From the Vatican | Holy Mass for Pope Benedict XVI on the First Anniversary of His Passing | 2023

Remembering Pope Benedict XVI on the One Year Anniversary of his Death (Roundup)

• Pope Francis: 'May Benedict XVI bless us and accompany us', by Tiziana Campisi and Thaddeus Jones. Vatican News:

  “A year ago, Pope Benedict XVI ended his early journey, after having lovingly and wisely served the Church. We feel so much affection, gratitude and admiration for him. May he bless us and accompany us from Heaven. A round of applause for Benedict XVI!”

  Pope Francis offered those words at the Sunday Angelus when remembering Pope Benedict XVI, the 265th Pope, who died one year ago on this day of 31 December in 2022.

• ‘Benedict Trusted Francis. But He Was Bitterly Disappointed,’ Biographer Says in New InterviewNational Catholic Register 12/29/23:

  On the eve of the first anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI’s death, his biographer, Peter Seewald, raised serious concerns about how Pope Francis is managing the legacy of his predecessor.

  "Benedict trusted Francis. But he was bitterly disappointed several times," Seewald said in an interview published Dec. 27.

  Pope Francis may have written “nice letters” to his predecessor and described him as a "great pope," Seewald told the New Daily Compass. However, in practice, he said, he has “erased much of what was precious and dear to Ratzinger.”

  "If you really speak of a ‘great pope’ out of conviction, shouldn’t you do everything you can to cultivate his legacy? Just as Benedict XVI did with regard to John Paul II? As we can see today, Pope Francis has, in fact, done very little to remain in continuity with his predecessors," Seewald said.

  Seewald pointed to the tight restrictions against t he Traditional Latin Mass by Pope Francis, reversing Benedict XVI’s 2007 apostolic letter Summorum Pontificum, which acknowledged the right of all priests to say Mass using the Roman Missal of 1962, which is in Latin.

  "Ratzinger wanted to pacify the Church without questioning the validity of the Mass according to the 1969 Roman Missal,” Seewald said. "‘The way we treat the liturgy,’ he explained, ‘determines the destiny of the faith and the Church.’"

  The biographer questioned the veracity of “the claim that the majority of bishops voted in favor of repealing Benedict’s Summorum Pontificum in a worldwide survey."

  "What I find particularly shameful is that the pope emeritus was not even informed of this act but had to learn about it from the press. He has been stabbed in the heart."

• Fr. Lombardi: Pope Benedict XVI was ‘a teacher and witness of faith’ Vatican News 12/30/23. One year on from Pope Benedict XVI’s death, Fr. Federico Lombardi, his former papal spokesman, reflects on the legacy and witness of faith of the late Pope.
• 4 Kernels of Wisdom From Pope Benedict XVI’s Last Message to the World National Catholic Register 12/31/23. Pope Benedict XVI reflects in the book What is Christianity? on what role missionary work has in today’s world, when interreligious dialogue often takes its place.
• Everyday Collaborators Of Pope Benedict XVI Remember The Late Pontiff Our Sunday Visitor News. 12/30/23.
• Pope Benedict XVI's presence remains at the Vatican after his death Rome Reports 12/31/23.
• Vatican to publish 'private' homilies of late Pope Benedict, by Cindy Wooden. USCCB 12/26/23:

  Pope Benedict XVI lived in retirement for more than nine years, celebrating Mass each day with the members of his household. The Vatican will publish a collection of the Sunday homilies he gave at those private Masses. The first anniversary of his death is Dec. 31.

• A Year Without Benedict, by Michael Warsaw. National Catholic Register 12/30/23.
• EWTN to air conference on Pope Benedict XVI one year after his death, by Matthew Santucci. Catholic News Agency 12/29/23:

  EWTN, the Fundatio Christiana Virtus Association, and the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation have partnered to hold the conference, which will air on EWTN throughout the day on Dec. 31 beginning at 6:30 a.m. ET.

  2023 Ratzinger Prize reflects on theological legacy of late Pope Benedict XVI, by Matthew Santucci. Catholic News Agency 12/01/23. The Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation awarded its annual Ratzinger Prize this week to two Spaniards, the theologian Father Pablo Blanco Sarto and the philosopher Professor Francesc Torralba, the first time the award was held since the passing of the late pontiff last December.

