The Vatican mourns the death of Joseph Ratzinger: His first pope and an open challenge to secularism in the early 21st century
In the history of the Church, a pope’s death usually precedes the selection of a new leader, which is why Pope Francis will preside over Benedict’s funeral.
Benedict, after nearly eight years as pope, is remembered as one of the most conservative pontiffs of his era and a leader who, by retiring, took a new course for the papacy.
Maltese Prime Minister Robert Abela also sent his condolences to the Holy See on behalf of Malta’s government in a tweet, adding, “The people of Malta recall the visit of His Holiness, where he conveyed a message of unity.”
For several days, he had experienced declining health due to his advanced age, the Vatican press office said, with Pope Francis publicly sharing news of Benedict’s worsening condition earlier this week.
Born April 16, 1927, in Germany’s Bavaria, Joseph Ratzinger was a theologian by training. Pope John Paul II’s death in 2005 resulted in the election of his successor, Monsignor Joseph Ratzinger, who had been the Vatican’s top enforcer of orthodoxy for 25 years. He was the first German pope since the 11th century.
He stunned the Catholic faithful and religious experts around the world in 2013 when he announced plans to step down from his position as Pope, citing his “advanced age.”
Gerard O’Connell, Vatican correspondent for the Jesuit magazine America, said it was after a fall during his visit to Mexico in 2012 that Benedict understood he could no longer fulfill his papal duties.
“Here is a man who in prayer discerned his own limits and said, ‘I can go so far, I do not have the physical strength to go further, and therefore I resign,’ as he explains in that interview book,” O’Connell said, referring to Last Testament: He kept his own words. He had a sense that he made the right decision, that’s what he said.
Benedict’s struggles to revive Christianity in secularized Europe were overshadowed by his many crises as the pope.
His pursuit caused problems with some communities. In 2006, Benedict infuriated Muslims around the world after referencing a historical quote that derided the faith. He later apologized. Benedict also hurt the Church’s relations with the Jewish community due to his decision to lift the excommunication of Richard Williamson, a bishop known as a Holocaust denier.
One of the worst crises of Benedict’s papacy happened due to his belief that Islam could not be put on an equal footing with Catholicism. In a September 2006 lecture at the University of Regensburg, Benedict quoted a remark made by a 14th-century emperor deriding Islam: “Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.”
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He was 6 when Adolf Hitler took power in 1933. His parents — a police officer and a hotel cook — were firm Catholics who opposed the Nazi regime, according to historian Michael Frassetto.
Ratzinger entered a seminary when he was 12. He was a member of the Hitler Youth when he was a teenager during World War II. In 1943, he was drafted into the military and served briefly in an anti-aircraft battalion.
He was summoned to Rome by John Paul II to head the Vatican’s theological watchdog, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He was in charge of the post for 24 years. One of his most controversial documents was “Do minus Jesus” which argued that non-Christian religions should be treated as “gravely deficient” because of the importance of the Catholic Church.
During St. John Paul II’s quarter-century as pope, Ratzinger spearheaded a crackdown on dissent as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, taking action against the left-leaning liberation theology that spread in Latin America in the 1970s and against dissenting theologians and nuns who didn’t toe the Vatican’s hard line on matters like sexual morals.
Benedict retreated on occasion. In 2008, his reinstatement of the traditional Latin Mass, with its Good Friday prayer calling for the conversion of Jews, drew strong criticism from Jewish leaders, forcing the Vatican to change the prayer’s wording.
Jewish-Catholic relations were once again damaged after Benedict reversed the excommunication of a bishop who had cast doubt on the Holocaust. Benedict wrote a letter to his priests acknowledging it was a mistake. He said he didn’t know that the bishop was a Holocaust denier. The pope said that he was more interested in the internet for information.
Benedict’s announcement that he was putting the World War II-era pope on the path to sainthood because of his “heroic virtues” angered a lot of people. The Holocaust was being carried out and it is believed that Pope Pius XII didn’t speak out forcefully. The process of sainthood is going on.
The historian said that the most important thing to come out of Benedict’s papacy was how he ended it. “Benedict XVI’s decision to resign was very radical,” Faggioli said. “That was revolutionary, going beyond the Vatican II letter.”
