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| Pope Benedict XVI | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Installed | April 19, 2005 |
| Term ended | Incumbent |
| Predecessor | Pope John Paul II |
| Successor | Incumbent |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Joseph Alois Ratzinger April 16, 1927 |
St. Pope Benedict XVI the Great, Unifier of all Christians, (in Latin Benedictus PP. XVI), (born April 16, 1927, and baptized Joseph Alois Ratzinger), was elected Pope of the Catholic Church on April 19, 2005. As such, he is Bishop of Rome, sovereign of the Vatican City State, patriarch of the Roman Church, and supreme pontiff of the worldwide Catholic Church, including the Eastern Rite Churches in communion with the Holy See. (Note: some sedevacantist groups, as well as the Old Catholic Church, consider themselves to be Catholic, but not subject to the pontificate of Benedict XVI.) He will be formally installed as pontiff during the Mass of Papal Installation on April 24, 2005.
At 78 years old, he is the oldest pope elected since Pope Clement XII in 1730, and is the first German pontiff since Adrian VI (1522–1523) who was born in what is now the Netherlands, but which was then seen as part of Germany. The last pope to come from within the modern boundaries of Germany was Victor II, who died in 1057. Benedict XVI is the 8th German pope in history; the first was Gregory V. The last Benedict, Benedict XV, served as pontiff from 1914 to 1922 and thus reigned during World War I.
He was appointed prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by Pope John Paul II in 1981, made a Cardinal Bishop of the episcopal see of Velletri-Segni in 1993, and was elected Dean of the College of Cardinals in 2002, becoming titular bishop of Ostia. He was already one of the most influential men in the Vatican and a close associate of the late John Paul II before he became pope. He also presided over the funeral of John Paul II and the Conclave in 2005 which elected him. During the most recent sede vacante, he was the highest-ranking official in the Catholic Church.
Some see Benedict as a traditionalist, others as merely orthodox, but almost all observers agree that he is a staunch defender of the Church. He is an opponent of homosexuality, same-sex marriage, euthanasia, and abortion and has spoken about the unique role of the Catholic Church in salvation and has called all other Christian churches and ecclesial communities "deficient." As a Cardinal, he wrote Truth and Tolerance, a book in which he denounces the use of tolerance as an excuse to distort the truth.
Early life and works
Pre-WWII and Wartime
Ratzinger was born in Marktl am Inn, in Bavaria. Joseph's father was a police officer who served in both the Bavarian Landespolizei and the German Ordnungspolizei. He retired in 1937, and settled in the town of Traunstein. The Sunday Times of London summed up his father's career: "His father, also called Joseph, was an anti-Nazi whose attempts to rein in Hitler’s Brown Shirts forced the family to move several times."
When Ratzinger turned 14 in 1941, he joined the Hitler Youth, as then required by a 1938 German law. According to National Catholic Reporter correspondent and biographer John Allen, Ratzinger was an unenthusiastic member who refused to attend meetings. In 1943, at the age of 16, he and the rest of his class were drafted into the Flak or anti-aircraft corps, responsible for guarding a BMW aircraft engine plant outside Munich.
Following his Flak service, Ratzinger was sent for basic infantry training and was posted to the Hungarian border area of Austria which had been annexed by Germany in the Anschluss of 1938, where he worked setting up anti-tank defenses in preparation for the Red Army assault. After two years of service in the German military, and after being transferred back to Bavaria, Ratzinger deserted days before the surrender of German forces in Europe. Desertion was widespread during the last weeks of the war, even though in principle punishable by death; executions, frequently extrajudicial, continued to the end.
The complete nature of Ratzinger's military service during the period of National Socialist Germany is uncertain. Current information suggests he was not a part of a combat unit. From his known duties, the formation Ratzinger was assigned to was a second rate unit, most probably Volkssturm or RAD.
Post War
Shortly after returning to Traunstein, Ratzinger was detained for six weeks in an Allied POW camp, as he wore a German military uniform and the Allies had taken over Traunstein. By June he was repatriated, and he and his brother Georg entered a Catholic seminary. On June 29, 1951, they were ordained by Cardinal Faulhaber of Munich. His dissertation (1953) was on Saint Augustine, and his Habilitationsschrift (second dissertation) was on Saint Bonaventure. He gained a doctorate of theology in 1957 and became a professor of Freising college in 1958.
