O longo pontificado de 35 anos: João Paulo II – (1978/ 2005) e Bento XVI (2005/ 2013)

Abstract

This study operates under the hypothesis that, between the years 1978 and 2013 – spanning the pontificates of John Paul II (1978–2005) and Benedict XVI (2005 – 2013) – there existed, in essence, a single continuous “35-year pontificate.” Our objective is to ascertain whether documentary parallels can be identified in the primary sources produced by these two pontiffs, as well as to determine whether they adhered to a similar ideological and intellectual trajectory in their treatment of the subject of “communism” or, conversely, whether they diverged on this matter. The principal sources of our inquiry comprise the Encyclical Letters and the allocutions delivered by the “Successors of Peter”, alongside a comparative historical bibliography and supplementary academic literature that contextualize the historical circumstances in which these popes were embedded, as well as the theological, doctrinal, and political objectives that shaped their leadership from the “Throne of Peter”. In this regard, we deem it crucial to reconstruct the biographies of both pontiffs to assess whether the historical events they experienced played a decisive role in shaping their respective papacies during pivotal moments of recent history. Likewise, we endeavor to delineate the continuities and discontinuities that characterized their pontificates in relation to one another.