  Pope Francis invites contemplative nuns to monastery where Benedict XVI lived in retirement America 11/13/23. Pope Francis has invited a community of Benedictine nuns from Argentina to move into the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican Gardens, renewing the building’s purpose as home to a cloistered community of women dedicated to supporting the pope’s ministry with their prayer.

  Two Spanish Theologians Latest Recipients of Prize Named for Pope Benedict XVI National Catholic Register, by Matt McDonald. 11/10/23.

  Pope sends Benedict XVI’s former aide back to Germany in latest sign of falling out AP News. 06/16/23. Pope Francis has fired the longtime aide to the late Pope Benedict XVI from his Vatican job and ordered him to return to his native Germany, the final chapter in a very public falling out that culminated with the aide’s tell-all memoir that was highly critical of Francis.

Benedict XVI: What Is Christianity? - The Last Writings

What Is Christianity?: The Last Writings
Ignatius Press (August 1, 2023). 239 pages.

After Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI resigned from the papacy in 2013, he never stopped thinking or writing. Near the end of his life, he and editor Elio Guerriero gathered together a whole volume of new material, dealing with the themes closest to his heart. The pope asked that it be published upon his death.

This final work is What Is Christianity? It takes up a kaleidoscopic array of themes: the Christian faith's relationship with other religions, especially Judaism and Islam; the theology and reform of the liturgy; the priesthood; the saints; the Eucharist; the tragedy of abuse; the beauty of nature; Italian and German culture; and much more.

With prophetic insight into our times, Benedict warns of a "radical manipulation of man" in the name of tolerance, insisting that the only "authentic counterweight to every form of intolerance" is Christ himself—and Christ crucified.

A lifelong Catholic, the late pope pays tribute to some of the giant figures of Christianity who have served him through the years as guiding stars: his predecessor Pope John Paul II, the twentieth-century German Jesuit martyr Alfred Delp, and the silent carpenter Joseph, his patron saint.

What Is Christianity? is a frank spiritual testament from a theological master, a churchman who loved the faith of simple Christians but who always stood ready, even in his last days, to dialogue about every aspect of human life—in love and in truth.

Pope Benedict XVI, 1927-2022 - "Humble Worker in the Vineyard of the Lord"

• Farewell to Benedict XVI: ‘Humble worker in vineyard of the Lord'

  Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has returned to the Father’s House.

  The Holy See Press Office announced that the Pope Emeritus died at 9:34 AM on Saturday morning in his residence at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, which the 95-year-old Pope emeritus had chosen as his residence after resigning from the Petrine ministry in 2013.

“With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 AM in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be provided as soon as possible. As of Monday morning, 2 January 2023, the body of the Pope Emeritus will be in Saint Peter's Basilica so the faithful can bid farewell."

• Pope Benedict XVI’s last words: ‘Jesus, I love you.’, by Gerard O'Connell. America 12/31/22:

  “Jesus, ich liebe dich!” Jesus, I love you. These were the final words that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI uttered before he died, a powerful final expression of love and faith.

  The news was first reported by Elisabetta Piqué (my wife), the Rome correspondent, in La Nación, the Argentine daily, which published it online this evening.

  Immediately after Benedict had died, the German Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Benedict’s private secretary, phoned Pope Francis to inform him of the former pope’s death. Francis arrived by car at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery 10 minutes later; he was the first person to arrive at Benedict’s deathbed and, once there, he imparted a final blessing to him and prayed in silence for some minutes besides his body.

• Benedict XVI has died. What happens next? The Pillar 12/31/22. Here's what we know about the funeral, burial, and mourning for Pope emeritus Benedict XVI.
• Death of Pope Emeritus Benedict: his official biography Vatican News. 12/31/22.
• Benedict XVI: Key events of his pontificate Vatican News. 12/31/22. The papacy of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was momentous and focused on the goal of bringing "God back to the centre".

