Everything about Pope Benedict Xvi totally explained
Pope Benedict XVI (
Latin:
Benedictus PP. XVI;
Italian:
Benedetto XVI;
German:
Benedikt XVI; born
Joseph Alois Ratzinger on
16 April 1927) is the
265th and reigning
Pope, by virtue of his office of
Bishop of Rome, the spiritual head of the
Roman Catholic Church, and as such,
Sovereign of the
Vatican City State. He was elected on
19 April 2005 in a
papal conclave, celebrated his
Papal Inauguration Mass on
24 April,
2005, and took possession of his cathedral, the
Basilica of St. John Lateran, on
7 May 2005. Pope Benedict XVI has both German and Vatican
citizenship. He succeeded
Pope John Paul II.
Benedict XVI is a well-known
Roman Catholic theologian and a prolific
author, a defender of traditional Catholic
doctrine and values. He served as a
professor at and was a theological consultant at the
Second Vatican Council before becoming
Archbishop of Munich and Freising and
Cardinal. At the time of his election as Pope, Benedict had been
Prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (
curial heads lose their positions upon the death of a pope) and was
Dean of the College of Cardinals.
During his papacy, Benedict XVI has emphasized what he sees as a need for Europe to return to fundamental
Christian values in response to increasing de-
Christianisation and
secularisation in many
developed countries. For this reason, he proclaims
relativism's denial of
objective truth—and more particularly, the denial of moral truths—as the central problem of the 21st century. He teaches the importance for the Catholic Church and for humanity of contemplating
God's salvific love and has reaffirmed the "importance of prayer in the face of the activism and the growing secularism of many Christians engaged in charitable work."
Overview
Benedict XVI was
elected Pope at the age of 78. He is the
oldest person to have been elected Pope since
Pope Clement XII (1730–40). He had served longer as a
cardinal than any Pope since
Benedict XIII (1724–30). He is the ninth German Pope, the eighth having been the Dutch-German
Pope Adrian VI (1522–23) from
Utrecht. The last Pope named Benedict was
Benedict XV, an
Italian who reigned from 1914 to 1922, during
World War I (1914–18).
Born in 1927 in
Marktl am Inn,
Bavaria,
Germany, Ratzinger had a distinguished career as a university
theologian before being appointed
Archbishop of Munich and Freising by
Pope Paul VI (1963–78). Shortly afterwards, he was made a cardinal in the
consistory of
June 27,
1977. He was appointed Prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by Pope John Paul II in 1981 and was also assigned the honorific title of the
cardinal bishop of Velletri-Segni on
April 5,
1993. In 1998, he was elected sub-dean of the
College of Cardinals. And on
November 30,
2002, he was elected dean, taking, as is customary, the title of Cardinal bishop of the suburbicarian diocese of
Ostia. He was the first Dean of the College elected Pope since
Paul IV (1555–59) and the first
cardinal bishop elected Pope since
Pius VIII (1829–30).
Even before becoming Pope, Ratzinger was one of the most influential men in the
Roman Curia, and was a close associate of John Paul II. As Dean of the College of Cardinals, he presided over the
funeral of John Paul II and over the Mass immediately preceding the 2005 conclave in which he was elected. During the service, he called on the assembled cardinals to hold fast to the doctrine of the faith. He was the public face of the church in the
sede vacante period, although, technically, he ranked below the
camerlengo in administrative authority during that time. Like his predecessor, Benedict XVI maintains the traditional Catholic doctrines on artificial
birth control,
abortion and
homosexuality.
As well as his native
German, Benedict XVI fluently speaks
Italian,
French,
English,
Spanish and
Latin, and has a knowledge of
Portuguese. He can read
Ancient Greek and biblical
Hebrew. He has stated that his first foreign language is French. He is a member of a large number of academies, such as the French
Académie des sciences morales et politiques. He plays the
piano and has a preference for
Mozart and
Bach.
Early life (1927–1951)
Joseph Alois Ratzinger was born on
16 April,
Holy Saturday, 1927 at Schulstraße 11, at 8:30 in the morning in his parents' home in
Marktl am Inn,
Bavaria,
Germany. He was baptized the same day. He was the third and youngest child of
Joseph Ratzinger, Sr., a police officer, and Maria Ratzinger (née Peintner). His mother's family was originally from
South Tyrol. Pope Benedict XVI's brother,
Georg Ratzinger, a priest and former director of the
Regensburger Domspatzen choir, is still alive. His sister, Maria Ratzinger, who never married, managed Cardinal Ratzinger's household until her death in 1991. Their great-uncle was the German politician
Georg Ratzinger.
The pope's relatives agree that his priestly vocation was apparent from boyhood. At the age of five, Ratzinger was in a group of children who welcomed the visiting
Cardinal Archbishop of Munich with flowers. Struck by the Cardinal's distinctive garb, he later announced the very same day that he wanted to be a cardinal.
Following his fourteenth birthday in 1941, Ratzinger was enrolled in the
Hitler Youth — as membership was required for all 14-year old German boys after December 1939 — but was an unenthusiastic member and refused to attend meetings. His father was a bitter enemy of
Nazism, believing it conflicted with the Catholic faith, according to biographer
John L. Allen, Jr. In 1941, one of Ratzinger's cousins, a 14-year-old boy with
Down syndrome, was killed by the Nazi regime in its campaign of
eugenics. In 1943 while still in seminary, he was drafted at age 16 into the German anti-aircraft corps. Ratzinger then trained in the German infantry, but a subsequent illness precluded him from the usual rigours of military duty. As the Allied front drew closer to his post in 1945, he deserted back to his family's home in Traunstein after his unit had ceased to exist, just as American troops established their headquarters in the Ratzinger household. As a German soldier, he was put in a POW camp but was released a few months later at the end of the War in summer 1945. He reentered the seminary, along with his brother Georg, in November of that year.
