Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, who died at the age of 95, ended his earthly life. Elected as successor of Peter on 19 April 2005, the pontiff formally renounced the papal throne on 28 February 2013. At first he left the Vatican for a short time going to reside in Castel Gandolfo, where he spent the time of the conclave precisely in order not to influence the choice of the new Pope with his indirect presence. Following the election of Pope Bergoglio, Ratzinger he returned to the Vatican to take possession of his new home, the monastery Mater ecclesiae on the summit of Mount Vatican, near the reproduction of the Grotto of Lourdes. This is his last home where he lived the last years of his life in silence and meditation.
Pope Benedict XVI
Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI born in Marktl am Inn, on April 16, 1927, was the 265th pontiff of Rome, the ninth German successor of Peter, the son of a policeman and a cook. A fine theologian, a reserved man with great listening skills, a master at preaching in an accessible way even on the most complex topics, in almost eight years as pope he has met millions of people. He has made dozens of international trips and to Italy, has written various encyclicals to say that love and hope are not something but someone, that is Christ, and to renew the social doctrine of Church.
Wrote the Jesus of Nazareth in several volumes, to show that faith is not a list of prohibitions but a relationship of friendship with God made man. He has placed the themes of poverty and Africa, young people, ecumenism and the proclamation of the faith to the secularized world at the center of his pontificate. And, again, he fought vigorously against the pedophilia of the clergy, imposing a change of direction in the conscience, in the norms and in the attitudes of the Church towards pedophile priests.
Great thinker and scholar
Priest since 29 June 1951, doctorate in theology with a thesis on St. Augustine and qualified to teach with another text on St. Bonaventure, he taught in Freising, Bonn, Muenster, Tübingen and Regensburg. He was one of the most important experts on the Second Vatican Council. In 77 Paul VI appointed him archbishop of Monaco and on 27 June created him cardinal. His episcopal motto was "Collaborator of the truth". He participated in the conclaves which in '78 elected Pope Luciani and Pope Wojtyla. In 81 John Paul II appointed him prefect of the Congregation for the doctrine of the faith.
The election to the chair of Peter took place on the fourth ballot. His publications were numerous before his election, but even as pope he cultivated the gift of writing, innovating papal communication. This, in particular with the letter to the Irish on the pedophilia scandal, and with the one to the bishops on the case of the denialist Lefebvrian bishop Williamson. With a Twitter profile he has also landed on social networks. Among his documents also two Own motu of 2007: one to restore a two-thirds majority for the election of a pontiff. And the other, the Summorum Pontificum, which liberalized the Latin Mass.
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