Pope Benedict pledges obedience to successor
Reuters- View PhotoReuters/Reuters - Pope Benedict XVI holds his last general audience in St Peter's Square at the Vatican February 27, 2013. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi
Thursday, February 28, 2013
POPE LIVE: Ready for departure, final meetings
POPE LIVE: Ready for departure, final meetings
By | Associated Press
View Photo
Associated Press/Gregorio Borgia, files - FILE - This Nov. 3, 2006 file photo shows Pope Benedict XVI's hand as he waves to faithful from his car at the end of his visit at the Pontifical Gregorian University
"Pope Live" follows the events of the final day of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy as seen by journalists from The Associated Press around the world. It will be updated throughout the day with breaking news and other items of interest.
LAST TASKS
The big speeches are done. It's almost time to go.
In just a few minutes, Pope Benedict XVI meets with his cardinals this morning on the day he heads into retirement. No major speech is expected during his morning farewell with his closest advisers, just a simple greeting to each one inside the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace.
Shortly before 5 p.m. local time, Benedict will leave the palace for the last time as pope, head to the helipad on the top of the hill in the Vatican gardens and fly to the papal retreat south of Rome. And there, at 8 p.m. — the exact moment Benedict's resignation goes into effect — the doors of the palazzo will close and the Swiss Guards in attendance will go off duty, their service protecting the pope now finished.
QUICKQUOTE: JOHN KERRY
"The United States sends its best wishes to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI as he leaves the Vatican after years of service and dedication to God, the Catholic Church, and world peace. As the papal conclave assembles, I look forward to continuing our important relationship with the Vatican and working with the new pope to foster dialogue and promote human rights and human dignity throughout the world."
— New U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, visiting Rome for a conference on Syria as part of his first diplomatic tour abroad.
A GLIMPSE INSIDE
Victor L. Simpson, Rome bureau chief for The Associated Press, reflects on his decades of covering the papacy:
One thing that sets the Vatican apart from other places: You can't just stroll around and poke your head in everywhere.
As many as 18 million people pass through Vatican territory each year, but their visits are effectively limited to St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican museums. Aside from the Vatican's 492 residents and its 4,700 employees, everyone else needs a pass, even to drop by the Vatican pharmacy for medicine not sold in Italy (bring a doctor's prescription please) or to buy back copies of the Vatican paper at the offices of L'Osservatore Romano.
After all these years, I still feel a tingle of excitement to be let in through the Bronze Door, escorted past Swiss Guards in full regalia, and taken up to the pope's apartment on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace for a papal audience with a dignitary. These meetings have given a rare peek inside Vatican diplomacy.
— Victor L. Simpson
TOWN TOUR
The town where Benedict is spending his last hours as pope and his first hours as the first pontiff in 600 years to retire is one of several picturesque "castle towns" known as the "Castelli," less than an hour's drive from Rome. Nestled in the Alban Hills, southeast of Rome, it is an area that is volcanic in origin. One of the volcano's old craters became Lake Albano, whose shores include Castel Gandolfo.
The volcano's no longer active, but the Castelli area gets its share of earthquakes, generally fairly mild and doing no damage. The rich volcanic soil helps produce inexpensive white wines that are a favorite in local trattorie as well as in restaurants in Rome.
The town is older than Christianity. The papal residence grounds include ruins from an imperial Roman villa, which itself had been on the site of ancient temples built several centuries before the ancient Romans came to check out the cool breezes and views.
The sprawling papal grounds, which as Vatican property enjoy extraterritoriality, include a working farm. Coffee bars in town have been known to serve milk from the farm's cows. (Yes, it's already been said: "Holy Cow.")
GOODBYE, RED SHOES
The red shoes are being retired.
The Pope is giving up the trademark that briefly made him a fashion star, trading in his snappy ruby-red loafers for a pair of hand-crafted brown ones made for him by artisans in Mexico. He will wear those in retirement, Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi says.
The flash of red sparked (unfounded) rumors he was wearing Prada and helped make him Esquire magazine's accessorizer of the year in 2007. The actual designer? An Italian craftsman who had previously created a pair for Pope John Paul II, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.
A former Vatican official assured The Associated Press back in 2005 that Benedict was no clothes horse, advising that the pontiff "wouldn't know Gucci from Smoochi."
