Benedict XVI’s Interpretation of the Psalms

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the way Pope Benedict XVI quotes and interprets biblical psalms. In the introductory section, the author presents statistics and the ways in which Benedict XVI quotes Book of Psalms, and then offers a general, introductory look at psalms and their analysis in papal catechesis. In subsequent sections of the article, the author focuses on the pope’s historical-critical exegesis and linguistic analyses of the psalms, followed by the pope’s Christological, ecclesiological, Mariological, and actualizing reading of the Psalms. In the concluding section, the author discusses the relationship of the psalms to prayer, the pope’s references to the Fathers of the Church and recalls Benedict XVI’s most personal statements on the Psalms.