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Pope Benedict XVI, Requiescat In Pace
Pope Benedict XVI has passed away in his 95th year. From Catholic World Report:
Joseph Ratzinger was born on April 16, 1927, Holy Saturday, in the Bavarian town of Marktl am Inn. His parents, Joseph and Maria, raised him in the Catholic faith. His father — a member of a traditional Bavarian family of farmers — served as a police officer. Joseph senior was, however, such a fierce opponent of the Nazis that the family had to relocate to Traunstein, a small town on the Austrian border.
Joseph and his older siblings, Georg and Maria, thus grew up during the rise of the Nazis in Germany, which he would later call “a sinister regime” that “banished God and thus became impervious to anything true and good.” He was conscripted into the military’s auxiliary anti-aircraft service in the final months of World War II, deserted, and spent a brief time in an American prisoner-of-war camp.
Here is the entire article from Catholic World Report.
Published in Religion & Philosophy
I don’t really keep abreast of Church politics, but as far as I know he was the last of the traditionalist conservatives. Are there others?
Cardinal Sarah, Cardinal Raymond Burke, as well as other Cardinals, Bishops, and priests are active in trying to preserve orthodox Catholicism.
I was disappointed when he chose to step down. RIP.
With his issuance of Summorum Pontificum (liberalizing the use of the Traditional Latin Mass) Benedict XVI inspired a generation of young priests. The traditional liturgical orders (FSSP, ICKSP, SSPX) are growing and flourishing. The heterodox orders and priests are diminishing. There are a growing contingent of orthodox bishops in the US – my bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, TX being a good example.
Certainly politics plays a role but it is more a question of orthodoxy/heterodoxy and orthopraxy/heteropraxy.
Godspeed, Holy Father. Here is a gift of music from America.
He is moving on to bigger and better things. I remember someone asked him once why he would ever join the Nazi party. His reply was you either join the party or get shot.
I once went to Wednesday Mass at St. Peters Square where Pope John Paul II presided. Popes look very tiny in those big windows.
To those who embraced him as your spiritual leader, I offer my sincere sympathy. May he rest in peace.
Just to set record the straight although all German teens had to join the Hitler youth movement not all their parents were members of the Nazi Party, nor were those teens granted party membership. Most of those involved in the White Rose resistance group were Catholic and came from Bavaria, and other areas in southern Germany to include some Wehrmacht and German naval officers.
You’re from Tyler? My mother grew up in Tyler!
I’m in the Diocese of Tyler but live in Buffalo, TX.
Pope Emeritus Benedict’s passing did not get much mainstream news coverage. It seemed like a blip. In the spiritual world, it was an earthquake……….
Thanks for that important clarification. Cardinal Timothy Dolan just spoke about him for about 10 minutes on Newsmax. It was a good piece. Will he be laid to rest in the Grotto?
Benedict XVI will be buried in the crypt under St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican said Saturday afternoon.
I will fearlessly predict here that he will be made a Doctor of the Church. It might take a few years, and I would expect him to be canonized first, but he was the most important and influential theologian in the last 100 years. His was a brilliant mind – I would recommend his writing to one and all for its brilliance, clarity, and precision.
I’ve seen a lot written about what a great theologian Joseph Ratzinger was – and I don’t dispute this – but to me, his greatest gift to the Church are his homilies. I followed his Apostolic Journey to the USA in April of 2008 and put together a Common Place Book of the trip that included my favorite snippets of his homilies and addresses (unfortunately I don’t know how to paste the document here).
But, if you are interested, here is a link to the Vatican website and the homilies B16 preached in the USA on that trip. I find the homily he preached at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC particularly beautiful:
https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2008.index.2.html
I love that man and miss him. Pray for us Fr. Joseph as we pray for you.
I enjoyed this Farewell to Pope Benedict by Bishop Robert Barron very much. The last story he tells about Pope Benedict’s life in Rome would probably resonate with nearly everyone I’ve come to know on Ricochet. :)
Farewell to Pope Benedict – YouTube
A good interview of Tracey Rowland (winner of the Ratzinger Prize in 2020) at NR:
https://www.nationalreview.com/2022/12/no-love-without-truth-benedict-xvis-message-to-the-world/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=river&utm_content=top-bar-latest&utm_term=third