— Matt Surman — Twitter http://twitter.com/apsurman
LAST DAY AS POPE
Pope Benedict XVI is making history today, becoming the first pontiff to retire in nearly 600 years.
Only a handful of popes have ever done so.
The last was Pope Gregory XII, who stepped down in 1415 in a deal to end the Great Western Schism, a dispute among competing papal claimants. The most famous resignation was Pope Celestine V in 1294; Dante placed him in hell for it.
Benedict is saying farewell this morning to his closest advisers in Clementine Hall at the Apostolic Palace. Then shortly before 5 p.m., he will leave the palace for the last time as pope and fly by helicopter to the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.
Exactly at 8 p.m. — when his resignation takes effect — the doors at Castel Gandolfo will close and the papacy that began on April 19, 2005, will come to an end.
Benedict greets cardinals on final day as Pope
Benedict greets cardinals on final day as Pope
 |
Associated
Press/Gregorio Borgia - Pope Benedict XVI greets pilgrims at the end of
his general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Wednesday,
Feb. 27, 2013. Pope Benedict XVI basked in an emotional
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VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI has greeted his cardinals for the last time as pontiff, beginning a quiet final day as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics before flying off into retirement.A
No major speech was planned during Thursday's farewell to his closest advisers. Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the dean of the cardinals, thanked Benedict for his service.
Around 5 p.m., Benedict will leave the palace for the last time as pontiff, head to the helicopter pad on the hill in the Vatican gardens and fly to the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo.
There, at 8 p.m. sharp, Benedict becomes the first pontiff in 600 years to resign. The doors of the palazzo will shut and the Swiss Guards in attendance will go off duty.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
GOMERM, MY ZION
By Ola Jones
The journey was that of the Israelite in the wilderness. For years, I was lost as I shepherded the rest of my family. There was no one to give direction; and ignorantly we wandered going to settlements where God does not exist. In the wilderness we were, when the light shone and we found where God lives. The domicile was where we had passed severally; it was an appointed sanctuary for us but we could not recognise it as such. We wandered with the faintest idea that so close to us was a healing home, a home for deliverance from the claws of the evil world, a home where a true relationship with God gives you salvation, a home where like for the Zionists, captivities are restored. It is the habitat of God, enveloped by the wind of miracles. The House is God’s Mercy Revival Ministry, (GOMERM). As the name depicts, in truth, His favour and mercy abound therein.
 |
| Dr. James Oluwole Akanbi, GeneralOverseer, GOMERM |
There is a powerful manifestation of the presence of the Prince of Peace in this Great House of the Lord.
It was in the first week of July 2011, that my family visited the church to worship and from that moment a change began in our lives. The whole of the preceding week was a tough experience and one that I will never let go from my memory. We had survived the week only on ten satchets of water which we purchased with the last 35 naira we had in our home. It was a week we thought, we were due for ridicule as we were yet to renew the rent due on our 6’ x 9’ room apartment. The landlady had politely exhibited her impatience with us probably because she felt the amount (7,200 naira for half -of- a- year) should not be difficult for us to pay and so she subtly threatened fire and brimstone should we fail to settle at the turn of a new month which was the July we first visited GOMERM. To simply put it, we were dead in the water.
The Journey to liberation
In GOMERM, we met Jesus Christ through His servant Dr. James Akanbi who prayed with prophetic pronouncement that a silver lining would come to mark our cloud. And unbelievably this came to pass within few days and specifically the very day my landlady was to have confrontation with us. I was in the house that morning when a spirit ministered to me that I should call on a friend I had not seen for almost 16 years. I swiftly heeded and a call to the friend yielded the rent, and some money to feed. Not only that, he offered that I should come into the office regularly to assist him in duties while he would appreciate my effort with whatever he could give at the end of the month.
This awesome manifestation of God’s ability to turn things around with His infinite mercy became a propelling force in me to stay in GOMERM. I became faithful that someday, He will visit me fully as he had done to others that had in my presence testified to His kindness. My faith became stronger as the General Overseer of the Church who I prefer to call Dad, took special interest in my family. He is indeed a caring man of God. Dr. Akanbi is a man living like Jesus Christ; he readily shares the pains of others, no matter what it will take from his life. All he battles for is your salvation and inheritance of the rest of the things that His father in Heaven has promised us. With those things comes prosperity, good health, breaking of the yoke of affliction, success, etc.
