Vatican City State: Pope Benedict XVI, January 2006 - February 2013

[BeatrixFan]

Arms of Pope Benedict XVI

---

Here is a new thread for current news and pictures of Pope Benedict XVI.

[BeatrixFan]

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger is announced as the 265th Pope, taking the name Pope Benedict XVI.

He delivered these words;

"Dear brothers and sisters, after our great pope, John Paul II, the Cardinals have elected me, a simple, humble worker in God's vineyard. I am consoled by the fact that the Lord knows how to work and how to act, even with insufficient tools, and I especially trust in your prayers. In the joy of the resurrected Lord, trustful of his permanent help, we go ahead, sure that God will help. And Mary, his most beloved mother, stands on our side."















Pictures from Corbis.Com

[BeatrixFan]

His Holiness's Inauguration

His full title : His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ, Successor of Peter, Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff, Patriarch of the West, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City and Servant of the Servants of God











Meeting HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco after his inauguration.

Pics from Corbis.Com

[BeatrixFan]

Biography from Vatican.Va

Pope Benedict XVI, was born at Marktl am Inn, Diocese of Passau (Germany) on 16 April 1927 (Holy Saturday) and was baptised on the same day. His father, a policeman, belonged to an old family of farmers from Lower Bavaria of modest economic resources. His mother was the daughter of artisans from Rimsting on the shore of Lake Chiem, and before marrying she worked as a cook in a number of hotels.

He spent his childhood and adolescence in Traunstein, a small village near the Austrian border, thirty kilometres from Salzburg. In this environment, which he himself has defined as "Mozartian", he received his Christian, cultural and human formation.

His youthful years were not easy. His faith and the education received at home prepared him for the harsh experience of those years during which the Nazi regime pursued a hostile attitude towards the Catholic Church. The young Joseph saw how some Nazis beat the Parish Priest before the celebration of Mass.

It was precisely during that complex situation that he discovered the beauty and truth of faith in Christ; fundamental for this was his family’s attitude, who always gave a clear witness of goodness and hope, rooted in a convinced attachment to the Church.

During the last months of the war he was enrolled in an auxiliary anti-aircraft corps.From 1946 to 1951 he studied philosophy and theology in the Higher School of Philosophy and Theology of Freising and at the University of Munich.

He received his priestly ordination on 29 June 1951.
A year later he began teaching at the Higher School of Freising.
In 1953 he obtained his doctorate in theology with a thesis entitled "People and House of God in St Augustine’s Doctrine of the Church".
Four years later, under the direction of the renowned professor of fundamental theology Gottlieb Söhngen, he qualified for University teaching with a dissertation on: "The Theology of History in St Bonaventure".

After lecturing on dogmatic and fundamental theology at the Higher School of Philosophy and Theology in Freising, he went on to teach at Bonn, from 1959 to1963; at Münster from 1963 to 1966 and at Tübingen from 1966 to 1969. During this last year he held the Chair of dogmatics and history of dogma at the University of Regensburg, where he was also Vice-President of the University.

From 1962 to 1965 he made a notable contribution to Vatican II as an "expert"; being present at the Council as theological advisor of Cardinal Joseph Frings, Archbishop of Cologne.

His intense scientific activity led him to important positions at the service of the German Bishops’ Conference and the International Theological Commission.

In 1972 together with Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac and other important theologians, he initiated the theological journal "Communio".
On 25 March 1977 Pope Paul VI named him Archbishop of Munich and Freising. On 28 May of the same year he received episcopal ordination. He was the first Diocesan priest for 80 years to take on the pastoral governance of the great Bavarian Archdiocese. He chose as his episcopal motto: "Cooperators of the truth". He himself explained why: "On the one hand I saw it as the relation between my previous task as professor and my new mission. In spite of different approaches, what was involved, and continued to be so, was following the truth and being at its service. On the other hand I chose that motto because in today’s world the theme of truth is omitted almost entirely, as something too great for man, and yet everything collapses if truth is missing".

