Seven years have passed since the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church. Since that April 19, 2005, it has become clear that his has been a pontificate of ideas. As an example of the value he places on ideas, it is worth recalling his response when he was once reminded that a picture is worth a thousand words: "Yes, and an idea is worth ten thousand pictures".

One of the key elements around which his ministry as Bishop of Rome has revolved is, above all, love. It was not in vain that his first encyclical was entitled degree scroll God is love. In it, Benedict XVI explained how in a world where this sacred term is used and abused, eros must be purified to become true human and Christian love. That is, agape. Affection, affection and human love must be present in charity.

Another of the central and decisive themes for the Pope-teacher is reason, of which he has spoken on countless occasions, as in his speech in Regensburg, one of the most relevant that he has pronounced. Already a year before his election as Pope, he had agreed with the German philosopher Jürgen Habermas that reason and religion could cure each other of their respective pathologies. Likewise, the 'question of truth' has been very present in his writings.

Together with reason, the liturgy introduced him to the world of God, as the Holy Father affirms. Precisely, the latter is one of the central points of his theology, and he has had a special interest in it since his childhood. He knows that it is the true driving force of the Church and of Christian life. In the face of short-term activism, the German Pope knows how to wait, pray and think. But above all to pray.

In contrast to the slogan "Christ yes, Church no", Pope Ratzinger wants to remind us that the Church is the body and the bride of Christ. It is also the people, the family of God, as he often repeats. He is convinced that the Church's mission statement consists in proclaiming Christ and growing in communion and cohesion in the Church.

In spite of his multiple occupations in his ministry, he has not given up his project staff to write his Jesus of Nazareth. Perhaps because he considers it an important part of his duties: to speak above all about Jesus Christ. And to speak of him as God and man, as Christ of faith and Jesus of history. He is not just another avatar of divinity, but the Son of God made man. He alone saves.

Another of the ideas present in his Pontificate is Creation, which for Ratzinger is a forgotten dogma to which we should return in order to undo the 'mistakes' that we have made in today's world. Many have spoken of the 'green roots' of his latest social encyclical, in which he has managed to combine the economic crisis and business ethics with life and sexual ethics, bioethics and respect for the environment.

Finally, it is worth mentioning his sensitivity to beauty - as an example, one can allude to his early love of music - and the importance he attaches to the theologian being sensitive to it. For him, the beauty of Christian art and the lives of the saints is the main agent of evangelization today.