Pope Benedict

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".

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.

Retired Pope Benedict XVI passed away Dec. 31 at 9:34 a.m. in his residence at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican Gardens.

Protests in the Muslim world followed, and Pope Benedict apologized that his words had offended Muslims, distancing himself from the text he had quoted. In the aftermath of the Sept. Another key to building a better world, he said repeatedly, is to respect the right of each person to seek and to worship God. The pope called instead for reading the council through a "hermeneutic of reform" in continuity with Catholic tradition. In a meeting with young people in 2006, the pope said witnessing the brutality of the Nazi regime helped persuade him to become a priest. In the text on abuse, which the retired pope said was motivated by the February 2019 Vatican summit on the crisis, Pope Benedict traced the abuse crisis to a loss of certainty about faith and morals, especially beginning in the late 1960s. After a short stint as a parish priest, the future pope began a teaching career and built a reputation as one of the church's foremost theologians. He remained at the villa south of Rome for two months -- a period that included the conclave that elected Pope Francis as his successor and the first month of the new pope's pontificate. During World War II, he was conscripted into the army, and in the spring of 1945, he deserted his unit and returned home, spending a few months in an Allied prisoner-of-war camp. The retired pope looked in-depth at his papacy and resignation, his relationships with St. In 2007, he widened permission to use the "extraordinary" or pre-Vatican II form of the Mass and, a short time later, extended a hand to the traditionalist Society of St. Besides lifting the excommunications of four of the society's bishops who were ordained illicitly in 1988, he launched a long and intense dialogue with the group.

Pope Benedict XVI's red shoes and other traditional wardrobe choices were in line with his vision of what it meant to lead the Catholic church.

[Benedict was the first pope to resign](https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2022/12/31/pope-benedict-xvi-resignation/?itid=lb_the-death-of-pope-benedict-xvi_4) in 600 years and his decision to step down transformed his legacy. [Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/12/31/pope-benedict-dead/?itid=lb_the-death-of-pope-benedict-xvi_1) Saturday at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery within Vatican City. But to Palmo, that in itself was telling: “I think it did speak to — to a degree, at least — his theological emphases,” Palmo says, “in that the church has a lot hanging around that could be useful.” How a pope emeritus should dress, of course, was a question without an established answer; as Palmo puts it, “the whole concept of the Pope Emeritus was invented on the fly.” But Benedict’s eventual uniform was clearly aimed at creating distance from the new pope. He also ditched the mozzetta (a cape traditionally worn over the shoulders of the pope) as well as the pope’s traditional sash. The approach is fitting, Palmo notes, for the first man in a thousand years to resign from being the pope, leaving the office not like a king but like someone whose tour of duty has concluded. [wore a red cappello romano sun hat](https://thejesuitpost.org/2013/03/musical-musings-with-a-pope-emeritus/524651640_aef56b5f52_o/) (also known as a saturno), a style that hadn’t been worn since before John Paul II. But were [Benedict’s red shoes](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/02/26/the-story-of-pope-benedicts-infamous-red-shoes-which-he-will-give-up/?itid=lk_inline_manual_2) still worth all the hype and attention they garnered? And that came a year after what Vatican-watchers remember as a rare internet-breaking pope fashion moment: [ the Christmas camauro of 2005](https://www.archbalt.org/why-the-pope-wore-that-santa-hat/). (They also wore red indoor slippers, before Pope Paul VI discontinued the practice, for good, in 1963.) Rocco Palmo, the Philadelphia-based editor of the Catholic news site Whispers in the Loggia, still remembers seeing them for the first time in person in 2008. [all those rumors](https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/02/popes-new-shoes/317974/) and all that tongue-clucking, no.

He's with God now, and that's what's important,” said Althea Reyes, a nun who was in St. Peter's Square when she became aware of Benedict's death.

“He lived his life and he died with dignity and devotion,” said Giancarlo Pavan, a lay employee of a nearby Catholic church and one of the leaders of a small prayer circle in the square. “For many of us who loved Pope Benedict it was comforting to know he was close by,” Butorac said. “We have been praying for him to have a peaceful end and he did.” “He’s with God now, and that’s what’s important,” said Althea Reyes, a nun from the Philippines who was in St. He’s dead!” one man shouted in Italian, causing a murmur among those nearby. “The pope is gone!