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Reflections

• A Methodist Appreication of Benedict XVI, by Paul T. Stallsworth. First Things 01/19/23.
• On the Death of Benedict XVI, by Martin Mosebach. 01/13/23:

  ... One of the distortions imposed upon the pontificate of Benedict XVI in the media and by theologians is the suggestion that he sympathized with the clerical anti-Jewishness found in the past. On the contrary, Benedict is the pope who, regarding the Church’s relationship with the Jewish world, went far beyond his predecessor in asking for forgiveness and making gestures of reconciliation. He not only regarded hostility to Jews as a blemish on the part of the Church: He held it to be an attack on the Church’s very foundation. A large part of his academic work was concerned with the Jewish identity of Jesus Christ. He was tireless in showing that the New Testament is connected, sentence by sentence, with Jewish revelation. For him, the Old Testament and the New Testament constitute one single book. The famous definition in Pascal’s Memorial—“God of Abraham, God of Isaac, and God of Jacob; not the God of the philosophers and scholars”—was, for Benedict, the protecting wall that guarded the Christian religion from speculations and a false spiritualism. It was in the Chosen People that God became man, and the fact that most Jews were not able to follow him does not change the reality: The Church will remain bound to Judaism until the end of days. At the same time, in his relationship with the Jews he had nothing in common with that superficial harmony envisaged by today’s indifferentism. Not everything can be reconciled on Earth.

• Rémi Brague: Ratzinger’s ‘Progressivism’ During Vatican II Was Really an Effort to Return to the Sources of the Faith Solène Tadié. National Catholic Register 01/10/23:

  "... he gave us, theologians and intellectuals of all stripes, the model of what he called an “hermeneutic of continuity,” in contradistinction to any attempt at a break with the past"

• The Josias Podcast, Episode XXXI: Pope Benedict XVI. Urban Hannon, Matthew Walther, and the Rev. Jon Tveit join Pater Edmund to discuss the life, death, and writings of Pope Benedict XVI. 01/13/23
• Pope Benedict XVI: An Appreciation, by Mark Gottlieb. The Public Discourse 01/09/23:

  Benedict was, simply put, a man of Europe, a man of the West. A proud son of Bavaria and Germany, of course, but more than any great religious leader of the twentieth and, now, twenty-first centuries, Benedict had the soul of a European. Music, art, belles-lettres, history, philosophy, political thought, theology, Benedict ranged over these contributions to culture like a colossus. Benedict’s analysis of the “peculiar Western self-hatred that is nothing short of pathological” that continues plaguing our culture is both devastating and prophetic. “All that it sees in [the West’s] own history is the despicable and destructive; it is no longer able to perceive what is great and pure. What Europe needs is a new self-acceptance, a self-acceptance that is critical and humble, if it truly wishes to survive.”

  Jews and Christians both must rally around Benedict’s call to defend and celebrate the legacy of the West: the rule of law, the respect for the dignity of man, the institutions of marriage and family, the love of our neighbor, the one most like us, which becomes the basis for the love of the truly other, even—and especially—the one most unlike us. These are the gifts of the West. True, a West that has not always lived its ideals. Benedict knew this gap, saw this schism with his very own eyes. But without those ideals, civilization, and not merely the civilization of Jerusalem and Athens, of Rome, London, and Paris but all civilization, must come to a sorry, still end. And Benedict was one of her most gifted and courageous champions.

• In Memoriam: Benedict XVI (1927–2022), by Cyril O'Regan. Churchlife Journal 01/09/23:

  Teaching, prophetic witness, and vision will be Benedict’s abiding legacy. Each was intrinsic to who he was; together they were constitutive. They define him across his entire life, indicating the flavor of the person, what Gerard Manley Hopkins would speak of as “inscape.” He was not John Paul II, whose extraordinary life and passion was the fuel that fed the blaze of Spirit. He was always the shy, retiring priest and the modest theologian anxious to set himself aside in order to think more than he could think, do more than he could do, and love more than he could love.