Dr. Akanbi is an oracle of God. Several times he had spoken the mind of the Supreme Being towards man and such pronouncements never fail to come into fulfillment. He has given prophecies about nations, concerning individuals and institutions and they happened as he was sent to reveal. Last year in the month of August during a Solution Touch Service which happens every Thursday, this affable man of God prophesied that someone in the service would be earning his income in dollars and truly when I opened my mail in the following month I saw something happening in that realm.
Also late last year God showed him a vision that there were some members of the church that the enemies had clipped there wings and they could no longer fly but after that revelation and prayer, the affected people would have there wings back and start flying. True to this vision, I had witnessed people sharing testimonies of making there journeys by air in the past but due to the power of demonic forces life became miserable and they could no longer fly. The prophecy also came to pass in my life this month when I had to travel miraculously by air within the country after the airspace was closed to me by enemies for several years.
It was during the trip that the biggest one happened. At the monthly miracle service of the for the month of January Dr. Akanbi prophesied, a new season for the church members and I could still remember the special touch of the Holy Spirit on me that morning service. Truly, it became the start of a new season for me and my family as the trip fetched me the money to hire a new apartment (Three bed rooms flat). I was taken away from Egypt where I have been suffering for years. The high point of this testimony is that my landlady gave me a notice of eviction in January against March and God intervened in His awesome way and provided a very comfortable palace for my family. God lives in GOMERM, The Ministry is my own Zion.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
No hope for African Pope –Benedict’s brother
No hope for African Pope –Benedict’s brother
Pope Benedict’s elder brother, the Rev. Georg Ratzinger has given insight into why the coveted position of Catholic Pontiff may elude Africa as the Church begins the process of appointing a new pope. Much speculation has focused on whether Benedict’s successor might come from Africa or Latin America, rather than Europe, where Roman Catholic congregations are shrinking.
The pope’s brother, the Rev. Georg Ratzinger, speaking in Regensburg, Germany, said he expected to see a pope chosen from outside Europe one day but not just yet. “I’m certain a pope will come from the new continents but whether it will be now, I have my doubts,” he said. “In Europe, we have many very able people, and the Africans are still not so well known and maybe do not have the experience yet.”
Among those considered frontrunners for the role are Cardinal Angelo Scola, archbishop of Milan; Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, who heads the Vatican’s office of bishops; Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, an Argentinian, Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana and Cardinal Francis Arinze of Nigeria. Whoever gets the nod, the selection of a new pontiff is expected to go smoothly. “We’re not going to have a problem of two competing popes. If Pope Benedict still wanted to have influence, he wouldn’t have stepped down,” said senior Vatican communications adviser Greg Burke. While not quite unprecedented, Benedict’s resignation is certainly historic.
The last pope to step down before his death was Gregory XII, who in 1415 quit to end a civil war within the church in which more than one man claimed to be pope.
Monday, February 11, 2013
Historian: Pope Benedict XVI Never Aspired to Be Pope
By Lauren Effron | ABC News BlogsAfter Pope Benedict XVI's announcement today that he will resign on Feb. 28, his older brother told The Associated Press that the pontiff had been advised by his doctor not to take any more transatlantic trips and had been considering stepping down for months.
Talking from his home in Regensburg in Germany, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, 89, told the AP his younger brother, formerly Joseph Ratzinger, was having increasing difficulty walking and that his resignation was part of a "natural process."
"His age is weighing on him," Ratzinger said. "At this age, my brother wants more rest."
FULL COVERAGE: Pope Benedict XVI Resignation
Pope Benedict XVI was the oldest pope to be elected at age 78 on April 19, 2005, but according to a Catholic historian, the now 85-year-old pontiff never aspired to become pope.
Writer and historian Michael Hesemann spent months interviewing Monsignor Georg Ratzinger at his home in Regensburg to capture the intimate details of his life with the pope, from childhood to papacy. The two brothers have always been close.
These interviews became Ratzinger's memoirs in a book titled "My Brother, The Pope," which came out last March.
Hesemann, 48, is a German Catholic and an expert in church history. In writing this book, Hesemann told ABC News in an interview last year,
he was surprised to learn that the pope was an "unambitious" man, "a
loner" growing up, who was content to be a theology professor in Germany
and never aspired to rise through the Catholic ranks.
