On Peter and the Church

Before his election, Pope Benedict wrote a book on the Church and the office which he would (unbeknownst to him at the time) one day hold.  Here're some cool quotes:

...the gates of hell, the destructive powers of the abyss, are ranged against Peter... pg. 62

The Church is by nature the home of forgiveness, and it is thus that chaos is banished from her. She is held together by forgiveness, and Peter is the perpetual living reminder of this reality: she is not a communion of the perfect but a communion of sinners who need and seek forgiveness... pg. 64

The Church can come into being only where man finds the truth about himself, and the truth is that he needs grace... pg. 65

[The Popes] are so glaringly, so blatantly unequal to this function that the very empowerment of man to be the rock makes evident how little it is they who sustain the Church but God alone who does so, who does so more in spite of men than through them...God demonstrates the power of his love, and thus remains faithful to the law of the history of salvation, precisely in the paradox of human impotence... pg.

The Church is Eucharist. pg. 75

Right from the beginning, the Gospel of Jesus Christ equally excludes racism and class warfare on principle...she is not Church if she does not bring together those who--from the point of view of their sensibilities--do not suit one another and have no sympathy for one another. pg. 78

It is not the perfecting of one's own self that makes one holy but the purification of the self through its fusion into the all-embracing love of Christ: it is the holiness of the triune God himself. pg. 95

Lots more in there--it;s a great short overview of a Catholic understanding of the Church of Christ. For a longer discussion of Ratzinger's ecclesiology (theology of the Church), see here.