Out of 266 ecclesiastics throughout history, the Church has elected a new pope only ten times while he is still alive. As a rule, the election of a new pope is motivated by the death of a bishop in office, but On February 11, 2013, Joseph Ratzinger stunned the world by announcing his resignation from the pontificate.
Benedict XVI’s resignation is an unusual event, as he is the first pope to do so in nearly 600 years. It is necessary to go back to the distant year 1415 to find another head of the Catholic Church who resigned.When Pope Gregory XII abdicated, in an attempt to resolve the schisms, and later responded to the phenomenon of “antipopes”, they claimed for themselves the title of successor to Saint Peter.
In memoirs and rare statements since Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI has explained that his decision to resign was due to health issues only and not due to the pressure of several controversial cases.
In June 2020, Benedict XVI left the Vatican for the last time, traveling to Germany to say goodbye to his older brother Georg Ratzinger, who will die on July 1.
Life and work
In 1939, when World War II began, it was also the year that Ratzinger began his ecclesiastical career and entered the seminary of Traunstein. In the final part of the war, he was called into the anti-aircraft auxiliary services by the Nazi regime.
After the conflict, he celebrated his first Mass with his brother in June 1951. Ratzinger was soon noted for his erudition in theology, and he was also a great lover of the arts, especially music. “Art, along with science, is God’s greatest gift to mankind,” he said.
Before coming to the Holy See, he participated in the Second Vatican Council and was Archbishop of Munich and Freising between 1977 and 1982. Pope John Paul II, already a cardinal, appointed Ratzinger as rector for the doctrine of the faith.
He was elected by the College of Cardinals at the Vatican on April 2, 2005, a few days after the death of John Paul II. During his nearly eight years as pontiff, Benedict XVI made 24 foreign trips. Between 11th and 14th May 2010 it also passed through Portugal on a voyage between Lisbon, Fatima and Porto.
Joseph Ratzinger chaired three World Youth Days and signed three encyclopedias. Even before becoming head of the Catholic Church, Benedict XVI was already considered one of the most influential and outstanding theologians of recent decades. Even so, the papacy has been marked by new controversies over sexual abuse in the church and the “Watileaks” case in 2011.
By resigning at the end of a nearly eight-year pontificate, in an unexpected and unprecedented gesture in recent history, Joseph Ratzinger paved the way for future resignations by other popes. Earlier this month, Pope Francis announced in an interview with Spanish daily ABC that he had already signed his resignation in case of a medical emergency.
It’s an opportunity that remains open at a time when the head of the Catholic Church is 86 — the same age as Ratzinger when he resigned from the pontificate nearly 10 years ago — and is struggling with increasing mobility challenges from knee problems. .
In this ABC interviewFrancis spoke of his predecessor as a “saint” and “a man of high spiritual life”.
“I often meet him and am amazed by his clear vision. Live in thought. He is in a good mood, he is clear, very lively, he speaks softly but follows conversations. I appreciate your clarity. He is a great man,” stressed Francisco.
Already on Wednesday, Pope Francis announced that his predecessor was “very ill” and was praying for him. In front of the faithful at a pontifical meeting at the Vatican, Francis asked for “a special prayer for the pontiff emeritus.”
“As he is very ill, to keep his memory alive, to ask God to comfort him and support him to the end in this testimony of love for the Church”, Said.
Two Popes
In the book “Monastery” (Madalum), published in Italy in April 2022, journalist Massimo Franco describes the difficulties of the coexistence of the two popes. Despite the warm and cordial relationship between the two pontiffs, the two figures represent different factions within the Church, he argues.
According to the reporter Corriere della SeraThe Mater Ecclesiae convent in the Vatican Gardens, where Benedict XVI has lived since 2013, has been the nucleus of a kind of opposition to Francis.
Much has been and continues to be speculated about this unique moment of church leaders, representatives of the same Church but very different in style and approach. Fiction, dramatized on film by Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles.Two Popes“(2019), an affectionate relationship between two men of polar opposite beliefs.
In contrast to Francis, with a more relaxed and charismatic style, Benedict XVI already came to the Holy See with a reputation as a great theologian with a more conservative team and doctrine.
There is a paradox in Benedict XVI’s thinking that reflects the Catholic Church’s current crossroads. On the one hand, if Ratzinger rejects the trivialization of doctrine as a solution to greater intimacy and intelligence before the faithful, he embraces Catholicism’s concern for the present and the future. Succession delivery is complete.
“The number of believers is decreasing, professions are decreasing, especially women’s orders. The wind is not blowing in our favor”, recognized in a documentary on German television ARD in 2005.
In early 2022, following an independent investigation, Benedict XVI was accused of ignoring sexual abuse cases within the Church, particularly during his tenure as Archbishop of Munich. The allegations are “vehemently” denied by the Pope Emeritus, who last February asked for “forgiveness” for all victims.
“I had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church. I am very sorry for the abuses and wrongs that happened in these different places during my mandate. In all my encounters, especially in many apostolic journeys, with those who have been sexually abused by priests, I have faced and understood the consequences of very serious mistakes. As has happened many times and continues to happen, we ourselves are drawn into this grave error when we ignore or do not face it with the necessary firmness and responsibility.“, Benedict XVI writes in a letter read by his private secretary.
On a final note, he ends on this note: “Soon I will meet the final judge of my life. Although there are many reasons for fear and trembling when I look back on my long life, I am in a happy mood, because I am convinced that the Lord is not only a righteous judge, but also a friend and brother that he already has. I have experienced my faults and am therefore a judge and at the same time my protector.
“Hardcore explorer. Extreme communicator. Professional writer. General music practitioner. Prone to fits of apathy.”