Following repatriation in 1945, the two brothers entered Saint Michael Seminary in Traunstein, later studying at the
Ducal Georgianum (
Herzogliches Georgianum) of the
Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich. They were both ordained in
Freising on
June 29,
1951 by Cardinal
Michael von Faulhaber of Munich. Joseph Ratzinger's dissertation (1953) was on
St. Augustine and was entitled "The People and the House of God in Augustine's Doctrine of the Church". His
Habilitation (which qualified him for a professorship) was on
Bonaventure. It was completed in 1957 and he became a professor of
Freising College in 1958.
Pre-papal career
Academic career (1951–1977)
Ratzinger became a professor at the
University of Bonn in 1959; his inaugural lecture was on "The God of Faith and the God of Philosophy." In 1963, he moved to the
University of Münster, where his inaugural lecture was given in a packed lecture hall, as he was already well known as a theologian.
During this period, Ratzinger participated in the
Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). Ratzinger served as a
peritus (theological consultant) to
Josef Cardinal Frings of Cologne. He was viewed during the time of the Council as a reformer, cooperating with radical
Modernist theologians like
Hans Küng and
Edward Schillebeeckx. Ratzinger became an admirer of
Karl Rahner, a well-known academic theologian of the
Nouvelle Théologie and a proponent of church reform.
In 1966, Joseph Ratzinger was appointed to a chair in dogmatic theology at the
University of Tübingen, where he was a colleague of
Hans Küng. In his 1968 book
Introduction to Christianity, he wrote that the pope has a duty to hear differing voices within the Church before making a decision, and he downplayed the centrality of the papacy. He also wrote that the Church of the time was too centralized, rule-bound and overly controlled from Rome . During this time, he distanced himself from the atmosphere of Tübingen and the
Marxist leanings of the student movement of the 1960s that quickly radicalized, in the years 1967 and 1968, culminating in a series of disturbances and riots in April and May 1968. Ratzinger came increasingly to see these and associated developments (such as decreasing respect for authority among his students) as connected to a departure from traditional Catholic teachings. Despite his reformist bent, his views increasingly came to contrast with the liberal ideas gaining currency in theological circles.
Some voices, among them Hans Küng, deem this a turn towards
Conservatism, while Ratzinger himself said in a 1993 interview, "I see no break in my views as a theologian [overthe years]". Ratzinger has continued to defend the Council against criticism, including
Nostra Aetate, the document on respect of other religions,
ecumenism and the declaration of the right to
freedom of religion. (Later, as the
Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger most clearly spelled out the Catholic Church's position on other religions in the 2000 document
Dominus Iesus which also talks about the Roman Catholic way to engage in
ecumenical dialogue.)
During his years at Tübingen University, Ratzinger publicized articles in the reformist theological journal
Concilium, though he increasingly chose less reformist themes than other contributors to the magazine such as
Hans Küng and
Edward Schillebeeckx.
In 1969, he returned to
Bavaria, to the
University of Regensburg. He founded the theological journal
Communio, with
Hans Urs von Balthasar,
Henri de Lubac,
Walter Kasper and others, in 1972.
Communio, now published in seventeen languages, including
German,
English and
Spanish, has become a prominent
journal of contemporary Catholic theological thought. Until his election as Pope, he remained one of the journal's most prolific contributors.
Archbishop of Munich and Freising (1977–1982)
On
March 24,
1977, Ratzinger was appointed
Archbishop of Munich and Freising. He took as his episcopal
motto Cooperatores Veritatis (Co-workers of the Truth) from
3 John 8, a choice he comments upon in his autobiographical work,
Milestones.
In the
consistory of the following
June 27, he was named
Cardinal Priest of
Santa Maria Consolatrice al Tiburtino by
Pope Paul VI. By the time of the 2005 Conclave, he was one of only fourteen remaining cardinals appointed by Paul VI, and one of only three of those under the age of 80. Of these, only he and
William Wakefield Baum took part in the conclave.
Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (1981–2005)
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, the historical
Inquisition. Consequently, he resigned his post at Munich in early 1982. He was promoted within the
College of Cardinals to become
Cardinal Bishop of Velletri-Segni in 1993, was made the College's vice-dean in 1998 and dean in 2002.
In office, Ratzinger fulfilled his institutional role, defending and reaffirming Catholic doctrine, including teaching on topics such as
birth control,
homosexuality, and inter-religious dialogue. During his period in office, the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith took disciplinary measures against some outspoken
liberation theologians in
Latin America, condemning liberation theology twice (in 1984 and 1986), accusing it of
Marxist tendencies and of inciting hate and violence.
Leonardo Boff, for example, was suspended, while others were censured. Other issues also prompted condemnations or revocations of rights to teach: for instance, some posthumous writings of
Jesuit priest
Anthony de Mello were the subject of a
notification. Ratzinger and the Congregation viewed many of them, particularly the later works, as having an element of religious indifferentism (
for example, Christ was "one master alongside others").
