Kathryn Lopez writes here about the Person of the Year behind the Person of the Year. Pope Benedict stands as a kind of foundation for the papacy of Francis. It is as if Francis is putting into action the plan and agenda of Benedict. Lopez writes,

If you love Pope Francis, thank Pope Benedict XVI. And do him the favor of listening to the new pontiff.

“God is love,” Pope Benedict wrote in the third volume of his series on Jesus of Nazareth. This final installment, published a little over a year ago, is on Christ as infant in the Bible. Benedict went on to write: “But love can also be hated when it challenges us to transcend ourselves. It is not a romantic ‘good feeling.’ Redemption is not ‘wellness,’ it is not about basking in self-indulgence; on the contrary it is a liberation from imprisonment from self-absorption.”

The article goes on to outline the real plan of the Vatican and laments mainstream media reps’ inability to see beyond the political paradigm. Pope Francis and Pope Benedict have a much larger vision for the world and the church, and we do well to pay attention.

Read the whole article here.