"[The pope] never wanted to become a bishop, he never wanted to become cardinal, he never wanted to go to Rome, for three times he resisted the call of Pope John Paul II to Rome, but eventually he had to be obedient to the pope … and certainly never wanted to be pope," Hesemann said at the time. "It was against his plan. It was the plan of God but was not the plan of Joseph Ratzinger."
RELATED: Pope Benedict XVI Resigns: The Statement
Having written books about Pope John Paul I and Pope John Paul II, the Vatican granted Hesemann permission to write a biography about Pope Benedict XVI shortly after his election to the papacy in April 2005. It was after that the biographer said he developed a strong interest in interviewing Pope Benedict's older brother, Georg Ratzinger. After waiting almost six years, Hesemann said the monsignor agreed to have him record his memoirs.
Hesemann made it clear that this book, "My Brother, the Pope," was not commissioned by the Vatican, and was produced in a publishing house in Germany, not by the Vatican library. But the writer admitted that the Holy Father's personal secretary, Monsignor Georg Gänswein, did fact-check the book with Pope Benedict because Georg Ratzinger is almost completely blind and couldn't proofread it.
Long before he was named pope himself, Joseph Ratzinger had the ear of Pope John Paul II, and served as his close adviser. Hesemann said Pope John Paul II often sought Ratzinger's advice and the two would have collaborated on how best to offer the famous grand apologies Pope John Paul II made for the wrongdoings of the Catholic Church.
"In every step John Paul II made, you have one way or the other, an influence of the Ratzinger theology," Hesemann said. "John Paul II was a wonderful communicator but, as they say, he was not a great theological professor, he was not a teacher of theology, he was not a theological genius, and so he needed Ratzinger."
But having his brother named pope "shocked" Georg Ratzinger at first, not because he was jealous, Hesemann said, but because Georg knew it meant he would not be able to retire and travel with his brother as they both had planned.
"It was a shock for him, it was a shock. He was deeply depressed," Hesemann said. "He did not go to the phone for one day. His brother the pope tried to call him many times and in the end, eventually, the housekeeper went to the phone, and picked it up, and there's the pope on the other line. He wanted to talk to his brother, and so for him, he said, 'Oh, my God, I don't want to talk to anybody, this is the worst thing that could happen because now it's like I don't have a brother anymore, he won't have any time for me.'"
Hesemann said Georg would travel to Rome four times a year to spend time with the pope.
"He's happy to have him be the pope," Hesemann said. "[But] he is missing his brother. He would like to have his brother at his side."
Life of The Catholic Pontif, Pope Benedict XVI
Life of The Catholic Pontif, Pope Benedict XVI
Synopsis
Pope Benedict XVI was born in Germany and grew up under war reparations from World War I and as the Nazi regime was gaining power. He was briefly a member of the Hitler Youth in his early teens, after membership became mandatory in 1941. He turned to theological studies after the war, helping found the influential journal Communio. He was elevated to the papacy in 2005.
Early Life
Born Joseph Ratzinger on April 16, 1927, in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, Germany, the youngest of three children. His father was a policeman and his mother a hotel cook (before she married). His family moved frequently among villages in rural Bavaria, a deeply Roman Catholic region in Germany, as the Nazis strengthened their stranglehold on Germany in the 1930s. His father was a determined anti-Nazi, Ratzinger wrote. Unemployment was rife," he wrote in his memoir, Milestones. "War reparations (from World War I) weighed heavily on the German economy. Battles among the political parties set people against one another."
As a defense against the Nazi regime, Ratzinger threw himself into the Roman Catholic Church, "a citadel of truth and righteousness against the realm of atheism and deceit," he wrote.
Ratzinger entered preparatory seminary in 1939. But he could not avoid the realities of the day. Ratzinger was briefly a member of the Hitler Youth in his early teens, after membership became mandatory in 1941.
Military Service
In 1943, he and fellow seminarians were drafted into the anti-aircraft corps. He has said his unit was attacked by Allied forces that year, but he did not take part in that battle because a finger infection had kept him from learning to shoot.
After about a year in the antiaircraft unit, Ratzinger was drafted into the regular military. He told Time magazine in 1993 that while stationed near Hungary, he saw Hungarian Jews being sent to death camps.
