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Thanks for the response Joe. My short answer is that as a German, Ratzinger (like pretty much all Europeans, even of the center-right) takes for granted the existence of a welfare state. Does this make make him a socialist? Depends on who you ask. In the fever swamps of the right wing in the days of Obama, any support for governmnet programs gets stamped with a hammer and sickle. But this moment will pass as we both know. In reality no he's not a socialist. I think he would identify politically roughly with the German Christian democrats. And, given that the welfare state is only controversial in the US (a little bit in the UK too) the political economy debate in the US would strike him as odd, (which it is by world standards). America is exceptional in that there really is a still strong political ideology here that resists expansion of government roles on principle alone. My take on Benedict is that he would want us to make our existing society and institutions more charitable and humane. But I don't think he would identify with Mr. Warren's criticism at all which is really one rooted more in classical economic liberalism than Catholic social thought. - diaperman