Ratzinger was a professor at the University of Bonn from 1959 until 1963, when he moved to the University of Münster. During his theological career, Ratzinger has taken both liberal and conservative sides. In 1966, he took a chair in dogmatic theology at the University of Tübingen, where he was a colleague of Hans Küng but was confirmed in his traditionalist views by the liberal atmosphere of Tübingen and the Marxist leanings of the student movement of the 1960s. Ratzinger was a liberal theological adviser at the Second Vatican Council but became more conservative after the 1968 student movement prompted him to defend the faith against secularism. In 1969 he returned to Bavaria, to the University of Regensburg.
At the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), Ratzinger served as a peritus or chief theological expert to Josef Cardinal Frings of Cologne, Germany, and has continued to defend the council, including Nostra Aetate, the document on respect of other religions and the declaration of the right to religious freedom. He was viewed during the time of the council as a liberal. As the Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Benedict most clearly spelled out the Catholic Church's position on other religions in the document Dominus Iesus which also talks about the proper way to engage in ecumenical dialogue.
Archbishop and Cardinal
In 1972, he founded the theological journal Communio (link) with Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac and others. Communio, now published in seventeen editions (German, English, Spanish and many others), has become one of the most important journals of Catholic thought.
In March 1977 Ratzinger was named archbishop of Munich and Freising, and in the consistory that June was named a cardinal by Pope Paul VI. At the time of the 2005 Conclave, he was one of only 14 remaining cardinals appointed by Paul VI, and one of only three of those under the age of 80 and thus eligible to participate in that conclave.
On November 25, 1981 Pope John Paul II named Ratzinger prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as the Holy Office of the Inquisition, which was renamed in 1908 by Pope Pius X. He resigned the Munich archdiocese in early 1982, became cardinal-bishop of Velletri-Segni in 1993, vice-dean of the College of Cardinals in 1998, and was elected dean in 2002. In office, Ratzinger usually took traditional views on topics such as birth control and inter-religious dialogue. As Prefect, Ratzinger wrote a 1986 letter to bishops that identified homosexuality as a "tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil" and "an objective disorder." Prophecy states that he will be the last good Pope.
Election to the papacy
On January 2, 2005, TIME magazine quoted unnamed Vatican sources as saying that Ratzinger was a frontrunner to succeed John Paul II should the pope die or become too ill to continue as Pontiff. On the death of John Paul II, the Financial Times gave the odds of Ratzinger becoming pope as 7-1, the lead position, but close to his rivals on the liberal wing of the church.
Piers Paul Read wrote in The Spectator on March 5, 2005:
- There can be little doubt that his courageous promotion of orthodox Catholic teaching has earned him the respect of his fellow cardinals throughout the world. He is patently holy, highly intelligent and sees clearly what is at stake. Indeed, for those who blame the decline of Catholic practice in the developed world precisely on the propensity of many European bishops to hide their heads in the sand, a pope who confronts it may be just what is required. Ratzinger is no longer young — he is 78 years old: but Angelo Roncalli was the same age when he became pope as John XXIII. He turned the Church upside-down by calling the Second Vatican Council and was perhaps the best-loved pontiff of modern times. As Jeff Israely, the correspondent of Time, was told by a Vatican insider last month, "The Ratzinger solution is definitely on." (Angelo Roncalli was 76, not 78.)
However it is important to note that Ratzinger's election to the papal office was by no means certain. In conclaves men who are considered papabile often are not elected to office. At times men considered certain to win the election did not win. This is expressed in the saying, "He who enters the conclave as papabile leaves as a Cardinal."
Benedict has repeatedly stated he would like to retire to a Bavarian village and dedicate himself to writing books, but more recently, he told friends he was ready to "accept any charge God placed on him." After the death of John Paul II on April 2, 2005 Ratzinger ceased functioning as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. As he is now pope, it will be up to him to decide who will follow him in the post of prefect.
Benedict speaks ten languages, including German, Italian, English, and ecclesiastical Latin. He is also fluent in French and is an associate member of the French Académie des sciences morales et politiques since 1992. He is an accomplished pianist with a preference for Mozart and Beethoven.
He is the eighth German pope, but only the third (after Clement II, Damasus II, and Victor II) to come from the territory of modern-day Germany. The last Germanic (Dutch-German) pope, Adrian VI, was elected in 1522 and died in 1523. He is also the oldest cardinal to become pope since Clement XII in 1730, who, like Ratzinger, was elected at age 78.
