Pope Benedict XVI is dead: Joseph Ratzinger from the papacy to illness

Benedict XVI is dead. Elected on April 19, 2005, he was the eighth pope to renounce the papal throne

Mariangela Masiello

December 31st

Benedict XVI is dead. The Pope Emeritus passed away today, at the age of 95.

The announcement was made by the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni: “It is with pain that I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 am, in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican”. Bruni added: “More information will follow as soon as possible.” For now, the Vatican Press Office has announced that since the morning of Monday 2 January 2023 the body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will be in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican for the greeting of the faithful. Benedict XVI was the 265th Pope of the Catholic Church, from 19 April 2005 to 28 February 2013.

who was Joseph Ratzinger

Joseph Ratzingerthe son of a policeman and a cook, was born in Marktl am Inn, Germany, on April 16, 1927. After spending his adolescence in Traunstein, he was in the last months of the Second World War enlisted in the anti-aircraft auxiliary services. Priest since 29 June 1951has been professor in Freising, Bonn, Muenster, Tübingen and Regensburg. In the 1977 Paul VI nominated him Archbishop of Munich and on June 27 he created it cardinal. In 1981 John Paul II appointed him Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He was also president of the commission for the preparation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, vice dean and then dean of the cardinals. He was elected Pope on April 19, 2005, on the fourth ballot.

resignation

L’February 11, 2013 Benedict XVI announced his decision to the world retire and leave the papacy. The news quickly became breaking news on all continents. “After repeatedly examining my conscience before God I have come to the certainty that my strengthdue to old age, they are no longer suitable for exercising the Petrine ministry in an adequate wayread the communiqué issued by Pope Ratzinger. “I sincerely thank you for all the love and work with which you have carried the weight of my ministry with me, and I apologize for all my flaws”. Benedict XVI he was the eighth Pope to renounce the papal throne after Clement I, Pontian, Silverius, Benedict IX, Gregory VI, Celestine V and Gregory XII. During his last hearing, February 27, 2013in St. Peter’s Square said: “In recent months, I have felt that my strength had diminished, and I have asked God insistently, in prayer, to enlighten me with his light to make me take the more just decision not for my own good, but for the good of the Church“.

the illness

“Benedict XVI is very ill” he communicated at the end of December Pope francesco, at the end of the general audience during which he asked the faithful for a prayer for the Pope Emeritus. Confirmation came soon after director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Matteo Bruni, who had spoken of an “aggravation due to advancing age”. The last known illness that Pope Ratzinger had suffered from was a shinglesin the summer of 2020, shortly before his departure for Germany.



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