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. "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. He was 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 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. [interview book](https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/last-testament-9781472944672/)," O'Connell said, referring to Last Testament: In His Own Words. Ratzinger entered a seminary when he was 12.

WASHINGTON - Retired Pope Benedict XVI passed away December 31. Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, ...

Even in retirement, retreating to live out a life in quiet prayer and study, he continued to teach us how to be a true disciple of Christ, while still contributing to his legacy. As a priest, university professor and theologian, archbishop, and cardinal, his voice in deepening an authentic understanding led all of us to a more profound love of truth and the mystery of God. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, and president of the U.S.

When retired Pope Benedict XVI is laid to rest on Thursday, it will be an event unprecedented in the modern history of the Catholic Church.

The former pope was [gravely ill](https://www.npr.org/2022/12/29/1145997483/benedict-xvi-health-vatican) over the past week. His remains are expected to be on public display in St. [statement](https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-12/pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-tornielli-god-is-love.html). Benedict's funeral mass is scheduled to take place on Thursday in St. [since 1730](https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-12/pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-official-biography.html). [announced](https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-12/pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-dies-aged-95.html).

Even after his retirement a decade ago, the former pope remained the unofficial figurehead of the conservative wing of the American church.

Cardinal Dolan called on every parish in the archdiocese of New York to offer a Mass “for the Good Lord’s mercy upon his gracious soul, and in thanksgiving for his vocation as Successor of St. “The orthodoxy he envisioned morphed into a kind of Tea Party Catholicism that may have been as strange to him as any liberal developments in the ’60s and ’70s.” Biden released a statement that said he and his wife “join Catholics around the world, and so many others, in mourning the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,” adding that the pope “will be remembered as a renowned theologian, with a lifetime of devotion to the church, guided by his principles and faith.” “His life and his pontificate were based in a deep and abiding faith and an extraordinary record of theological scholarship,” Cardinal O’Malley said. He later became alarmed by what he perceived as a leftward theological drift in the church, though he said that his theological positions did not change. Benedict’s retirement, unprecedented in the modern era, was a bombshell that has softened with time. The fact that Benedict’s post-papacy lasted almost a decade surprised many observers, Bishop Barron said, describing Benedict as a fundamentally introverted intellectual. “It continued to shift to the right more than I think he would have liked or envisioned,” Mr. O’Malley of Boston, Cardinal Donald Wuerl, formerly of Washington, and Cardinal Raymond L. The death of Pope Benedict XVI Saturday sent a broad wave of mourning through the American church. [clashed openly and often with the country’s second Catholic president,](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/18/us/targeting-biden-catholic-bishops-advance-controversial-communion-plan.html) Joseph R. Lori of Baltimore, who was elevated to his role by Benedict.

When retired Pope Benedict XVI is laid to rest on Thursday, it will be an event unprecedented in the modern history of the Catholic Church.

The former pope was [gravely ill](https://www.npr.org/2022/12/29/1145997483/benedict-xvi-health-vatican) over the past week. His remains are expected to be on public display in St. [statement](https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-12/pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-tornielli-god-is-love.html). Benedict's funeral mass is scheduled to take place on Thursday in St. [since 1730](https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-12/pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-official-biography.html). [announced](https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-12/pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-dies-aged-95.html).

Former head of the Catholic Church Pope Benedict VXI has died at the age of 95.

"In all things, not least in his writing and his preaching, he looked to Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God. He said: "I remember with particular affection the remarkable papal visit to these lands in 2010. To remember him, because he is very ill, asking the Lord to console and support him." "He was through and through a gentleman, through and through a scholar, through and through a pastor, through and through a man of God - close to the Lord and always his humble servant." "In Pope Benedict's long life and ministry of service to Christ in His Church he saw many profound changes in the church and in the world. We saw his courtesy, his gentleness, the perceptiveness of his mind and the openness of his welcome to everybody that he met.

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has praised Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's “kindness” in his first public comments since the death of the retired pontiff.