Ratzinger was sent home and then called up again before deserting in late April 1945. He was captured by American soldiers and held as a prisoner of war for several months.
Ratzinger returned to seminary at the University of Munich in the fall of 1945 and was ordained a priest in 1951. Two years later, he earned his doctorate at the University of Munich. He earned his teaching licentiate in 1957 and became a professor of Freising College in 1958, teaching dogma and fundamental theology.
Ratzinger became a professor at the University of Bonn in 1959. Later, he moved to the University of Muenster (1963-1966) and took a chair in dogmatic theology at the University of Tübingen. Alienated by the student protests at Tübingen, he returned to Bavaria, to the University of Regensburg.
Promotion Within the Church
At the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), Ratzinger served as chief theological expert to Cardinal Joseph Frings of Cologne, Germany. He was viewed as a reformer during this time.
In 1972, Ratzinger helped found the theological journal Communio, which became one of the most important journals of Catholic thought.
In March 1977, he was named archbishop of Munich and Freising and, three months later, was named a Cardinal by Pope Paul VI.
In 1981, Pope John Paul II named Ratzinger prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In 1998, he became Vice Dean of the College of Cardinals and was elected Dean in 2002. Ratzinger defended and reaffirmed Catholic doctrine, including teaching on topics such as birth control, homosexuality and inter-religious dialogue.
Papacy
Ratzinger was elevated to the papacy on April 19, 2005, upon the death of Pope John Paul II, and celebrated his Papal Inauguration Mass five days later. Known for his rigid views on Catholicism, he has sought a more inclusive image as pope.
In 2008, Benedict made his first visit as pope to the United States, where he spoke out against clerical sexual abuse and delivered an address at the United Nations. That same year, to foster relations and understanding between religions, Benedict addressed the first Catholic-Muslim Forum, a three-day conference of Catholic theologians and Islamic scholars.
Resignation
In February 2013, at age 85, Pope Benedict XVI announced that he would be resigning on February 28, 2013—becoming the first pope in centuries to step down from his post.
According to several media reports, Benedict's decision centered on his old age, and physical and mental weakness. In one statement, the pope explained, "I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise." He went on to state, "In today's world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of St. Peter and proclaim the gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me ... For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom, I declare that I renounce the ministry of bishop of Rome, successor of St. Peter."
Pope Benedict XVI to Resign for Health Reasons on Feb. 28
Pope Benedict XVI to Resign for Health Reasons on Feb. 28
By Chiara Vasarri & Flavia Krause-Jackson
Pope Benedict XVI, saying he no longer has the strength to lead the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, will resign from the papacy at the end of the month, the first such abdication in almost 600 years.
Pope Benedict XVI arriving to
pray in front of the nativity crib in Saint Peter's Square after
celebrating the Vespers and Te Deum prayers in Saint Peter's Basilica at
the Vatican in this file photo. Photographer: Andreas Solaro/AFP via
Getty Images
Pope Benedict XVI. Photographer: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images
“After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry,” he said today in an address to senior church officials in Rome.
Pope Benedict, the 265th leader of the Roman Catholic Church, said his resignation would take effect at 8 p.m. on Feb. 28. He will step down two months before his 86th birthday after serving for almost eight years as pontiff after succeeding John Paul II.
The resignation of Benedict may reopen rifts within the Church as pressure builds to name a pope from the developing world where Catholicism is growing much faster than in Europe and the U.S. The new pope will be chosen through a conclave, a special gathering of cardinals who are sequestered in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican until they can agree on a successor.
Demographic Shift
About 70 percent of the world’s Catholics now hail from the developing world, where the general population is also growing at a much faster clip than in Europe and the U.S. The faith is expanding most rapidly in Africa, with the continent providing a growing share of the ranks of the global priesthood.
“If you go back 100 years, three-fourths of Catholics were in the developed world, now those numbers are reversed, it would be fair to reflect that,” said Rev. Robert Wister Professor of Church History at Seton Hall University said in a telephone interview.
Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson, 64, is the 9-4 favorite to become the next pope, according to Irish betting site Paddy Power Plc. Canada’s Marc Ouellet, 68, is second favorite at 5-2, followed by Nigeria’s Francis Arinze, 80, at 3-1.
