Pope

2022 - 12 - 31

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The New York Times"

Pope Benedict XVI Dies (The New York Times)

The German pope, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was elected in 2005 as a doctrinal conservative, but stunned the world by resigning in 2013 — the first ...

As such, Benedict celebrated the funeral of John Paul II in 2005. Normally, cardinals gather for papal funerals to mourn, but also to participate in the election of a successor. [Operation London Bridge](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/08/world/europe/london-bridge-what-happens-next-queen.html) was set in motion for the hours and days to follow. Their presence in Rome is a “sign that even though a pope has died, the church continues,” Mr. It is likely that Benedict will be buried alongside his 148 predecessors who lie in the crypt beneath St. Gregory XII, the last pope to resign before Benedict, reverted to being a cardinal when he stepped down in 1415. Francis visited him and called him “a wise grandfather in the home,” even as his supporters sought — and failed — to make him an alternative power center. The Vatican said on Saturday that he would be in St. He took the name of a sixth-century monk, Benedict of Nurcia, who had founded monasteries and the Benedictine order, helping spread Christianity in Europe. Benedict, born Joseph Alois Ratzinger, was ordained a priest in 1951, and named archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1977, the same year that he became a cardinal. [John Paul II died in 2005](https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/04/world/europe/obituary-karol-wojtyla-19202005.html), Cardinal Ratzinger was chosen as his successor. He was also criticized as doing little to hold the hierarchy accountable for shielding — and so facilitating — child sexual abuse.

Former Pope Benedict XVI dies age 95 (CNN)

Benedict XVI, the Pope Emeritus, has died in Vatican City at the age of 95 following a period of ill health.

The report found that while in the post he had been informed of four cases of sexual abuse involving minors – including two that had occurred during his time in office – but failed to act. Born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany in 1927, he was the son of a policeman. He also issued a general apology to survivors of abuse. “I want to ask you all for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict who sustains the Church in his silence. In January 2020, Benedict was forced to distance himself from a book widely seen as undercutting Francis as he considered whether or not to allow married men to become priests in certain cases. We ask the Lord to console and sustain him in this witness of love for the Church to the very end,” Francis said at his general audience on Wednesday.

Former pope Benedict XVI dies aged 95 (The Guardian)

German predecessor to Pope Francis became first pontiff to step down as head of Catholic church in 600 years.

He took the title of Pope Emeritus, and pledged to remain “hidden to the world”, devoting himself to private prayer. Towards the end of the war he deserted, and was briefly held as a prisoner of war by American forces. “I have had to recognise my incapacity to adequately fulfil the ministry entrusted to me,” he said. In October 2012, a Vatican court convicted the pope’s personal butler, Paolo Gabriele, of stealing the papers. He later became a major figure in the Vatican and, as Cardinal Ratzinger, served as a right-hand man to his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. He retired leaving a chequered reputation after a papacy that was at times divisive.

Former Pope Benedict XVI dies at 95 (BBC News)

Benedict, who has died at his Vatican residence, became the first pope to resign for 600 years in 2013.

Like the rest of the Church we will always remember him," Annamaria told the BBC. This situation is unprecedented; there are no protocols to follow for what will happen now. In a statement he said: "I remember with particular affection the remarkable Papal Visit to these lands in 2010. What will happen now? "We came here to pray. The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, said Pope Benedict was "one of the great theologians of the 20th century".

Retired Pope Benedict XVI dies at 95 (NPR)

Born April 16, 1927, in Germany's Bavaria, Joseph Ratzinger was a theologian by training. Following the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005, Ratzinger was ...

O'Connell of America magazine said that in Benedict's final remarks to the cardinals before leaving the Vatican, he said his successor was among them. The [pope emeritus acknowledged](https://www.npr.org/2022/02/09/1079655013/pope-benedict-xvi-apologizes-for-handling-of-sexual-abuse-cases-but-denies-wrong) abuses and errors had taken place when he was Munich archbishop. In a Saturday [statement](https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/12/31/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-the-death-of-pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi/), Biden urged people to remember Benedict's call for global solidarity. "Benedict XVI's decision to resign was a very radical interpretation of Vatican II," Faggioli said. The pope added that he learned to be more attentive to the internet for information. "Because to be pope you are not the theologian-in-chief, you are the pastor-in-chief. During that time, one of his most controversial documents was " [Dominus Jesus](http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000806_dominus-iesus_en.html)," which emphasized the primacy of the Catholic Church and branded non-Christian religions as "gravely deficient" — potentially undermining Vatican II achievements toward dialogue between Catholicism and other denominations and religions. In a 1986 document, he called homosexuality an "objective disorder and an [intrinsic moral evil](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-10-31-mn-8386-story.html)." [interview book](https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/last-testament-9781472944672/)," O'Connell said, referring to Last Testament: In His Own Words. Ratzinger was ordained a priest in 1951 and began his career teaching theology. In 1943, he was drafted into the military and served briefly in an anti-aircraft battalion.

Benedict XVI, first pope to resign in 600 years, dies at 95 (Politico)

VATICAN CITY — Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the shy German theologian who tried to reawaken Christianity in a secularized Europe but will forever be ...

His “papal family” consisted of Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, his longtime private secretary who was always by his side, another secretary and consecrated women who tended to the papal apartment. He was the oldest pope elected in 275 years and the first German in nearly 1,000 years. He deserted the German army in April 1945, the waning days of the war. Benedict then largely kept to his word that he would live a life of prayer in retirement, emerging only occasionally from his converted monastery for special events and writing occasional book prefaces and messages. And they harshly criticized Benedict when he removed the excommunication of a traditionalist British bishop who had denied the Holocaust. For them, Benedict remained even in retirement a beacon of nostalgia for the orthodoxy and Latin Mass of their youth — and the pope they much preferred over Francis. The Vatican under Benedict suffered notorious PR gaffes, and sometimes Benedict himself was to blame. Like his predecessor John Paul, Benedict made reaching out to Jews a hallmark of his papacy. No globe-trotting media darling or populist, Benedict was a teacher, theologian and academic to the core: quiet and pensive with a fierce mind. Instead, he was forced to follow the footsteps of the beloved St. It was a path that in many ways was reversed by his successor, Francis, whose mercy-over-morals priorities alienated the traditionalists who had been so indulged by Benedict. His dramatic decision paved the way for the conclave that elected Francis as his successor.

Two popes in the Vatican - sometimes more crowd than company (Reuters)

When Pope Benedict shocked the Roman Catholic Church in 2013 by announcing he would resign instead of ruling for life, he promised to stay in the Vatican ...

Francis, 86, has said several times he would readily resign instead of ruling for life if his health made it impossible to run the Church. A pope is also bishop of Rome. Pope Francis later removed him from a top job in the Vatican. If you are not the pope, you should not be wearing white. 11, 2013 and the time it took effect on Feb. Between the time he announced his resignation on Feb.