On Monday, February 11, 2013, Joseph Ratzinger, also known as Pope Benedict XVI, announced that he will resign on Thursday, February 28, 2013. The 85-year-old Benedict is the third pope to resign independently. He already said in 2010 that a pope must resign if he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually able to fulfill his office.
Step down
In 2010, Joseph Ratzinger already announced that he would not rule out resigning independently. He said this in an interview for the book Light of the World. ,If the Pope clearly perceives that he is no longer physically, psychologically and spiritually capable of fulfilling the duties of his office, he has the right and, under certain circumstances, the obligation to resign,, the Pope said. at the time.
On February 12, 2013, it emerged that the Pope had received a new pacemaker three months earlier. This was done at the Vatican-owned Pius Xl Clinic. Around the year 2001, the Pope had his old pacemaker inserted by heart surgeon Luigi Chiarello, who also performed the operation.
During the Consistori on for the canonization of the martyrs of Otranto on February 11, 2013, Pope Benedict The 85-year-old pope indicated that due to his old age he no longer has enough strength to perform the function of pope. Benedict XVI is the third pope in history, after Pope Gregory XII in 1415 and Celestine V in 1294, to abdicate while alive. After his resignation, he will from now on stay in his holiday home Castel Gandolfo. He will continue to pray to God for the rest of his life.
The Vatican announced on February 16, 2013 that the Conclave can start before March 15, provided that sufficient cardinals can be in Rome on time.
Successor
Immediately after the announcement of Benedict’s resignation, a search began for possible successors. So far, three possible successors have already been found. The most popular and favorite candidate in the battle to succeed the Pope is the Ghanaian priest Peter Turkon. In addition, he is only 64 years old, which is a good quality to become pope, because the cardinals of the Vatican are most likely looking for someone younger. A second possible successor is the Italian Angelo Scola, who received cardinal status 33 years after obtaining the priesthood. He is 71 years old, which might be a critical point. A third possible successor is the 68-year-old Canadian Marc Ouellet. In any case, he does not expect to become pope himself. After his appointment as prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, he said he was ‘very surprised to have been asked for that position’. He also added the following: ,And I don’t think I will ever become Pope, I don’t think so.,
Lifecycle
Youth
Pope Benedict the Sixteenth was born on April 16, 1927 in the German town of Marktl am Inn. He is the son of police officer Joseph Ratzinger senior and cook Maria Peintner and was the youngest in the family of three children. He spent most of his youth in Traunstein, a town near the Austrian border. His father refused to join the NSDAP, after which the family took refuge in faith. In 1939, Benedict followed a priestly training course for the poor at the Traunsteiner Studies Seminar Sankt Michael. This was because they did not receive any study costs, because they were not members of the Hitler Youth. In 1940 the school merged with the Realschule, which meant that the majority of the teachers were National Socialist. As a result, the school eventually registered all students with the Hitler Youth, after which he still did not receive any study costs, because a distinction was made between children who registered voluntarily and children who were registered under duress. He was subsequently punished with financial sanctions for refusing to participate. In 1943 he and his class were deployed to defend a BMW factory. In 1945 he abandoned the armed unit and returned to Traunstein, where he was subsequently taken prisoner of war by the Americans.
Study
At the age of 18, Joseph studied philosophy and theology at the college in Freising. On June 29, 1951, he was ordained a priest together with his brother Georg, after which he briefly became a parish priest in Munich-Bogenhausen and in Munich-Moosach. He then taught for two years at the priestly seminary of the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising. In 1957, Joseph received his Habilitation from the University of Munich, after which he continued to teach dogmatics and fundamental theology. From 1962 to 1965 he was an official council theologian of the Second Vatican Council, where he worked as an assistant to Cardinal Joseph Frings, then Archbishop of Cologne. In 1972 he and others founded the theological journal Communio, which was about theology. In 1977 he briefly became vice president of the University of Regensburg.
Archbishop
On May 28, 1977, Joseph Ratzinger junior was ordained Archbishop of Munich-Freising. He chose the motto: Cooperatores veritatis , which means Collaborators of the Truth. On June 27, 1977, he was sworn in as cardinal by Paul VI together with Bernardin Gantin. He also became an associate professor at the University of Regensburg that same year.
Pope
On April 19, 2005 at 6:45 PM, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope during the fourth round of voting in the Sistine Chapel. Joseph then came out onto the balcony, gave the blessing Urbi et Orbi and gave a short speech in Italian. Joseph was born on April 16, which is the day on which the feast of Saint Benedict Joseph Labre is celebrated. Joseph chose the name Benedict, which means the blessed, because Benedict XV was the one who led the Church through the First World War and is also known as the Pope of Peace and Joseph himself also wants to keep the peace.
Trivia
- Benedict XVI speaks several languages, including German, Italian, French, Spanish, English and Latin
- The Pope likes to play the piano in his spare time. He has also said that he likes rock music.
- There is an asteroid that orbits the sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter named after him.
- The oldest elected pope in the last 275 years.
- The Pope has a Twitter account called @pontifex and posted his first tweet on December 12, 2012.
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- How is a new Pope chosen?