The Congregation is best known for its authority over the teaching of Church doctrine, but it also has jurisdiction over other matters, including cases involving the seal of the confessional, clerical sexual misconduct and other matters, in its function as what amounts to a court. In his capacity as Prefect, Ratzinger's 2001 letter “Crimen Sollicitationis” which clarified the confidentiality of internal Church investigations into accusations made against priests of certain crimes, including
sexual abuse, became a target of controversy during the
sex abuse scandal. While bishops hold the secrecy pertained only internally, and didn't preclude investigation by civil law enforcement, the letter was often seen as promoting a coverup.
On
March 12,
1983 Ratzinger as prefect and cardinal notified the lay faithful and the
clergy that
archbishop Pierre Martin Ngo Dinh Thuc had incurred the
excommunication latae sententiae for
illicit episcopal consecrations without the apostolic mandate.
Health
Because of age-related health problems, and in order to have free time to write, he'd hoped to retire, and submitted his resignation three times, but had continued at his post in obedience to the wishes of Pope John Paul II. In September 1991, Ratzinger suffered a hemorrhagic
stroke, which slightly impaired his eyesight temporarily. This was known to the Conclave that elected him Pope. In August 1992, on a vacation in the
Alps, he fell and struck his head against a radiator. In May 2005, the Vatican revealed that he'd subsequently suffered another mild stroke; it didn't reveal when, other than that it had occurred between 2003 and 2005.
France's
Philippe Cardinal Barbarin further revealed that since the first stroke, Ratzinger had been suffering from a heart condition as a result of his age, and is currently on medication. It is also notable that he appears to be in far better health than his predecessor was at the age of 79. In late November 2006, an unconfirmed rumor emerged that Pope Benedict had undergone an operation in preparation for an eventual bypass operation, and that the
bronchitis suffered by the Pope has put undue pressure on the Pope's heart.
Papacy
Election to the papacy
Prediction
On
January 2,
2005,
Time magazine quoted unnamed Vatican sources as saying that Ratzinger was a front runner to succeed
John Paul II should the pope die or become too ill to continue as pope. 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. In April 2005, before his election as pope, he was identified as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by
Time magazine. While Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger repeatedly stated he'd like to retire to his house in the Bavarian village of Pentling near
Regensburg and dedicate himself to writing books.
Piers Paul Read wrote in
The Spectator on
March 5,
2005:
John Paul II and his predecessor,
John Paul I had been rather unexpected. Despite being the favorite (or perhaps because he was the favorite), it was a surprise to many that he was actually elected, as traditionally the frontrunners are passed over by the conclave for someone else.
Election
On
April 19,
2005, Cardinal Ratzinger was elected as the successor to Pope John Paul II on the second day of the
papal conclave after four ballots. Cardinal Ratzinger had hoped to retire peacefully and said that "At a certain point, I prayed to God 'please don't do this to me'...Evidently, this time He didn't listen to me." Coincidentally,
April 19 is the feast of St.
Leo IX, the most important German pope of the
Middle Ages, known for instituting major reforms during his pontificate.
Before his first appearance at the balcony of
Saint Peter's Basilica after becoming pope, he was announced by
Jorge Medina Estévez, protodeacon of the College of Cardinals. Cardinal Medina Estévez first addressed the massive crowd as "dear(est) brothers and sisters" in Italian, Spanish, French, German and English, with each language receiving cheers from the international crowd, before continuing with the traditional
Habemus Papam announcement in Latin.
At the balcony, Benedict's first words to the crowd, given in Italian before he gave the traditional
Urbi et Orbi blessing in Latin, were:
On
April 24, he celebrated the
Papal Inauguration Mass in
St. Peter's Square, during which he was invested with the
Pallium and the
Ring of the Fisherman. Then, on
May 7, he took possession of his Cathedral church, the
Archbasilica of St. John Lateran.
Choice of name
Ratzinger chose the
pontifical name Benedict, which in Latin means "the blessed", in honor of both
Pope Benedict XV and
Saint Benedict of Nursia. Pope Benedict XV was Pope during the
first World War, during which time he passionately pursued peace between the warring nations. St. Benedict of Nursia was the founder of the
Benedictine monasteries (most monasteries of the Middle Ages were of the Benedictine Order) and the author of the
Rule of Saint Benedict, which is still the most influential writing regarding the monastic life of Western Christianity.
Benedict XVI explained his choice of name during his first
General Audience in St. Peter's Square, on April 27, 2005:
Tone of papacy
During his inaugural Mass, the previous custom of every cardinal submitting to the Pope was replaced by having twelve people, including cardinals, clergy, religious, a married couple and their child, and newly
confirmed people, greet him. (The cardinals had formally sworn their obedience upon his election.) He has begun using an open-topped
papal car, saying that he wanted to be closer to the people. Pope Benedict has continued the tradition of his predecessor John Paul II and baptizes several infants in the Sistine Chapel at the beginning of every year, in his pastoral role as Bishop of Rome.
Benedict's coat of arms has omitted the
papal tiara, which traditionally appears in the background to designate the Pope's position as a worldly ruler like a king, replacing it with a simple
mitre, emphasizing his spiritual authority. Although some papal documents since his inauguration appear to include the papal tiara, this is because the arms of the
Holy See itself (as opposed to his personal arms) continue to use the tiara and crossed keys, as can be observed, for example, on the website of the Holy See and other official publications. Because it's the shield alone (regardless of its background elements) which is unique to the individual Pope, varying backgrounds are possible for a single shield, though this is rarely done. Pope Benedict XVI also included a traditional
pallium beneath his shield as a background element for his arms, emphasizing his pastoral powers.