• Farewell Reflections on Benedict XVI, by Boniface. Unam Sanctam Catholicam 01/08/23.
• A legacy of truth-seeking: Pope Benedict XVI and interreligious dialogue, by Ines Angeli Murzaku. Catholic World Report 01/07/23. "Contrary to widespread misunderstandings, Benedict’s pontificate made notable strides in dialoguing with other religious, especially Islam."
• Twenty-three authors: “My favorite book by Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI” Catholic World Report 01/06/23. Theologians, philosophers, novelists, catechists, editors, and others discuss a specific work by Ratzinger/Benedict that especially influenced, shaped, inspired, and challenged them.
• A beginner’s guide to reading Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, by Carl Olson. Catholic World Report 01/05/23.
• Benedict remembered for role in pushing US bishops to confront clergy abuse, by Christopher White. National Catholic Reporter 01/05/23.
• A Believer in an Age of Skeptics, by John Hirschauer. The American Conservative 01/05/23. Benedict XVI was willing to give his entire life to Jesus Christ when most men lived for themselves.
• What it was like to learn from Joseph Ratzinger in the 1970s, by Fr. D. Vincent Twomey. Catholic World Report 01/04/23. How my life and thought were profoundly marked and shaped by my six years studying under Ratzinger at the University of Regensburg.
• The True Joseph Ratzinger, by George Weigel. The Catholic World Report 01/04/23. The key to the true Joseph Ratzinger, and to his greatness, was the depth of his love for the Lord Jesus — a love refined by an extraordinary theological and exegetical intelligence.
• A Monk of Le Barroux Reflects on His Friendship with Ratzinger Rorate-Caeli 01/04/23. Dom Louis-Marie Geyer d'Orth O.S.B., Abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of Sainte-Madeleine Le Barroux, published this reflection at L'homme nouveau on Jan. 4.
• The first green pope: How Benedict's eco-theology paved the way for Francis, by Brian Roewe. National Catholic Reporter 01/04/23.
• Father Fessio on ‘Professor Ratzinger,’ the future Benedict XVI. Interview w/ Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ. Catholic World Report 01/04/23.
• Benedict XVI: Disciple, by Thomas G. Guarino. First Things 01/03/23.
• ‘Flavors of home’: Benedict XVI’s favorite restaurant in Rome, by Hannah Brockhaus. Catholic News Agency. 01/03/23:

  Mario Notari recalled one humorous moment with Ratzinger.

  When a neighbor and client of the restaurant lost her dog, Cantina Tirolese hung up a sign with information about the dog and how to contact the owner if he was found.

  "That evening, when the cardinal was going down the stairs, he gave a glance at what was written on the paper, and smiling... he said, ‘but I am not lost,'" the manager recounted, pointing out that the lost dog was a German shepherd, a common nickname for the theologian.

• The life, faith, and struggle of Joseph Ratzinger: An interview with Peter Seewald. Catholic World Report 01/01/23. The veteran German journalist discusses his new biography of Benedict XVI, and reflects in detail on Ratzinger’s childhood, personality, education, and role in key Church events.
• Benedict XVI: thinker, preacher, saint? Scholars and former students discuss legacy, by Kevin J. Jones. Catholic News Agency. 01/01/23.
• Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Death - Exclusive Interview with Msgr. Georg Gänswein ETWN. [Video Interview] 12/31/22.
• On the Death of Pope Benedict XVI, by Edward Feser. 12/31/22.
• Benedict XVI: A look back at the cat-loving pope’s favorite feline friends, by Courtney Mares. Catholic News Agency. 01/01/23. "The late Benedict XVI was known for his intellectual acumen as a theologian and philosopher, but perhaps his most relatable quality was that he was a cat person."
• Benedict XVI: ‘Father of Catechism of the Catholic Church’, by Cardinal Christoph Schönborn. Vatican News. 12/31/22. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s role in the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church, a compendium of Catholic doctrine for our own times.
• ‘God is love’: The key to Benedict’s pontificate, by Andrea Tornielli. Vatican News. 12/31/22.
• Fr. Lombardi: ‘Benedict spent his life seeking the face of Jesus’, by Frederico Lombardi, SJ. Vatican News. 12/31/22.
• The Legacy of Pope Benedict XVI, by The Editors. Commonweal 12/31/22.
• What Pope Benedict Taught Me About Faith, by Sohrab Amari. New York Times 12/31/22.

