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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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."
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