In April 2005, he was identified as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME magazine. On April 19, 2005 he was elected as the successor to Pope John Paul II on the second day of the papal conclave.
On his first appearance at the balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica after becoming pope, he was announced with the words:
- Annuntio vobis gaudium magnum;
- habemus Papam:
- Eminentissimum ac Reverendissimum Dominum,
- Dominum Josephum
- Sanctae Romanae Ecclesiae Cardinalem Ratzinger
- qui sibi nomen imposuit Benedicti Sextus Decimus
Which translates to: "I announce to you great joy: We have a Pope! The most Eminent and Reverend Lord, the Lord Joseph, Cardinal of the Holy Roman Church Ratzinger, who takes to himself the name of Benedict the sixteenth."
At the balcony, his first words to the crowd, before he gave the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing, were:
- Dear brothers and sisters, after the Great Pope John Paul II, the cardinals have elected me, a simple, humble worker in the Lord's vineyard. I am comforted by the fact that the Lord knows how to work and act even with insufficient instruments. And above all, I entrust myself to your prayers. With the joy of the risen Lord and confidence in His constant help, we will go forward. The Lord will help us and Mary, His most holy mother, will be alongside us. Thank you.
Teachings
Pope Benedict XVI has taken positions similar to Pope John Paul II, and has been a staunch defender of Catholic Doctrine. He has made it clear that he intends to maintain traditions, and not give in to modern pressures to change policy on such issues as birth control, abortion, and same-sex marriage. Benedict XVI does not believe in relativism, an idea where morals are relative and not universal. Instead he believes morals are universal and unchanging, and therefore should not change as times change.
In a pre-conclave Mass in St. Peter's Basilica, he declared, "We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as definitive and has as its highest value one's own ego and one's own desires."
Controversies
Regarding the scandal of sexual abuse by priests in the United States, he was seen by critics as indifferent to the abuse. In 2002 he told Catholic News Service that "less than 1 percent of priests are guilty of acts of this type." Opponents saw this as ignoring the crimes committed by those who did abuse; others saw it as merely pointing out that this should not taint other priests who live respectable lives. His Good Friday reflections in 2005 were interpreted to strongly condemn and regret the abuse scandals.
Other controversial statements include a 1987 statement that Jewish history and scripture reach fulfillment only in Christ – a statement critics denounced as "theological anti-Semitism." Other religious groups found offense to a 2000 document in which he argued that, "Only in the Catholic church is there eternal salvation." However, groups such as the World Jewish Congress commended his election as Pope as a "welcome" and extolled his "great sensitivity".
Gay rights advocates have widely criticized his 1986 letter to the Bishops of the church, On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons, in which he stated that homosexuality is a “strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.” In an earlier letter dated September 30, 1985, Ratzinger reprimanded Seattle Archbishop Raymond Hunthausen for his liberal views on women, gays, and doctrinal issues, stating, "The Archdiocese should withdraw all support from any group, which does not unequivocally accept the teaching of the Magisterium concerning the intrinsic evil of homosexual activity." Archbishop Hunthausen was temporarily relieved of his authority .
Ratzinger was known for his stance that involved United States politics. During the 2004 presidential campaign, he expressed the view that people would be "cooperating in evil" if they backed a political candidate because he supports abortion rights or euthanasia .
Literature
- Allen, John L.: Cardinal Ratzinger: the Vatican's enforcer of the faith. – New York: Continuum, 2000
- Wagner, Karl: Kardinal Ratzinger: der Erzbischof in München und Freising in Wort und Bild. – München : Pfeiffer, 1977
Works
- Unterwegs zu Jesus Christus (En: 'On the way to Jesus Christ'), Augsburg 2003.
- Glaube - Wahrheit - Toleranz. Das Christentum und die Weltreligionen (En: 'Belief - Truth - Tolerance. Christianity and the world religions.'), 2. Aufl., Freiburg i. Brsg. 2003.
- Gott ist uns nah. Eucharistie: Mitte des Lebens (En: 'God is near us. The eucharist: In the middle of life.'). Hrsg. von Horn, Stephan Otto/ Pfnür, Vinzenz, Augsburg 2001.
- Gott und die Welt. Glauben und Leben in unserer Welt. Ein Gespräch mit Peter Seewald (En: God and the world. Belief and life in our world. A talk with Peter Seewald.), Köln 2000.
- Der Geist der Liturgie. Eine Einführung (En: 'The spirit of liturgy. An introduction.'), 4. Aufl., Freiburg i. Brsg. 2000.