This post will provide an ongoing compilation of coverage, reflections and remembrances of Joseph Ratzinger / Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI

Please Pray for Pope Benedict XVI

Former Pope Benedict is 'very sick', Pope Francis says, by Delia Gallagher and Rob Picheta, CNN. 12/28/22:

Pope Francis has said that his predecessor Pope Benedict, the 95-year-old former pontiff who resigned from the post nine years ago, is “very sick” after a deterioration in his health on Wednesday.

"I want to ask you all for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict who sustains the Church in his silence. He is very sick," Francis said during his general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday.

"We ask the Lord to console and sustain him in this witness of love for the Church to the very end."

A Vatican spokesman later confirmed that “in the last few hours there has been a deterioration due to the advancement of (Benedict’s) age.”

"The situation at the moment remains under control and continually monitored by his doctors," the spokesman, Matteo Bruni, said, adding that Francis visited his predecessor at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in Vatican City after his general audience.

The Pope Benedict Roundup

• Benedict contra Benevacantism, by Edward Fester. 08/05/22:

  I’ve been reading the second volume of Peter Seewald’s Benedict XVI: A Life. There is much of interest in it, including a new interview with Benedict at the very end. Some of what he says is relevant to the controversy over Benevacantism (also called “Beneplenism” and the “Benedict is pope (BiP)” thesis), which holds that Benedict never validly resigned and that Francis is an antipope. I’ve addressed this topic a couple of times before and the debate is, in my view, essentially played out. But since a small but significant number of Catholics remain attracted to this foolish thesis, it seems worthwhile calling attention to how Benedict’s remarks throw further cold water on it.

• 5 Things to Know About Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on His 95th Birthday National Catholic Register 04/16/22. The last time Benedict's birthday fell on Holy Saturday was 1960.
• Benedict XVI Was ‘A Prophet’ of Church’s Future, Pope Francis Tells Malta’s Jesuits National Catholic Register 04/14/22:

  Speaking during a private meeting with Jesuit priests and seminarians earlier this month, the Pope said he believed that this was one of the pope emeritus’ most "profound intuitions."

  "Pope Benedict was a prophet of this Church of the future, a Church that will become smaller, lose many privileges, be more humble and authentic and find energy for the essential," Pope Francis said during the meeting with Jesuits at the apostolic nunciature in Malta on April 3.

  "It will be a Church that is more spiritual, poorer, and less political: a Church of the little ones."

• Pope Benedict XVI and the ‘German Question’, by Father Raymond J. de Souza. National Catholic Register 04/13/22. "A conflagration may very well engulf the Church within the next year, and there is no fire extinguisher now that Benedict XVI is in retirement."
• Who Is Benedict XVI? Cardinal Filoni Shares His Testimony, by Cardinal Fernando Filoni. National Catholic Register 01/28/22. "I can testify first of all to his profound and very high moral and intellectual honesty."
• Vatican defends Benedict after report faults abuse record, by Nicole Winfield. Crux 01/26/22. The Vatican on Wednesday strongly defended Pope Benedict XVI’s record in fighting clergy sexual abuse and cautioned against looking for “easy scapegoats and summary judgments,” after an independent report faulted his handling of four cases of abuse when he was archbishop of Munich, Germany.
• Joseph Ratzinger: A Man Sent From God, by R. Jared Staudt. The Imaginative Conservative 01/01/22:

  Ratzinger provides us with a model of faithful service to the Lord and His Church. He never thought himself worthy of his ministry, but saw himself as a “a simple and humble labourer in the vineyard of the Lord.” He wanted to retire even before his papacy began, but he served to the full extent of his strength. Like a good steward, entrusted with the truth and the Church’s worship, he will be prepared to enter his reward.

  Knowing its true quality, we can have confidence that his legacy will not be dismantled. Despite any actions to limit it or roll it back, it will continue to shine and illumine the Church when the names of his critics will be long forgotten. Ratzinger did not work to create a legacy for himself, but to point us to the Lord. In this service, he follows in the footsteps of John the Baptist, as a man sent from God to give testimony, bear witness, and inspire faith. Time will prove the enduring worth of his work as theologian, pastor, and liturgical prophet.