Beatifications
On
May 9,
2005, Benedict XVI began the
beatification process for his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. Normally, five years must pass after a person's death before the beatification process can begin. However, in an audience with Pope Benedict,
Camillo Ruini,
Vicar General of the
Diocese of Rome and the official responsible for promoting the
cause for canonization of any person who dies within that diocese, cited "exceptional circumstances" which suggested that the waiting period could be waived. The "exceptional circumstances" apparently refer to the cries of "Santo subito!" ("Saint now!") during pontiff's funeral (saints can be declared by popular acclaim, although this is rare). Therefore, the Pope waived the five year rule "so that the cause of Beatification and Canonization of the same Servant of God can begin immediately." The decision was announced on
May 13,
2005, the Feast of
Our Lady of Fatima and the 24th anniversary of the attempt on John Paul II's life. John Paul II often credited Our Lady of Fatima for preserving him on that day. Cardinal Ruini inaugurated the diocesan phase of the cause for beatification in the Lateran Basilica on
June 28,
2005.
The first beatification under the new Pope was celebrated on
May 14,
2005, by
José Cardinal Saraiva Martins. The new Blesseds were
Mother Marianne Cope and
Mother Ascensión Nicol Goñi.
Mariano de la Mata was beatified in November 2006 and
Rosa Eluvathingal was beatified December 3 of that year, and Fr.
Basil Moreau is scheduled to be beatified by next year. In October 2008 the following beatifications will take place:
Celestine of the Mother of God,
Giuseppina Nicoli,
Hendrina Stenmanns,
Maria Rosa Flesch,
Marta Anna Wiecka,
Michal Sopocko,
Petrus Kibe Kasui and 187 Companions,
Susana Paz-Castillo Ramirez.
Unlike his predecessor, Benedict XVI delegated the beatification liturgical service to a Cardinal. On
September 29,
2005, the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints issued a communiqué announcing that henceforth beatifications would be celebrated by a representative of the Pope, usually the Prefect of that Congregation.
Canonizations
Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his first canonizations on
October 23,
2005 in
St. Peter's Square when he canonized
Josef Bilczewski,
Alberto Hurtado SJ,
Zygmunt Gorazdowski,
Gaetano Catanoso, and
Felice da Nicosia. The canonizations were part of a Mass that marked the conclusion of the
Synod of Bishops and the
Year of the Eucharist. Pope Benedict XVI canonized
Bishop Rafael Guizar y Valencia,
Mother Theodore Guerin,
Filippo Smaldone, and
Rosa Venerini on
October 15,
2006.
During his visit to Brazil in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI presided over the canonization of
Frei Galvão on May 11, while
George Preca, founder of the Malta based MUSEUM,
Szymon of Lipnica,
Charles of Mount Argus, and
Marie-Eugénie de Jésus were canonized in a ceremony held at the
Vatican on
June 3 2007. Preca is the first Maltese saint since the country's conversion to Christianity in
A.D. 60 when St. Paul converted the inhabitants. In October 2008 the following canonizations will take place:
Saint Alphonsa of India,
Gaetano Errico,
Narcisa de Jesus Martillo Moran,
María Bernarda Bütler
Curia reform
Pope Benedict began downsizing the
Roman Curia when he merged four existing pontifical councils into two in March 2006. The
Pontifical Council for Migrants was merged with the
Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace headed by
Cardinal Martino. Likewise,
Cardinal Poupard, who headed the
Pontifical Council for Culture, now also oversees the operations of what had been the
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, though both Councils maintained separate officials and staffs while their status and competencies continued unchanged. In May 2007 it was decided that Interreligious Dialogue would again become a separate body under a different President.
Teachings
As Pope, Benedict XVI's main role is to teach about the Catholic faith and the solutions to the problems of discerning and living the faith, a role that he can play well as a former head of the Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The main points of emphasis of his teachings are stated in more detail in
Theology of Pope Benedict XVI.
"Friendship with Jesus Christ"
According to commentators, during the Inaugural Mass, the core of the Pope's message, the most moving and famous part, is found in the last paragraph of his homily where he referred to both
Jesus Christ and John Paul II. After referring to John Paul II's well-known words, "Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors for Christ!", Benedict XVI said:
Jesus of Nazareth, his main purpose was "to help foster [inthe reader] the growth of a living relationship" with Jesus Christ.
He took up this theme in his first encyclical
Deus Caritas Est. In his personal explanation and summary of the encyclical, he stated: "If friendship with God becomes for us something ever more important and decisive, then we'll begin to love those whom God loves and who are in need of us. God wants us to be friends of his friends and we can be so, if we're interiorly close to them." Thus, he said that
prayer is "urgently needed...It is time to reaffirm the importance of prayer in the face of the activism and the growing secularism of many Christians engaged in charitable work."
"Dictatorship of Relativism"
Continuing what he said in the pre-conclave Mass about what he's often referred to as the "central problem of our faith today", on
June 6,
2005 Pope Benedict also said:
He said that "a dictatorship of
relativism" was the core challenge facing the church and humanity. At the root of this problem, he said, is
Kant's "self-limitation of reason". This, he said, is contradictory to the modern acclamation of
science, whose excellence is based on the power of
reason to know the
truth. He said that this self-amputation of reason leads to pathologies of religion such as
terrorism and pathologies of science such as
ecological disasters. Benedict traced the failed revolutions and violent
ideologies of the twentieth century to a conversion of partial points of view into absolute guides. He said "Absolutizing what isn't absolute but relative is called
totalitarianism."
