Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI dead at 95, Vatican says

Yo Daddy!

Well-Known Member
Joined
Nov 17, 2022
Messages
1,933

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI dead at 95, Vatican says​


Pope Benedict, born in 1927 as Joseph Ratzinger, was the first pope to resign from his office in over half a millennium.​

By Timothy H.J. Nerozzi , Elizabeth Pritchett | Fox News

Fox News Flash top headlines for December 30Video

Fox News Flash top headlines for December 30

Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.
The Vatican announced Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away Saturday morning at 9:34 a.m. He was 95 years old.

He is most immediately remembered outside the Catholic Church for his surprise resignation — the first papal abdication since 1415 — and subsequent life as the world’s first "pope emeritus" in centuries.
Benedict was born Joseph Ratzinger on April 16, 1927, in Bavaria. He came of age in Germany after World War I at the same time the Nazi regime was growing in power. 

His Roman Catholic family — harassed and punished by the Nazi Party for their opposition to state policies — shaped his desire to commit to the church.

POPE EMERITUS BENEDICT IS 'VERY SICK,' POPE FRANCIS REVEALS
Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, appears on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican after being elected by the conclave of cardinals, April 19, 2005.

Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, appears on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican after being elected by the conclave of cardinals, April 19, 2005. (ARTURO MARI/AFP via Getty Images)

Ratzinger was inspired to join the priesthood at an early age when he was tasked with presenting flowers to Archbishop Michael von Faulhaber of Munich. Seeing the clergyman’s crimson robes and refined demeanor, the five-year-old Ratzinger declared he would become a cardinal.

"It was the way the cardinal looked, his bearing, and the knickerbockers he was wearing that made such an impression on him," his brother Georg recalled in a 2005 interview with the New York Times.

At the age of 14, Ratzinger was mandated by law to become a member of the Hitler Youth alongside all other German children of his age group. Ratzinger resented the organization and became horrified after his cousin, who suffered from Down’s syndrome, was abducted and killed by the government as part of their Aktion T4 campaign.
A photo taken in 1943 during World War II shows Joseph Ratzinger as a German Air Force assistant.

A photo taken in 1943 during World War II shows Joseph Ratzinger as a German Air Force assistant. (STF/AFP via Getty Images)

RETIRED POPE BENEDICT SAYS HE IS IN LAST PHASE OF LIFE, ON 'PILGRIMAGE HOME'
Despite entering seminary, Ratzinger was drafted into the anti-aircraft corps in 1943 and later into the regular military during World War II. He deserted the German military in April 1945. 

Benedict said that he chose to abandon the military after witnessing the horrors of the war, including Jews in Hungary being sent to death camps, according to an interview with Time Magazine in 1993.

He was captured and held as a prisoner of war by American forces for several months before returning to Germany and re-entering the seminary with his brother, Georg.
A photo taken during the summer 1952 near Ruhpolding, shows German priest Joseph Ratzinger (C) praying during an open-air mass.

A photo taken during the summer 1952 near Ruhpolding, shows German priest Joseph Ratzinger (C) praying during an open-air mass. (AFP via Getty Images)

EMERITUS POPE BENEDICT'S BROTHER GEORG RATZINGER DIES AT 96

Ratzinger and his brother were ordained on the same day in 1951, receiving Holy Orders from the same cardinal who had inspired Benedict’s decision to enter the priesthood as a child.

His extensive work in theology and Christology saw him promoted to Archbishop of Munich and Freising in May 1977. He was then swiftly promoted to cardinal by Pope Paul VI in June of the same year.
Cardinal Ratzinger built a positive reputation in Catholic circles for his intense scholarship and prolific writing career. 

POPE BENEDICT LAMBASTES GODLESS MODERN SOCIETIES
His bibliography — volumes of works that span from his earliest years of the priesthood through his papacy and beyond — includes encyclicals on morality, explorations of the life of Jesus, and retrospective looks at church history.

Perhaps one of his most profound early contributions included founding the theological journal Communio, which became one of the most important journals of Catholic thought in his home country.

Five new cardinals created by the Pope at the Vatican, 27th June 1977. From left to right, they are Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany (later Pope Benedict XVI), Cardinal Giovanni Benelli, the former Vatican Under-Secretary of State, Cardinal Bernardin Gantin of Benin, Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek of Prague, and Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi, a Vatican theologian.

Five new cardinals created by the Pope at the Vatican, 27th June 1977. From left to right, they are Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany (later Pope Benedict XVI), Cardinal Giovanni Benelli, the former Vatican Under-Secretary of State, Cardinal Bernardin Gantin of Benin, Cardinal Frantisek Tomasek of Prague, and Cardinal Mario Luigi Ciappi, a Vatican theologian. (Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

He was also among the vanguard in tackling the issue of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church while serving as a cardinal under Pope St. John Paul II. 

POPE BENEDICT XVI BEATIFIES POPE JOHN PAUL II
Cardinal Ratzinger convinced the pope to withdraw authority from individual dioceses in relation to abuse claims, and instead give jurisdiction to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
 
Werbung:
This old devil dodger resigned when the heat got increased over priests rooting kids. He covered up for them knowing full well what was happening.
I won't be going to his funeral but I will send a letter if approval. The sad part is he should have been shot when he was in the Hitler youth.
 
Back
Top