The Pope Benedict Roundup

• Considering Benedict XVI's theology and papacy on his 94th birthday, by MIchael Sean Winters. National Catholic Reporter 04/16/21.
• Pope Benedict XVI, the Anchor That Kept Germany Rooted in Christ, by Fr. Raymond J. de Souza. National Catholic Register 04/21/21. In the late evening of his life, Ratzinger/Benedict can be understood as the Catholic Church’s singular, multi-generational response to the reforming agenda of German theology.
• Benedict XVI ‘grateful’ to Pope Francis for year of St. Joseph, by Elise Ann Allen. Crux News 04/03/01. Speaking with the German newspaper Die Tagespost, Benedict XVI said, "I am naturally particularly pleased that Pope Francis is so aware of the importance of Saint Joseph."
• The life, faith, and struggle of Joseph Ratzinger: An interview with Peter Seewald, by Carl Olson. Catholic World Report 04/15/21. The veteran German journalist discusses his new biography of Benedict XVI, and reflects in detail on Ratzinger’s childhood, personality, education, and role in key Church events:

  CWR: What sort of access have you had to him over the course of that time?

  Seewald: I was not a fan of his, but I asked myself the question: Who is Ratzinger really? He had long since been pigeonholed as the “Panzer Cardinal”, the “Great Inquisitor”, a grim fellow, therefore, an enemy of civilization. As soon as one blew this horn, one could be absolutely certain of the applause of journalist colleagues and the mainstream audience.

  CWR: What was different about you?

  Seewald: I had studied Ratzinger’s writings in advance and especially his diagnoses of the times. And I was somewhat stunned to see that Ratzinger’s analyses of the development of society had been largely confirmed. In addition, none of the contemporary witnesses I interviewed, fellow students, assistants, companions, who really knew Ratzinger, could confirm the image of the hardliner, on the contrary. With the exception of people like Hans Küng and Jürgen Drewermann, his notorious opponents. Of course, I also wanted to see for myself, on site, in the building of the former Holy Inquisition in Rome.

  CWR: That was an unforgettable moment?

  Seewald: Yes. The door to the visitors’ room, where I was waiting, opened and in stepped a not too tall, very modest and almost delicate-looking figure in a black cassock, who extended his hand to me in a friendly manner. His voice was soft and the handshake was not such that one had broken fingers afterwards. This was supposed to be a Panzer Cardinal? A prince of the Church greedy for power? Ratzinger made it easy for me to strike up a conversation with him. We sat down and started talking. ...

• Ratzinger's Way: A Review of Benedict XVI: A Life: Volume One: Youth in Nazi Germany to the Second Vatican Council 1927–1965, by Samuel Gregg. The Public Discourse 01/24/11.
• The Constantinian heathenism of the Church: Ratzinger and the crisis of our time, by Larry Chapp. Catholic World Report 02/04/21. The vapid lunacy of the post-conciliar Church was the product of the hollow and merely forensic “faith” of the pre-conciliar Church.
• Pope Benedict’s ‘Conscience Is Clear’ Regarding His 2013 Resignation, by Edward Pentin. National Catholic Register 03/01/21. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI speaks candidly on several topics including his decision to resign, Joe Biden's presidency, and Pope Francis traveling to Iraq in a new interview with an Italian newspaper. [Full Interview Here (Italian-English translation)].

Pope Benedict Roundup

News

• Benedict XVI, the pandemic, first Christmas without his brother Vatican News. 01/14/21:

  "Benedict XVI’s brother, during these Christmas holidays — the first after his death — has made himself felt in some way: we have, in fact, listened several times to CDs, not only to Bach's Christmas Oratorio, but also to concerts with Christmas carols, performed by the Regensburger Domspatzen, the choir that Georg Ratzinger directed.” Archbishop Gänswein added: “For Benedict, this absence is a wound that has caused him pain during these holidays, but he also told me that he felt the Lord's consolation, in the certainty that his brother now lives in His embrace."

• Pope Francis and Benedict XVI receive first dose of COVID-19 vaccine 01/14/21.
• Pope Benedict’s secretary reflects on awful 2020 with German Magazine 01/01/21:

  Gänswein, who hails from the Black Forest region of Germany, is prefect of the Papal Household, but has been on leave from his duties as prefect since February in order to be able to dedicate his time exclusively to the former pope as Benedict XVI's private secretary.