In an address to a conference of the Diocese of Rome held at the basilica of
St. John Lateran June 6,
2005, Benedict remarked on the issues of
same sex marriage and
abortion:
» The various forms of the dissolution of matrimony today, like free unions, trial marriages and going up to pseudo-matrimonies by people of the same sex, are rather expressions of an anarchic freedom that wrongly passes for true freedom of man...from here it becomes all the more clear how contrary it's to human love, to the profound vocation of man and woman, to systematically close their union to the gift of life, and even worse to suppress or tamper with the life that's born.
Christianity as the Religion according to Reason
In the discussion with
secularism and
rationalism, one of Benedict's basic ideas can be found in his address on the "Crisis of Culture" in the West, a day before Pope John Paul II died, when he referred to Christianity as the Religion of the
Word (the original Greek,
Logos, meaning reason, meaning, or intelligence). He said:
Benedict thus endorses creative reason, manifested in the crucified God as love, which contrasts with the strict rationality of the
Enlightenment.
Encyclicals: Love and hope
Pope Benedict has to date written two
encyclicals,
Deus Caritas Est (
Latin for "God is Love"), and
Spe Salvi ("Saved by Hope").
In his first encyclical, "God is love", he said that a human being, created in the image of God who is love, is able to practice
love: to give himself to God and others (
agape), by receiving and experiencing God's love in contemplation (
eros). This life of love, according to him, is the life of the saints such as
Teresa of Calcutta and the
Blessed Virgin Mary, and is the direction Christians take when they believe that God loves them in
Jesus Christ.
The encyclical contains almost 16,000 words in 42 paragraphs. The first half is said to have been written by Benedict in
German, his
mother tongue, in the summer of 2005; the second half is derived from uncompleted writings left by his predecessor,
Pope John Paul II. The document was signed by Pope Benedict on
Christmas Day,
25 December 2005. The encyclical was
promulgated a month later in Latin and was translated into
English,
French,
German,
Italian,
Polish,
Portuguese, and
Spanish. It is the first encyclical to be published since the Vatican decided to assert
copyright in the official writings of the
Pope.
Pope Benedict's second encyclical titled
Spe Salvi ("Saved by Hope"), about the virtue of
hope, was released on
November 30 2007.
His third encyclical will be social in nature, and reportedly an extension of
Pope Paul VI's encyclical
Populorum Progressio, and will be title Caritas in Veritate (charity in truth).
Post-synodal apostolic exhortation
Sacramentum Caritatis (The Sacrament of Charity) signed
22 February 2007, released in Latin, Italian, English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Polish. It was made available in various languages
March 13 2007 in Rome. The English edition from
Libera Editrice Vaticana is 158 pages. This exhortation "seeks to take up the richness and variety of the reflections and proposals which emerged from the recent Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops..." which was held in 2006.
Motu proprio on Tridentine Mass
On
7 July 2007, Benedict XVI issued the
motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, declaring that upon "the request of the faithful", celebration of
Mass according to the
Missal of 1962 (commonly known as the
Tridentine Mass), was to be more easily permitted. Stable groups who previously had to petition their bishop to have a Tridentine Mass may now merely request permission from their local priest. While
Summorum Pontificum directs that pastors should provide the
Tridentine Mass upon the requests of the faithful, it also allows for any qualified priest to offer private celebrations of the Tridentine Mass, to which the faithful may be admitted if they wish. For regularly scheduled public celebrations of the Tridentine Mass, the permission of the priest in charge of the church is required.
In an accompanying letter, the Pope outlined his position concerning questions about the new guidelines, Some Catholic voices feared that the move would entail a reversal of the Second Vatican Council. The document has been seen as restating "key sections of a 2000 text the pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation,
Dominus Iesus."
Benedict XVI has condemned excessive
consumerism, especially among youth. He stated in
December 2007 that "[A]dolescents, youths and even children are easy victims of the corruption of love, deceived by unscrupulous adults who, lying to themselves and to them, draw them into the dead-end streets of consumerism."
Ecumenical efforts
Speaking at his weekly audience in St Peter's Square on
7 June 2006, Pope Benedict asserted that Jesus himself had entrusted the leadership of the Church to his apostle
Peter. "Peter's responsibility thus consists of guaranteeing the communion with Christ," said Pope Benedict. "Let us pray so that the primacy of Peter, entrusted to poor human beings, may always be exercised in this original sense desired by the Lord, so that it'll be increasingly recognised in its true meaning by brothers who are still not in communion with us." The Catholic Church teaches that the Pope has a leading role among Christians because as Bishop of Rome he's successor to the apostle Peter who first held the office. The role of the papacy remains a source of controversy, not only for
Protestant denominations but also for
Eastern Orthodox churches, who likewise don't accept Petrine primacy as defined at the
First Vatican Council.
Dissident Catholics
On
August 29,
2006, Pope Benedict XVI met with
Bishop Bernard Fellay of the traditionalist
Society of St. Pius X, an international society of traditionalist Roman Catholic priests, which since 1975 has existed in a state of dispute with the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. Bishop Fellay had previously issued a statement welcoming the election of Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope.