The document covered Benedict’s historic resignation and referred to him as “pope emeritus”, due to the Latin words he used when he announced he would retire.
After retiring, the Pope promised to remain hidden, but he continued to speak out on religious matters, leading to tensions within the church.
Benedict had to distance himself from a book that was being seen as undercutting Francis as he considered whether to allow married men to become priests. The tradition of celibacy within the Catholic Church was argued for in the book, from the depths of our hearts. Benedict was originally listed as co-author, but later clarified he had only contributed one section of the text.
Benedict wrote a general apology to the survivors of abuse, but he admitted to no personal or specific details in his letter.
Benedict’s funeral will be held at 9:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET) on Thursday in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, according to the director of the press office of the Holy See, Matteo Bruni. The funeral will be led by Pope Francis. In line with Benedict’s wishes, his funeral will be “simple,” Bruni said.
The former pope was elected the 265th pontiff in 2005 at age 78 — becoming the oldest person to be elected since 1730. He was the first pope to resign in nearly 600 years because he was no longer suited to lead.
He was determined to strengthen the catholic church’s core beliefs and to oppose modern trends that he believed were hurting the catholic church.
The final words of a former pope asked for forgiveness in a letter dated August 29, 2006, when Pope Benedict XVI died
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 spiritual testament published following his death.
In the letter dated August 29, 2006, the former pope thanked God for guiding him “well” throughout life. He thanked his parents, whom he said gave him life in a difficult time.
Benedict was known to be more conservative than Pope Francis who has done a lot to deal with the sexual abuse scandal in the church and softened its stance on homosexuality.
There is no suggestion his request for forgiveness in his final letter relates to the Catholic Church’s handling of sexual abuse accusations against priests.
The body of the former Pope Benedict XVI will remain in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City until his funeral on Friday.
The Vatican said the former Pope’s body was moved to the Basilica of St. Peter’s to be laid out for the faithful to farewell him.
His death prompted tributes from political and religious leaders including US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Dalai Lama.
The Papal Gentlemen carried the body on a stretcher up the aisle of the basilica to its final resting place in front of the altar.
The Swiss Guard saluted as Benedict’s body was brought in via a side door after it was taken from the chapel of the monastery where he had died.
After the van carrying Benedict’s secretary, and a few laywomen, was parked outside, they walked to the basilica.
The doors of the basilica were swung open just after 9 a.m. The public, who had waited for hours before dawn, were able to pay their respects to the pope who retired from the papacy in order to become the first pope to do so in 600 years.
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Faithful and curious, the public strode briskly up the center aisle to pass by the bier after waiting in a line that by midmorning snaked around St. Peter’s Square.
“I wanted to pay homage to Benedict because he had a key role in my life and my education. Tuccio arrived here at around 7:30 pm after leaving Venice.
“When I was young I participated in World Youth Days,” said the pilgrim, referring to the jamborees of young faithful held periodically and attended by pontiffs. Tuccio added that he had studied theology, and “his pontificate accompanied me during my university years.”
Public viewing lasts for 10 hours on Monday in St. Peter’s Basilica. Twelve hours of viewing are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday before Thursday morning’s funeral, which will be led by Pope Francis, at St. Peter’s Square.
She said that he taught them how to be free. “He had a special intelligence in saying what was essential in his faith and that was contagious” for other faithful. “The thing I thought when he died was that I would like to be as free as he was.”
While venturing that the shy, bookworm German churchman and theologian and the current Argentine-born pontiff had different temperaments, “I believe there’s a continuity between him and Pope Francis and whoever understands the real relationship between them and Christ can see that,” Ferrante said.
VATICAN CITY. Pope Francis honored his predecessor Benedict XVI, the German theologian who made history by retiring, presiding Thursday over a rare requiem Mass for a dead pontiff by a living one before thousands of mourners in St. Peter’s Square.
The occasion was easy and simple, as per the wishes of the former pope. “It’s difficult to have a simple service in St. Peter’s Square, but I think it was,” Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest, writer and editor, told CNN’s Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo on CNN Newsroom.