- Vom Wiederauffinden der Mitte. Texte aus vier Jahrzehnten (En: 'From finding the middle again. Texts from four decades.'), Freiburg i. Brsg. 1997.
- Salz der Erde. Christentum und katholische Kirche an der Jahrtausendwende. Ein Gespräch mit Peter Seewald (En: 'Salt of the earth. Christianity and the Catholic church in the change of millenium. A talk with Peter Seewald.'), Wilhelm Heyne Verlag, München, 1996, ISBN 3-453-14845-2
- Wahrheit, Werte, Macht. Prüfsteine der pluralistischen Gesellschaft, Freiburg/ Basel/ Wien 1993.
- Zur Gemeinschaft gerufen. Kirche heute verstehen, Freiburg/ Basel/ Wien 1991.
- Auf Christus schauen. Einübung in Glaube, Hoffnung, Liebe, Freiburg/ Basel/ Wien 1989.
- Abbruch und Aufbruch. Die Antwort des Glaubens auf die Krise der Werte, München 1988.
- Kirche, Ökumene und Politik. Neue Versuche zur Ekklesiologie , Einsiedeln 1987.
- Politik und Erlösung. Zum Verhältnis von Glaube, Rationalität und Irrationalem in der sogenannten Theologie der Befreiung (= Rheinisch-Westfälische Akademie der Wissenschaften: G (Geisteswissenschaften), Bd. 279), Opladen 1986.
- Theologische Prinzipienlehre. Bausteine zur Fundamentaltheologie (= Wewelbuch, Bd. 80), München 1982.
- Das Fest des Glaubens. Versuche zur Theologie des Gottesdienstes, 2. Aufl., Einsiedeln 1981.
- Eschatologie, Tod und ewiges Leben, Leipzig 1981.
- Glaube, Erneuerung, Hoffnung. Theologisches Nachdenken über die heutige Situation der Kirche. Hrsg. von Kraning, Willi, Leipzig 1981.
- Umkehr zur Mitte. Meditationen eines Theologen, Leipzig 1981.
- Zum Begriff des Sakramentes (= Eichstätter Hochschulreden, Bd. 79), München 1979.
- Die Tochter Zion. Betrachtungen über den Marienglaube der Kirche, Einsiedeln 1977.
- Der Gott Jesu Christi. Betrachtungen über den Dreieinigen Gott, München 1976.
- Das neue Volk Gottes. Entwürfe zur Ekklesiologie (Topos-Taschenbücher, Bd. 1) Düsseldorf 1972.
- Die Einheit der Nationen. Eine Vision der Kirchenväter, Salzburg u.a. 1971.
- Das Problem der Dogmengeschichte in der Sicht der katholischen Theologie (= Arbeitsgemeinschaft für Forschungen des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen: Geisteswissenschaften, Bd. 139), Köln u.a. 1966.
- Die letzte Sitzungsperiode des Konzils (= Konzil, Bd. 4), Köln 1966.
- Ereignisse und Probleme der dritten Konzilsperiode (= Konzil, Bd. 3), Köln 1965.
- Die erste Sitzungsperiode des Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzils. Ein Rückblick (= Konzil, Bd. 1), Köln 1963.
- Das Konzil auf dem Weg. Rückblick auf die 2. Sitzungsperiode des 2. Vatikanischen Konzils (= Konzil, Bd. 2), Köln 1963.
- Die christliche Brüderlichkeit, München 1960.
- Die Geschichtstheologie des heiligen Bonaventura (habilisasjonsavhandling), München u.a. 1959.
- Volk und Haus und Gottes in Augustins Lehre von der Kirche (diss. 1951), München 1954.
- Dogma und Verkündigung
- Einführung in das Christentum (2000)
See also
- Dominus Iesus
- List of popes and antipopes known as Pope Benedict
- On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger (Later Pope Benedict XVI), 1986
External links
- The Holy See – Vatican web site
- The Vatican’s Enforcer – The National Catholic Reporter's 1999 Cover Story on the history of then Cardinal Ratzinger
- Analysis: Ratzinger in the ascendance
- The Pope Blog: Pope Benedict XVI
- Amici di Joseph Ratzinger
- Communio magazine, founded by Ratzinger and others. Contains recent articles by him.
- Catholic Apologetics of America, a website that supports Pope Benedict XVI
- Open Directory Project – Benedict XVI directory category
- Pope News Roundup
- The Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club