Orthodox
The bishops of the Ecumenical
Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople have expressed concern over Pope Benedict XVI's decision to strike out "patriarch of the West" from his official titles in the Vatican yearbook. In a
June 8,
2006 statement, the chief secretary of the
Orthodox bishops' synod said dropping "patriarch of the West" while retaining the titles "vicar of Jesus Christ" and "supreme pontiff of the universal church" is "perceived as implying a universal jurisdiction of the bishop of Rome over the entire church, a claim that the
Orthodox have never accepted." The statement was issued after synod members discussed the change during their early June meeting.
Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said in a March statement that dropping the title of patriarch in reference to the pope doesn't minimize the importance of the patriarchal office, particularly in relation to the ancient Eastern churches. "Even less can this suppression be seen as implying new claims" of power or authority on the part of the Vatican, he said. However, members of the Orthodox synod disagreed. From their point of view, "the geographical limits of each ecclesiastical jurisdiction" have been a key part of the structure of the church from the earliest days of Christianity. The church as a whole is "a unity of full local churches" and not a monolith divided into local units simply for the sake of easier governance. The
Orthodox synod's statement said that, with the international Catholic-Orthodox theological dialogue set to begin again in September with plans to deal with the "thorny problem" of papal primacy, it would have been better not to have removed the title without consultation.
A leading
Muscovite Orthodox spokesman has said that a visit to
Ukraine by Pope Benedict XVI would be "untimely", according to the country's RISU news service. "If Pope Benedict is a moral and a spiritual person and wants only good for Ukraine and its people, he'll never take such an unreasonable step," said Valentyn Lukianyk, the head of the Union of Orthodox Brotherhoods of Ukraine. He was responding to the news that Ukrainian President
Viktor Yushchenko has invited the Pope to visit the country. After the collapse of the
Soviet Union there have been numerous clashes between
Orthodox and Catholic believers over the ownership of parish properties that were confiscated by the
Communists and handed over to the Russian Orthodox Church. At the same time, Orthodox leaders have complained that Catholics are engaged in "proselytism", seeking converts among Orthodox believers. In his statement opposing a papal visit, Lukianyk said that relations between Catholics and Orthodox in Ukraine are now "warming." A visit by Pope Benedict, he said, would place an undue burden on those sensitive ties.
Archbishop Christodoulos, Archbishop of Athens, visited Pope Benedict XVI at the
Vatican on
December 13,
2006. It was the first official visit by a Church of Greece leader to the
Vatican. Archbishop Christodoulos was present for the funeral of Pope
John Paul II. The
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople,
Bartholomew I, with other Orthodox prelates also were present for the funeral Mass, but didn't participate liturgically.
Protestants
In 2005, Pope Benedict sent a message to the national synod of the
Reformed Church of France, the country’s main Protestant community, who thanked the Pontiff for this “gesture of consideration.”
In more general terms, Pope Benedict addressed Protestant churches in a speech during his trip to Cologne, Germany in 2005, discussing a "renewed sense of our brotherhood" and "a more open and trusting climate between Christians belonging to the various Churches and Ecclesial Communities."
According to
John L. Allen, Jr.'s
Cardinal Ratzinger, the Pope, a German himself, feels a bond towards
Lutherans and has Lutheran friends. Allen, in fact, compares the then Cardinal Ratzinger's feelings towards Lutherans to the feelings John Paul had for Orthodox Christians in that both men wanted a divided Christendom to be reunited. The Pope is said to be rather ambivalent towards
Martin Luther.
In Autumn 2006 Pope Benedict met with
Rowan Williams,
Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the
Anglican Communion. They issued a Common Declaration, highlighting the previous 40 years of dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans while also acknowledging "serious obstacles to our ecumenical progress." In January 2008, he also met with
John Sentamu,
Archbishop of York.
The June 2007 clarification of
Dominus Iesus, approved by the Pope, restated the Catholic Church's position that because of their perceived lack of bishops in the historic episcopate, Protestant faith communities "are not true Churches," as contrasted with Orthodox communities, which have bishops in the apostolic line and are therefore are considered true, if deficient, Churches.
The Pope's claim that Protestant faith communities "are not true Churches", was described by
Adventists as "nothing more than tradition".
Latter-day Saints
During Pope Benedict's trip to the
United States in
2008, representatives of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were invited to attend an ecumenical prayer service with the pope for the first time. A representative for the
U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops commented that there are a variety of ways the two faiths can work together while acknowledging the theological differences that exist between the two faiths.
Dialogue with other religions
Pope Benedict is open to dialogue with other religious groups, and has sought to improve relations with them throughout his pontificate. He has, however, generated certain controversies in doing so.
Judaism
The
World Jewish Congress "welcomed" his election to the pontificate, noted "his great sensitivity to the Jewish history and the
Holocaust", and quoted the Pope in its press release:
» Even if the most recent, loathsome experience of the Shoah (Holocaust) was perpetrated in the name of an anti-Christian ideology, which tried to strike the Christian faith at its Abrahamic roots in the people of Israel, it can't be denied that a certain insufficient resistance to this atrocity on the part of Christians can be explained by an inherited anti-Judaism present in the hearts of not a few Christians.
However, Pope Benedict XVI's meeting with a Polish priest who has been accused of making anti-Jewish comments has shocked Jewish groups. The European Jewish Congress said that it was "shocked" in a letter to the Vatican. Benedict XVI has made two visits to synagogues to meet with their congregants, however. This is notable because there had only been one known Papal visit to a synagogue before Benedict XVI's administration, and that was by his predecessor,
John Paul II.