Paul VI made him a Cardinal with the priestly title of "Santa Maria Consolatrice al Tiburtino", during the Consistory of 27 June of the same year.
In 1978 he took part in the Conclave of 25 and 26 August which elected John Paul I, who named him his Special Envoy to the III International Mariological Congress, celebrated in Guayaquil (Ecuador) from 16 to 24 September. In the month of October of the same year he took part in the Conclave that elected Pope John Paul II.

He was Relator of the V Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops which took place in 1980 on the theme: "Mission of the Christian Family in the world of today", and was Delegate President of the VI Ordinary General Assembly of 1983 on "Reconciliation and Penance in the mission of the Church".

John Paul II named him Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and President of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and of the International Theological Commission on 25 November 1981. On 15 February 1982 he resigned the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. The Holy Father elevated him to the Order of Bishops assigning to him the Suburbicarian See of Velletri-Segni on 5 April 1993.
He was President of the Preparatory Commission for the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which after six years of work (1986-1992) presented the new Catechism to the Holy Father.

On 6 November 1998 the Holy Father approved the election of Cardinal Ratzinger as Vice-Dean of the College of Cardinals, submitted by the Cardinals of the Order of Bishops. On 30 November 2002 he approved his election as Dean; together with this office he was entrusted with the Suburbicarian See of Ostia.

In 1999 he was Special Papal Envoy for the Celebration of the XII Centenary of the foundation of the Diocese of Paderborn, Germany which took place on 3 January.

Since 13 November 2000 he has been an Honorary Academic of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

In the Roman Curia he has been a member of the Council of the Secretariat of State for Relations with States; of the Congregations for the Oriental Churches, for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, for Bishops, for the Evangelization of Peoples, for Catholic Education, for Clergy and for the Causes of the Saints; of the Pontifical Councils for Promoting Christian Unity, and for Culture; of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, and of the Pontifical Commissions for Latin America, "Ecclesia Dei", for the Authentic Interpretation of the Code of Canon Law, and for the Revision of the Code of Canon Law of the Oriental Churches.
Among his many publications special mention should be made of his "Introduction to Christianity", a compilation of University lectures on the Apostolic Creed published in 1968; "Dogma and Preaching" (1973) an anthology of essays, sermons and reflections dedicated to pastoral arguments.

His address to the Catholic Academy of Bavaria on "Why I am still in the Church" had a wide resonance; in it he stated with his usual clarity: "one can only be a Christian in the Church, not beside the Church".

His many publications are spread out over a number of years and constitute a point of reference for many people specially for those interested in entering deeper into the study of theology. In 1985 he published his interview-book on the situation of the faith (The Ratzinger Report) and in 1996 "Salt of the Earth". On the occasion of his 70th birthday the volume "At the School of Truth" was published, containing articles by several authors on different aspects of his personality and production.

He has received numerous "Honoris Causa" Doctorates, in 1984 from the College of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota; in 1986 from the Catholic University of Lima; in 1987 from the Catholic University of Eichstätt; in 1988 from the Catholic University of Lublin; in 1998 from the University of Navarre; in 1999 from the LUMSA (Libera Università Maria Santissima Assunta) of Rome and in 2000 from the Faculty of Theology of the University of Wrocław in Poland.

[BeatrixFan]

The Holy Father is to publish his first encyclical;

From the BBC - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4645428.stm

[Saragli]

Its intresting how the when the Popes Coronation was still held that the british coronations were nearly the exact same. I guess that is were coronations stemmed from. When he was first elected I was a bit unsure about him but I have definitly warmed to him and like him very much. He is much more fun as Pope then when he was cardinal.

[BeatrixFan]

I remember when he was elected, I was staying with a friend and we had the radio on. They told us that the white smoke had been seen. We rushed and turned on the TV and we watched the Cardinal come out and announce that Joseph Ratzinger was our new Pope. We both started to cry and clap, and then when he came out onto the balcony, I knew that I could easily love this man as my Pope.