“The first spark of my vocation started under the pontificate of Benedict, but then it became even stronger under Pope Francis,” Colonna said, while sitting in prayer in St. Peter’s Square ahead of the funeral. The fact that Francis is celebrating Benedict’s funeral is an historical event, I see a continuity between these two popes.
About 100,000 people are believed to attend Benedict’s funeral, but it is unclear whether many did or did not attend.
The funeral for John Paul II was attended by heads of state from all over the world. The presidents and prime ministers were included in the delegations.
Dignitaries and religious leaders lined the square on Thursday, which can seat approximately 60,000 people, for the ceremony. According to CNN, the Prime Minister of the Czech Republic was in attendance.
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Francis started leading the mass Thursday morning, during which he gave a homily at about 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET). Members of the crowd later took part in a Communion.
“God’s faithful people, gathered here, now accompanies and entrusts to him the life of the one who was their pastor,” Francis said as he delivered the homily.
“Like the women at the tomb, we too have come with the fragrance of gratitude and the balm of hope, in order to show him once more the love that is undying. We want to do this with the same wisdom, tenderness and devotion that he bestowed upon us over the years. Together, we want to say: ‘Father, into your hands we commend his spirit.’
A group of people in the crowd could be heard chanting, “Santo Subito”, which is a call for the Pope to be a saint immediately.
At the time of the burial during the rite, a webbing was placed around the coffin with the seals of the apostolic chamber, the pontifical house and liturgical celebrations. The cypress coffin was placed inside a zinc coffin that is soldered and sealed, and subsequently placed inside a wooden coffin, which was buried, according to Bruni.
Along with US Ambassador to the Holy See Joe Donelly, high-profile figures such as Queen of Spain and German Chancellor will attend the funeral.
The biography of the Pope that was placed inside his coffin makes reference to some of the most important moments in his tenure and states that Pope Benedict fought against pedophilia.
About 200,000 mourners, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella, paid their respects to the former pontiff earlier this week during his lying-in-state in St. Peter’s Basilica.
On Wednesday, the Italians announced that flags would be flying at half-staff on public buildings.
The funeral of Benedict’s dead father, the cypress coffin, and the funeral of his father, Joseph Zen, arrived in Rome
Bells tolled and the faithful applauded as pallbearers carried Benedict’s cypress coffin out of the fog-shrouded basilica and rested it before the altar. The book that was left open on the casket was kissed by the secretary of Benedict.
Raymond Mainar traveled from a small village east of Munich to attend the funeral of Benedict. “He was a very good pope.”
Only Italy and Germany were invited to send official delegations, but other leaders took the Vatican up on its offer and come in their “private capacity.” They included several heads of state, at least four prime ministers and two delegations of royal representatives. In addition, 125 cardinals seated in the seats at the side of the altar were joined by a host of other head of the church.
Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen was granted special court permission to attend the funeral and arrived in Rome on Thursday. Zen was detained in May on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces under a national security law that China after he fell afoul of authorities over his participation in a now-silenced democracy movement. He had his passport revoked when he was arrested.
Matteo Colonna, a 20-year-old seminarian from Teramo, Italy, said he came in part because of the historic nature of the funeral — but also because it had personal resonance for him.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/01/05/1147052953/thousands-pour-into-st-peters-as-the-funeral-of-retired-pope-benedict-xvi-begins
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Early Thursday the Vatican released the official history of Benedict’s life, a short document in Latin that was placed in a metal cylinder in his coffin before it was sealed, along with the coins and medallions minted during his papacy and his pallium stoles.
The document states that his efforts to combat clergy sexual abuse, his outreach to the Anglicans and Jews, and his call for conversion were all part of his theological legacy.
Francis didn’t dwell on Benedict’s specific legacy in his homily and only uttered his name once, in the final line, delivering instead a meditation on Jesus’ willingness to entrust himself to God’s will.
The funeral ritual has the same code used for dead popes, but Benedict was not the pontiff when he died.
In 1802, Pope Pius VII presided over the funeral of his predecessor, while he was a prisoner of Napoleon.
Benedict intended his retirement to last at least nine years, longer than the eight years he spent as pope. And the unprecedented situation of a retired pope living alongside a reigning one prompted calls for protocols to guide future popes emeritus to prevent any confusion about who is really in charge.