Islam
Pope Benedict's relations with Islam have been at times strained. On
12 September 2006 Pope Benedict XVI delivered a lecture which touched on Islam at the
University of Regensburg in
Germany. The pope had previously served as professor of
theology at the university, and his lecture was entitled "Faith, Reason and the University—Memories and Reflections".
The lecture received much attention from political and religious authorities. Many
Islamic politicians and religious leaders registered their protest against what they said was an insulting mischaracterization of Islam, although his focus was aimed towards the rationality of religious violence, and its effect on the religion. the following passage from the Pope's speech:
Tibetan Buddhism
The
Dalai Lama congratulated Pope Benedict XVI upon his election, and visited him in October 2006 in the Vatican City. Benedict declined to see him in 2007. It has been suggested that this was for political reasons involving the position of
Chinese Catholics.
Indigenous American beliefs
While visiting
Brazil in May 2007, "the pope sparked controversy by saying that native populations had been 'silently longing' for the Christian faith brought to
South America by colonizers." The Pope continued, stating that "the proclamation of Jesus and of his Gospel didn't at any point involve an alienation of the pre-
Columbus cultures, nor was it the imposition of a foreign culture."
Apostolic journeys
Benedict has traveled extensively during the three years of his papacy. In addition to his travels within
Italy, Pope Benedict XVI has made two visits to his homeland,
Germany, one for
World Youth Day and another to visit the towns of his childhood. He has also visited
Poland and
Spain, where he was enthusiastically received. His visit to
Turkey, an overwhelmingly
Muslim nation, was initially overshadowed by the
controversy about a lecture he'd given at Regensburg. His visit was met by nationalist and Islamic protesters and was placed under unprecedented security measures. However, the trip went ahead and Benedict made a joint declaration with
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in an attempt to begin to heal the rift between the Catholic and Orthodox churches.
In 2007, Pope Benedict visited
Brazil in order to address the Bishops' Conference there and canonise
Friar Antônio Galvão, an 18th century
Franciscan. In June of 2007, Benedict made a personal pilgrimage and pastoral visit to
Assisi, the birthplace of
St. Francis. In September, Benedict undertook a three day visit to
Austria, during which he joined Vienna's chief
rabbi in a
memorial to the 65,000 Viennese
Jews who perished in
Nazi death camps. During his stay in Austria, he also celebrated
Mass at the Marian shrine
Mariazell.
In April
2008 Pope Benedict XVI made his first visit to the
United States since becoming pope. He arrived in
Washington, DC where he was formally received at the
White House and met privately with U.S. President
George W. Bush. While in Washington, the pope addressed representatives of US Catholic universities, met with leaders of other world religions, and celebrated
Mass at the
Washington Nationals baseball stadium with 47,000 people. The Pope also met privately with victims of sexual abuse by priests. The pope traveled to
New York where he addressed the
General Assembly of the
United Nations. Also while in New York, the pope celebrated Mass at
St. Patrick's Cathedral, met with disabled children and their families, and attended an event for Catholic youth, where he addressed some 25,000 young people in attendance. On the final day of the pope's visit, he visited the
World Trade Center site and later celebrated Mass at
Yankee Stadium.
Attire
Pope Benedict XVI has re-introduced several
papal garments which had previously fallen into disuse. Pope Benedict XVI resumed the use of the traditional red
papal shoes, which hadn't been used since early in the pontificate of Pope John Paul II. Contrary to the initial speculation of the press that the shoes had been made by the Italian fashion house
Prada, the
Vatican announced that the shoes were provided by the pope's personal
cobbler.
On
December 21,
2005, the pope began wearing the
camauro, the traditional red papal hat usually worn in the winter. It hadn't been seen since the pontificate of
Pope John XXIII (1958–1963). On
September 6,
2006 the pope began wearing the red
cappello romano (also called a saturno), a wide-brimmed hat for outdoor use. Rarely used by
John Paul II, it was more widely worn by his predecessors.
Pope Benedict XVI has also restored the use of all three forms of the
papal mozzetta. While only the red satin summer mozzetta was used by John Paul II, Benedict XVI has also made use of the winter papal mozzetta and the paschal mozzetta, both of which were last worn by
Pope Paul VI The winter papal mozzetta is of red velvet trimmed with white ermine, and the paschal mozzetta, worn only during the
Eastertide, is of white damask silk trimmed with white ermine.
During his installment address, Pope Benedict XVI spoke at length about the significance of the
pallium, and he's returned to an ancient version of the vestment, an Eastern design, used by the popes of the first millennium. Benedict XVI has also returned to wearing traditional forms of other liturgical
vestments to emphasize the continuity of the papacy and the church.
One item that Benedict hasn't worn to date is the
papal tiara. Like his two immediate predecessors, Benedict chose not to be crowned with the tiara during his Inauguration Mass, nor has he worn it since that time. Unlike them, however, he's emphasized this decision by breaking with prior tradition in using a
mitre instead of the tiara in his coat of arms. Other traditional
pontifical vestments remain unused as well, including the
fanon, the
pontifical gloves, and the
papal slippers.
