It is difficult to overestimate the impact that Pope Benedict XVI has had on the Catholic Church. He served the people of God as a priest, an advisor at the Second Vatican Council, a bishop, a cardinal, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the 265th pope. But in addition to his influence as a churchman, Joseph Ratzinger also stands out as one of the most significant thinkers in recent history. He is the author of more than sixty books, numerous articles, and countless homilies. Catholics and non-Catholics alike have been inspired and challenged by his theological writings. For many people, it can be difficult to know where to begin. The Pope Benedict XVI Reader offers a point of entry for those seeking a deeper engagement with his teachings, whether you have read little of his work or have enjoyed it for years. This wide-ranging collection draws together some of the finest excerpts from Ratzinger's interviews, speeches, audiences, homilies, and books, with insights on a variety of topics, including the Trinity, the person of Jesus Christ, the Church, Mary and the saints, the Bible, the liturgy, prayer, the Second Vatican Council, and the challenge of living the faith in the modern world. What emerges is a fascinating portrait of a man whose legacy of scholarly erudition, pastoral gentleness, and deep and abiding love for Christ and his Church continues to awe the world.

A commonly held impression is that Pope Francis is a compassionate shepherd and determined leader but that he lacks the intellectual depth of his recent predecessors. Massimo Borghesi’s The Mind of Pope Francis: Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s Intellectual Journey dismantles that image. Borghesi recounts and analyzes, for the first time, Bergoglio’s intellectual formation, exploring the philosophical, theological, and spiritual principles that support the profound vision at the heart of this pope’s teaching and ministry. Central to that vision is the church as a coincidentia oppositorum, holding together what might seem to be opposing and irreconcilable realities. Among his guiding lights have been the Jesuit saints, Ignatius and Peter Faber; philosophers Gaston Fessard, Romano Guardini, and Alberto Methol Ferrer; and theologians Henri de Lubac and Hans Urs von Balthasar. Recognizing how these various strands have come together to shape the mind and heart of Jorge Mario Bergoglio offers essential insights into who he is and the way he is leading the church. Notably, this groundbreaking book is informed by four interviews provided to the author, via audio recordings, by the pope himself on his own intellectual formation, major portions of which are published here for the first time.

Kraig Holmes is a hard-working independent contractor living in Baltimore. He's an average guy—with one exception. A painful secret haunts him daily. Kraig had a one-time sexual experience with a man he knew little about. It propelled him into a lifestyle of promiscuity and an insatiable appetite for dangerous sex. When the guy disappeared into thin air, Kraig was left hurt and devastated. Now Kraig has developed a taste for the married men who pursue him while he's working on their homes. When his sexual escapades spiral out of control and out into the open, he quickly tries to get things under wraps. Then the unexpected happens—a chance encounter with his one night stand from college. Kraig is hurt when he discovers the man doesn't even remember him. Kraig vows to set up the man who turned him out and disappeared. What Kraig doesn't know is that his "victim" isn't the lay-down-and-take-it type. He has a few cards up his sleeve that will deliver damaging blows to Kraig's life. When it's all said and done, the truth with be revealed, and there will be consequences. M.T. Pope delivers another hot, scandalous tale full of lust, infidelity, and over-the-top drama.

Ten years after their home was almost torn apart by infidelity, Mona and Shawn Black are just getting back to normal . . . or so it seems. Both Shawn and Mona are still keeping secrets from each other and their immediate family. Back to his old tricks, James Parks exits prison older but not wiser, and his bitter rage seeks revenge. He again manipulates the lives of the Black family with knowledge of secrets that they hold locked away. He uses any and everyone in his path to get his payback; that is, until he stumbles onto someone who offers him something he vowed to do away with forever: love. Will Mona and Shawn learn that it is best not to keep secrets and just let the chips fall where they may? Will James bury the hatchet to try his hand at love once again? Is there still hope for these wayward souls, or will they be swallowed up by their lies and secrets once again? Secrets, lies, deception, murder, lust, and revenge rule the pages of this sophisticated drama. Let's see what happens when the gates of their lives swing wide open once again.