On your first point, among the prophets only Elijah was physically taken into heaven without dying (the only other example in the entire Old Testament that comes to mind is Enoch), and so saying that someone is Jeremiah returned doesn't fit as easily into the idea of sent back from a paradise. In addition, there was a current in Judaism at that time that spoke of reincarnation. I'm not expecting Ratzinger to come out in favor of reincarnation, but I did expect him to perhaps mention it in passing.

The Pauline statement refuting it is at Hebrews 9:27 - "Just as it is appointed that human beings die once, and after this the judgment, so also Christ, offered once to take away the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to take away sin but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await him."

My point about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus is that Ratzinger completely ignored an opportunity to make statements about the Church's social doctrine. It would be like mentioning the "Render unto Caesar" phrase and saying nothing about the implied recognition that temporal and spiritual power derive from different sources.