Pope Benedict will have no role in choosing his successor, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said at a press conference in Rome. The pope will initially retire to his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo before transferring to live in a convent, Lombardi said.
Obama, Cameron
World leaders offered their support for the pope’s decision. U.S. President Barack Obama said in an e-mailed statement that his prayers were with Pope Benedict and that he wished “the best” to those who will choose his successor. U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron said in a statement that Benedict “will be missed as a spiritual leader to millions.”
Benedict will become the first pontiff to resign since Gregory XII, who was pressured to step down in 1415 to resolve a schism that had divided the church. The previous pope to quit was Celestine V in 1294 after reigning for five months. Many literature experts identify him as the nameless figure Dante Alighieri sees among those in the antechamber of Hell in his Divine Comedy, deemed by the poet as someone “who by his cowardice made the great refusal.”
Today’s announcement took even senior church officials by surprise, Lombardi said. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said on the sidelines of an event in Milan that he was very shaken by the unexpected news, Ansa reported.
Moral Relativism
A traditionalist, Benedict succeeded John Paul II in April 19, 2005 after spending a quarter century as the enforcer of doctrine in an office formerly known as the Inquisition. A scholar, Benedict spent years penning by hand his philosophical take on the life of Jesus Christ in a three-volume book. He was an enemy of “moral relativism” and considered it his main job to resist some of the changes sweeping modern society.
He strengthened the Church’s opposition to women joining the priesthood, clamped down on efforts to open up to homosexuals and vigorously opposed birth control. Before becoming pope, he announced that he would prefer a smaller, purer church to a broader one if it meant easing doctrine.
“We are moving toward a dictatorship of relativism which does not recognize anything as for certain and which has as its highest goals one’s own ego and one’s own desires,” he said a day before the conclave of cardinals met to elect him pope.
After his election as pontiff, he compared the job he was about to accept with a guillotine falling toward his neck, and to capital punishment.
‘Death Sentence’
“He is probably the first pope in history to compare his election with a death sentence,” said John Allen Jr., author of “Cardinal Ratzinger: The Vatican’s Enforcer of the Faith.” The pope’s real name is Joseph Ratzinger and he chose the name of Benedict when he became pope.
Succeeding a revered pope who was swiftly put on the path to sainthood, Benedict discovered not only that he couldn’t match John Paul II’s charisma but that some of the failings of his predecessor would come back to haunt his own papacy.
The church came in for criticism at the start of his tenure for doing too little to punish pedophile priests and even covering up evidence of their abuse. Benedict did confront the issue, apologizing for the church’s shortcomings in not better protecting children from wayward priests and he met and prayed with victims of abuse.
New Economic Order
As the global credit crisis unfolded, Benedict found his voice as an advocate for a new financial and social order in the aftermath of the market meltdown. As an octogenarian, he published a 150-page encyclical calling for a new economic order with “real teeth.”
Still, the recurring theme of his papacy has been a personal battle against relativism, wherein religious truth and practices are malleable to suit lifestyle demands of changing cultures. He argued it would be a mistake to compromise on ideology to make the faith more accessible to modern societies.
That is not to say that Benedict, who preferred to write by hand, wasn’t dragged into the 21st century by outside pressure to appear in touch with the times. He even set up a Twitter account this year.
For example, Benedict reviewed the church’s stance on contraception. He commissioned a 200-page report to explore the effect that condoms could have in stopping the spread of infectious diseases, including AIDS. The effort eventually yielded to a slight shift, while at the same time reaffirming the church’s approach. In 2010, Benedict said that condom use can be justified in “single cases,” for example by sex workers, as a necessary “humanization of sexuality,” while reiterating the church still opposed contraceptive use.
German Pontiff
Benedict was the first German pontiff since Victor II in the 11th century and the oldest cardinal elected since Clement XII, who was also 78 when chosen in 1730. His fellow cardinals needed only four ballots to select him pope.
John Paul tapped then-cardinal Ratzinger in 1981 to head a body that today is better known for putting the astronomer Galileo Galilei on trial for heresy in the 17th century. In that role, he quashed efforts by some priests to convince the Vatican to ease doctrine on issues such as celibacy for priests and took on liberal theologians such as Brazil’s Leonardo Boff.
“Ratzinger would never be swayed from his beliefs,” said Allen. “At his age and with his life experience, his core ideas were very well fixed.”
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