SPIRIT-UAL WORD-FOR-WORDNESS: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PNEUMATOLOGY AND CHRISTOLOGY IN THE LIGHT OF JOSEPH RATZINGER’S / BENEDICT XVI’S THEOLOGY AND TEACHING

Abstract

Joseph Ratzinger / Benedict XVI proposes a pneumatology derived from the Trinitarian dogma, strictly linked with Christology and having anthropological, ecclesiological, and pastoral consequences (in the domain of spirituality). All theological subdisciplines remain orthodox and lead to the truth only when interlinked, but pneumatology has a particularly “linking” quality because it concerns the One who is, essentially, communion and unity. The intra-Trinitarian “position” of the Holy Spirit explains the structure of the entire reality (including the human, personal reality, together with faith): what is spiritual makes existence more consistent and unites rather than dualizes or divides it. It unifies by creating a relationship (communion) rather than by negating identity (the earthly, physical, and historical specificity), as some heresies or ideologies would have it. Just like the Spirit always acts in communion with the Incarnate Word, Christian spirituality is always set in the historical form of the Church, and charism is always given within institutional structures. Being close to Christ and humility before the humble God is the source of true spirituality.