I think that as a Cardinal, he was a younger man who wanted to lead the church in his direction. But now, he's Pope and he can relax a little more because he has the ability to put his mark on the church. There's a little shop in London that sells catholic books, pictures etc. And I went in there the other day to try and get a portrait of the Pope. When I asked, the little Italian nun behind the desk jumped up and said, "Papa!" and came back with the most wonderful framed photograph of him. She said, "Every time I see him, I just want to kiss people!". I thought it was rather sweet.

[LaPlusBelle]

Hehe that's adorable!
He's totally deserving of that exclamation from that nun. :-D
Didn't the Vatican object to a forum or something, though?

[BeatrixFan]

Didn't the Vatican object to a forum or something, though?

I'm not sure. He's been Pope for such a short time but I think it's amazing how much people have warmed to him in that time. I doubt he'll have such a long reign as John Paul the Great, but I'm sure he'll make his mark.

[BeatrixFan]

There's very often programmes or live coverage from the Vatican on EWTN. You can watch it live by going here;

http://www.ewtn.com/audiovideo/index.asp

And downloading the Live Video plug-in. I suggest Windows Media Player 500k. Download it and you just have to click it to watch it live. At the moment, they are showing a biography programme of the Holy Father.

(They also show the Mother Angelica interviews!)

[CrownPrinceLorenzo]

I dislike this Pope.

Too conservative. Blocking the ordainment of women is just not right.

[BeatrixFan]

His Holiness meets Laura Bush, wife of President Bush.







Is Laura Catholic?

Pics from Corbis.

[Saragli]

No she is not Catholic. Do you have pics of the Pope meeting the athletes. Also, this is not the place to post personal feelings on the pope and the churches teaching because then the Vatican threads will have to be shut down.

[BeatrixFan]

I don't have any yet - but a few might come up. I wonder if His Holiness will watch any of the games? Young Barbara Bush didn't cover her head. Why I'll never know because they obviously knew she had to.

[Danielle]

It looks like Laura was given some Rosary beads. (well, that's what the box looks like). Every time I see His Holiness, I just smile. He's just so sweet. Thank you BeatrixFan for all of the photos. :)

[BeatrixFan]

The little white box is indeed rosary beads - and its so wonderful because nobody touches them apart from the Holy Father when he blesses them. And then they are placed in the tiny white boxes with his coat of arms on it. How special has that got to be!? I have some wooden ones with VATICANO stamped on the cross that a nun who gave me spiritual teaching gave to me. They were blessed by the late Pope John Paul II.

[crisiñaki]

Benedict has big shoes to fill, for people of my generation (I'm 21) specially those of us catholics the only pope we've ever knew was John Paul II, who made a deep impact in the social doctrine of the Catholic Church because he was a "people" Pope, a Pope for the masses, he traveled around the world a lot and was utterly adored for millions of catholics in the planet; for many of us he was a living saint and the Church hasn't had as many youngsters involved in the last century as it does now, while B XVI is know more as a cathedratic and lacks a little more charisma.

Ratzinger's work is to step aside the shadow of JP II and made his own vision of catholicism true, but I really believe it's hard and I don't think he'll reign as long as JP II did so he has a lot of work ahead and little time to fullfill his role as head of the Catholic church.

[BeatrixFan]

I agree. People are already calling for John Paul II to be named as a Saint - Benedict has a hard act to follow but I think he does have a rapport with the public. I think he's wonderful and really love seeing him. But I never really saw John Paul II in his hey day.

[Sancia]

Originally Posted by BeatrixFan

I agree. People are already calling for John Paul II to be named as a Saint - Benedict has a hard act to follow but I think he does have a rapport with the public. I think he's wonderful and really love seeing him. But I never really saw John Paul II in his hey day.

I don't mean to be offending but I think you should correct "people are already calling" in "some people are already calling", as they are many people (even in Church) who don't call John Paul II to be a saint. Just a (technical) point, I meant no debate.

[BeatrixFan]

No, I agree with you Danielane. It was a bit of a sweeping statement.