“All the aspirations which the prayer of other religions expresses are fulfilled in the reality of Christianity beyond all measure.”
This ecclesial document was written in 1989 by the then-Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Ratzinger, who would later become Pope Benedict XVI.
Ratzinger was responding to a surge of popular interest in forms of Eastern spirituality—including such methods as Zen, yoga, and so-called transcendental meditation—which had led to an uncritical adoption by some Christians of methods of prayer incompatible with Christian worship.
The fascination with Eastern methods continues today, and Christians must still carefully distinguish that which is authentically Christian from that which is not.
Ratzinger’s is a masterful and accessible treatment on certain fundamentals of Christian prayer. Though he addresses the letter to bishops, one need not be a theologian to be spiritually edified — or have one's prayer enriched — by what he writes.
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