Benedict XVI turns 90 tomorrow, Easter Sunday. Having lived to this venerable age, and having written rivers of words himself, not much has been known about his personal life except for the usual biographical details. Until now.

Benedict’s Last Testament in his own Words with Peter Seewald is the latest, and reportedly the last, in a series of book-length interviews which Seewald has conducted with Benedict for the past 25 years.

When this latest collaboration was first announced, most echoed Archbishop Georg Gänswein’s words that “these questions were put in a field that seemed to be already harvested”. However Seewald has gathered the finest harvest yet. The book manages to combine charming vignettes that Benedict recounts with evident delight together with weighty insights on key events in his life including his historic resignation.

After reading some reviews one would not have been mistaken to think that this book is a sensationalist account of the problems that plagued his pontificate. But sensationalism has never been Benedict’s style. This is not an apologetic exercise on his papacy. It is neither a theological treatise nor is it a mere biography that chronicles the life of the great and good. It rather has a valedictory feel.

In all likelihood, it is the last opportunity to explore the workings of the mind of one of the great theologians of the modern era who would eventually not be out of place in the illustrious pantheon of the Doctors of the Church. Last Testament makes us privy to the innermost thoughts of a very private man who, indifferent to power and personal ambition, was placed in very public positions that he did not seek but nevertheless strove to serve the Church he loved in the best way he could.

Benedict has never been a gregarious, slap-on-the-back person. There are no cheap thrills with him. His charisma, of which he laughingly says he possesses none, lies in his quiet strength and moral courage. One surprising detail in this book is the numerous times the description “he laughs” (or variations thereof) appear in the text even alongside the toughest questions.

Benedict answers every question unflinchingly. He speaks with a disarming openness. He neither glosses over nor rework his answers. He does not try to present himself in a more favourable light. Yet, Benedict does set the record straight in some instances, especially Cardinal Christoph Schönborn’s account of the forceful manner with which Benedict defended Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, his bumbling Secretary of State.

His pontificate has had, and still has, its share of critics, but in this book, the Pope Emeritus faces his toughest critic yet: himself. He admits that governance was not his strong suit and that it took him a while to take a decision, but draws the line at calling his pontificate a failure.

Benedict does not have one word of criticism for his maladroit colleagues and avowed enemies who routinely sabotaged his papacy. One gets the impression though that, like President Harry Truman, the buck did stop with him.

Other popes are judged primarily by their pontificates. With Ratzinger there is a canon of written work which is a testament to the clarity of his thinking. In this latest volume he touches on everything from obscure and stunning biographical information (for example his mother was illegitimate which for that time is a significant revelation) to the most profound questions about life, faith, and the last things, especially his own death.

Although he has grown frail by age, one can still sense his strength when championing the truth in an era characterised by the ‘dictatorship of relativism’. His is still a quiet, tranquil voice of objective reason in an era of strident subjectivism. Above all he remains a serene voice of faith in an age of unbelief.

Some would view Last Testament as probably a somewhat minor instalment in this Benedict/Seewald collaboration, but it is unquestionably one of the most personal. It is a rare historical document for it provides a candid evaluation of a pontificate by a pope who is still living. Finally it is a unique portrait of a self-effacing professor who loves cats, reading Hesse, listening to Mozart and who wanted nothing more than to be a simple shepherd in one of the parishes of his beloved Bavaria.

The Maltese translation of the book L-Aħħar Taħdit will be presented on Friday, April 21, at 7.30 p.m. at ĊAK Conference Hall, S. Sommier, Birkirkara.

Alessandra Dee Crespo is Chancellor of the Regional Tribunal of Second Instance, the Church court of appeals.