Benedict’s dramatic decision in 2013 to resign paved the way for the conclave that elected Pope Francis. “We are mourning a personality who imparted hope and direction to the church even in difficult times,” Baetzing said in a statement. The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, wrote on Twitter: “I join with Pope Francis and all the Catholic Church in mourning his death. Martin recalled how after meeting with Irish bishops in 2010, Benedict issued a letter to Irish Catholics “expressing profound sorrow” for abuse victims before calling for urgent action to address the legacy of abuse. He said Japan was greatly moved by a message Benedict sent after the 2011 tsunami and Fukushima nuclear disaster spiritually uplifting the people of Japan. We pray for the repose of his soul.” Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa planned an official commemoration mass on Sunday and issued a statement of mourning. “He was humble in the Bavarian way,” Pastor Klaus Metzl told The Associated Press. Merkel, the daughter of a Protestant pastor, led Germany for most of Benedict’s reign as pope. Peter’s Basilica starting Monday for the faithful to pay their final respects. But it stressed that aside from German and Italian official delegations, “the presence of other official delegations is not foreseen.” That underlines the fact that he was no longer pope and had requested a simple funeral.

ROME -- Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has died at his home in the Vatican at 95, Vatican officials announced. “With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, ...

His long service to Pope John Paul II in the Vatican meant he was known and respected by most of the cardinals who elected him. He was responding to a German independent report on clerical sex abuse, issued in January of the same year, which had criticized how Benedict had dealt with four cases while he was archbishop of Munich, Germany from 1977 to 1982. In 2020, at the age of 93, when already frail, Benedict returned to Bavaria, Germany for four days to visit Georg, who was seriously ill, and with whom he had been very close throughout his life. [popes are believed to have resigned](https://abcnews.go.com/Health/pope-benedict-xvi-resignation-health-papacy/story?id=18470075) in 2,000 years of church history; the more recent was Gregory XII in 1415. Pope Benedict's surprise retirement announcement was delivered in Latin to a roomful of cardinals in the Vatican on Feb. As John Paul II's health declined, Ratzinger took on a more important role at the Vatican and in 2002, he became dean of the College of Cardinals. At the end of WWII, in April 1945, he deserted and returned home. in 2008, during which he delivered a [speech to the U.N. First as cardinal in his doctrinal post in the Vatican and later as Pope, Benedict acted to develop a unified church response to stop this increasingly public clerical sex abuse crisis. He made a trip to the U.S. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was named the 265th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church on April 19, 2005, at the age of 78, and chose the name of Benedict XVI. During his nearly eight years as pope, the Catholic Church was the subject of several major scandals.

President Joe Biden mourned the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, saying in a statement Saturday that the late pontiff "will be remembered as a ...

[ in an interview with The Tablet](https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/13898/biden-is-catholic-and-observant-says-benedict), a Catholic publication. “But as president, he tends to present himself in continuity with the line of the Democratic Party … Abortion also appeared to be a topic of discussion during Biden’s meeting with Benedict. Officials at the time said their meeting included discussions on addressing poverty and the Middle East, as well as issues such as abortion and stem cell research. He also came under fire for his handling of the sexual abuse crisis that engulfed the Catholic Church during his years as a senior cleric. He was the first pope in almost 600 years to resign his position, rather than hold office for life, [ doing so in 2013](https://www.cnn.com/2013/02/11/world/europe/pope-resignation-q-and-a/index.html). But he faced criticism, particularly in the postmodern West, for his staunch insistence on fidelity to church doctrine and his willingness to silence dissent. Bush traveled to the Vatican. “And by the way, he wasn’t judgmental. Benedict met with his first sitting president in 2007 when George W. The funeral will be led by Pope Francis. Benedict’s funeral will be held on Thursday in St.

Former Pope Benedict XVI, who died Saturday in a monastery in the Vatican at the age of 95, asked for forgiveness for those he has "wronged" in the ...

In January 2020, Benedict was forced to distance himself from a book widely seen as undercutting Francis as he considered whether to allow married men to become priests in certain cases. In the letter dated August 29, 2006, the former pope thanked God for guiding him “well” throughout life. In the 2006 letter, the former pope asked “sincerely” for “forgiveness” for those he “wronged in any way,” in his letter.

