understand Jesus Christ without His Cross, because it is upon the foundation of the Cross that the Holy Faith of the Church, the creed of the Church, is built.