Franco Zeffirelli, the famed Italian film director of numerous lavish productions, criticized the Pontiff's vestments as being too "showy." He said that, "These are not times of high-tailored church wear." Zeffirelli believes that Pope Benedict's garments are "too sumptuous" and make the pontiff appear cold and removed from his surroundings. The Vatican explained Benedict's use of traditional vestments such as older, much taller miters during his "
Urbi et Orbi" Christmas greeting by pointing to the need "to underline the continuity of today's liturgical celebration with that which characterized the life of the church in the past." The Pope's liturgist likened the use of vestments worn by previous popes to annotations in papal documents, where "a pope cites the pontiffs who preceded him in order to indicate the continuity of the church's magisterium."
Titles
The official title of the Pope is
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI; in Latin,
Benedictus XVI,
Episcopus Romae. However, his rarely-used full title is "His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI,
Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles,
Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church,
Primate of Italy,
Archbishop and
Metropolitan of the Roman province, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City,
Servant of the Servants of God."
Before
1 March 2006, the list of titles also used to contain that of a "
Patriarch of the West", which traditionally appeared in that list of titles before "Primate of Italy." The title of "Patriarch of the West" was first adopted in the year 642 by
Pope Theodore I, but was rarely used since the
East-West Schism of 1054. From the Orthodox perspective, authority in the Church could be traced to the five patriarchates of Rome,
Constantinople,
Alexandria,
Antioch, and
Jerusalem. However, some Catholic theologians have argued that the term "Patriarch of the West" has no clear historical or theological basis and was introduced into papal court in 1870, at the time of the
First Vatican Council. Pope Benedict chose to remove the title at a time when discussions with the Orthodox churches have centered on the issue of papal primacy. It has also been suggested that "the West" is a misnomer as the modern
Latin Church is today global in its extent.
Pope John Paul II reportedly considered dropping the title during his own pontificate.
Political positions
Turkey
In an 2004
Le Figaro, Ratzinger said that
Turkey, which is demographically
Muslim but governmentally
secular by virtue of its state constitution (see
Secularism in Turkey), should seek its future in an association of
Muslim nations rather than the
European Union, which Ratzinger has stated has Christian roots. He said Turkey had always been "in permanent contrast to
Europe" and that linking it to Europe would be a mistake.
Later visiting the country to "reiterate the solidarity between the cultures," it was reported that he made a counter-statement backing Turkey's bid to join the EU.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, after meeting the pope upon his arrival in
Ankara, the pope's first visit to a majority Muslim country, said that the pope told him that while the Vatican seeks to stay out of politics it desires Turkey's membership in the EU. However, the Common Declaration of Pope Benedict XVI and
Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople implied that support for Turkey's membership in the European Union would be contingent on the establishment of
religious freedom in Turkey: "In every step towards unification, minorities must be protected, with their cultural traditions and the distinguishing features of their religion." The Declaration also reiterates Pope Benedict XVI's call for Europe to preserve its Christian roots.
Birth control and HIV/AIDS
It was widely reported in April 2006 that the Vatican had launched a commission to investigate and prepare a document regarding the question of whether there are any cases when a married person may use condoms to protect against infection from their spouse. Though no conclusions have yet been reached, the investigation has surprised many Catholics in the wake of
John Paul II's consistent refusal to consider condom use in response to
AIDS and the widespread belief that his successor shared this view. In November 2005 the Pope had listed several ways to combat the spread of HIV, including chastity, fidelity in marriage and anti-poverty efforts with no mention of condoms. However, Time Magazine reported in its
April 30 2006 edition that the Vatican's position remains what it always has been with Vatican officials "flatly dismiss[ing] reports that the Vatican is about to release a document that will condone any condom use."
Korea
On
November 13 2006, Benedict said the dispute over the
North Korea nuclear weapons program should be resolved through negotiations, in his first public comment on the security issue, a news report said. "The Holy See encourages bilateral or multilateral negotiations, convinced that the solution must be sought through peaceful means and in respect for agreements taken by all sides to obtain the denuclearization of the
Korean Peninsula." Benedict said in a speech to the new Japanese ambassador to Vatican.
Migrants and refugees
In a message released
November 14 2006, during a Vatican press conference for the 2007 annual observance of World Day for Migrants and Refugees, the pope urged the ratification of international conventions and policies that defend all migrants, including refugees,
exiles,
evacuees, and
internally displaced persons. "The church encourages the ratification of the international legal instruments that aim to defend the rights of migrants, refugees and their families," the pope said. "Much is already being done for the integration of the families of immigrants, although much still remains to be done."
Pope Benedict has also promoted various
UN events, such as
World Refugee Day, on which he offered up special prayers for refugees and called for the international community to do more to secure refugees' human rights. He also called on Catholic communities and organizations to offer them concrete help.
China
On
June 28 2006, for the first time in more than five years, an official Vatican delegation visited
China and met with government officials, signaling a warming between the two nations that had previously been locked in conflict. "This is a real gesture by the Vatican and its diplomats," said the Reverend Bernardo Cervellera, director of AsiaNews, a Catholic missionary news service with close links to the Vatican. In sending diplomats to
Beijing, the Vatican, under Pope Benedict XVI, is publicly expressing interest in improving relations with China despite the recent conflicts.
In 2007 Benedict sent a letter at Easter to Catholics in China that could have wide-ranging implications for the church's relationship with China's leadership. The letter provides long-requested guidance to Chinese bishops on how to respond to illicitly ordained bishops, as well as how to strengthen ties with the Patriotic Association and the Communist government.
Interests
- Pope Benedict XVI's interests include classical music and cats He owns a white Apple iPod specially engraved with his coat of arms and enjoys listening to music on it.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Pope Benedict Xvi'.
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