The UN chief paid tribute to Pope Emeritus Benedict on Saturday, who has died, aged 95, after standing down as head of the Catholic Church nearly a decade ...

Benedict was ordained in 1951 and became archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1977. Ascending to the papacy following his election in 2005, Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, became the first pope to step down in six centuries. And we feel in our hearts so much gratitude.”

The body of former Pope Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday, will lie in state in St. Peter's Basilica on Monday and remain there for three days before his ...

Peter's Basilica and buried in the Vatican Grottoes, beneath the church, where more than 90 popes have found their final resting place. The ceremony will start at 9:30 a.m. (1800 GMT) on Jan. [Pope Benedict XVI](/world/obituary-former-pope-benedict-was-first-pontiff-resign-600-years-2022-12-31/), who [died on Saturday](/world/former-pope-benedict-has-died-spokesman-2022-12-31/), will lie in state in St. (0800 GMT) to 7 p.m. No official visits to see his body, or public prayers, will be held during this time.

At the traditional evening prayer service marking the end of the year, Pope Francis focused on kindness and gentleness, pointing to the late Pope Benedict ...

After the service, Pope Francis joined thousands of people in St. "With emotion we remember him as such a noble, such a gentle person," the pope said. 31 and Pope Francis remembered him in his homily. "It would be good for us to think about using 'please,' 'sorry' and 'thank you' often." Pope Francis embraces a child as he arrives to lead a traditional New Year's Eve vespers service in St. Retired Pope Benedict XVI died in that morning Dec.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died Saturday at the age of 95, asked for forgiveness from those he had "wronged" in his final letter published by the Vatican.

He was the first pope to do so in about 600 years, [BBC News](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25121121) reports. - He concludes with: "Pray for me, so that the Lord, despite all my sins and insufficiencies, welcomes me into the eternal dwellings. [Pope Benedict XVI dies at 95](https://www.axios.com/2022/12/31/pope-benedict-xvi-vatican) [Pope's Christmas message: World suffering from "famine of peace"](https://www.axios.com/2022/12/25/pope-christmas-message-ukraine-afghanistan-syria-haiti) [Pope Francis calls for renewed commitments to help poor and homeless](https://www.axios.com/2022/11/13/pope-francis-poor-homeless-people) [Axios](https://www.axios.com/2022/02/08/retired-pope-benedict-sexual-abuse-mishandling). Do not let yourselves be confused!" [Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI](https://www.axios.com/2022/12/31/pope-benedict-xvi-vatican), who died Saturday at the age of 95, asked for forgiveness from those he had "wronged" in his [final letter](https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253202/full-text-of-benedict-xvis-spiritual-testament) published by the Vatican.

When he was selected to become pope, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was 78 and had led a full life already. He had been in the upper echelons of Vatican ...

“He basically defended the narrative that the church, the Vatican, had crafted right after the war. He himself was a Nazi but an honest man, who said to me, ‘Just go once and get the document, so that we have it …’ When he saw that I simply didn’t want to, he said, ‘I understand, I’ll take care of it,’ and so I was able to stay free of it.” Rosen, who knew Benedict personally since the late 1980s, said that Benedict’s quiet personality was often misinterpreted as aloofness and coldness. Benedict suggested that he deserted the German army toward the end of the war. Kater noted that in general, Germans in Catholic areas like Bavaria, as the Ratzinger family was, were less inclined to support the Nazis. Shortly after he became an archbishop in 1977, the future pope acknowledged that during this period he lived near Dachau, a concentration camp to which thousands were sent, among them Catholic Priests who preached against Nazi Germany. But the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish human rights organization that helped hunt Nazi war criminals, examined the young Ratzinger’s experiences and concluded he had little to be ashamed of. And before that, like others of his generation, he grew up in the shadow of Nazi Germany. But some historians disagree with the idea it would have been impossible to resist. Papa Ratzi,”](https://www.spiegel.de/international/the-german-pope-england-fumes-over-selection-of-papa-ratzi-a-352550.html) ran the front page of Britain’s Sun tabloid after his selection as pope in 2005. Before that, he had been a prominent academic theologian in his native Germany. He had been in the upper echelons of Vatican leadership for decades, known as a defender of the church’s most orthodox teachings.