  Since the election of Pope Francis in 2013, Gänswein had worked in both roles, commuting between two offices – until the stress took its toll. The archbishop suffered from acute hearing loss in 2017 and is now living with a severe case of tinnitus. In late January of last year, Pope Francis informed Gänswein he should devote his time and energy entirely to his role as secretary to Benedict. “For this purpose, he released me from my service in the prefecture. My duties there have been reassigned for an indefinite period”, Gänswein said.

• Retired Pope Benedict XVI declines inheritance of his late brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger Catholic News Service. 11/02/20.
• Benedict XVI distances himself from embattled Catholic community Catholic News Agency. 10/25/20:

  he German magazine Herder Korrespondenz reported Oct. 25 that the Pope Emeritus had taken the step regarding the Catholic Integrated Community.

  Referring to the group by its German initials, IG, Benedict told the publication: “Obviously I was not informed about some things in the inner life of the IG, or even deceived, which I regret.”

  He had given the group ecclesiastical recognition during his time as archbishop of Munich and Freising, from 1977 to 1982.

• Australian professor and French philosopher win Ratzinger Prize Catholic News Agency. 10/02/20:

  Former Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi, president of the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Foundation, announced Thursday that the 2020 award would be shared by Tracey Rowland and Jean-Luc Marion. ...

  The award recipients were selected by Pope Francis, based upon the recommendations of a committee composed of five members: Cardinal Angelo Amato, Cardinal Kurt Koch, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, and Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of of Regensburg.

  The Ratzinger Prize was launched in 2011 to recognize scholars whose work demonstrates a meaningful contribution to theology in the spirit of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the Bavarian theologian who became Benedict XVI.

  • Q&A with Ratzinger Prizewinner Dr. Tracey Rowland The Catholic Weekly 10/02/20.
  • Christianity Offers Best Hope for Restoration of Community, Says Ratzinger Prize Laureate National Catholic Register 11/13/20. Jean-Luc Marion, prominent Catholic philosopher and recipient of the 2020 Ratzinger Prize, discusses the great stakes of our time, from secularization and nihilism to the crisis of the Church and the coronavirus pandemic.
• Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Becomes Oldest Pope In History 09/04/20:

  At the age of 93 and nearly five months, Benedict XVI officially became the oldest pope in history on Friday, even if the record is complicated by the fact that he stepped down in 2013 and holds the status of "pope emeritus".

• Pope Benedict XVI’s Letter Marking St. John Paul II’s Birth Centenary National Catholic Register 05/15/20. Editor’s Note: Here is the full text of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI’s letter marking the centenary of the birth of St. John Paul II. The English translation of this letter, dated May 4, was released May 15 by the Polish bishops’ conference.

Retired Pope Benedict XVI is seen in a file photo praying with his brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger in his private chapel at the Vatican. The Vatican announced June 18, 2020, that Pope Benedict XVI, who is 93, traveled to Germany to visit his ailing older brother, who is 96. (Credit: CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano via Reuters.)

• Retired pope’s elder brother, Georg Ratzinger, dies at 96, by David Rising. Associated Press 07/01/20:

  Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, the older brother of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, who earned renown in his own right as a director of an acclaimed German boys’ choir, has died at 96.

  The Regensburg diocese in Bavaria, where Ratzinger lived, said in a statement on his website that he died Tuesday. His death came just over a week after Benedict made a four-day visit to Regensburg to be with his ailing brother.

  Ordained on the same day as his brother, Ratzinger proved to be a talented musician and went on oversee the recording of numerous masterpieces and concert tours around the world by the Regensburger Domspatzen, a storied choir that traces its history back to the 10th century.

• Mgr Georg Ratzinger obituary The Times [uk]. 07/03/20.
• Rev. Georg Ratzinger, Choirmaster and a Pope’s Brother, Dies at 96, by Ari L. Goldman. New York Times 07/01/20. "Father Ratzinger, a trained musician, pursued a career far away from the world of the Vatican and the future Pope Benedict XVI."
• ‘My Brother, Benedict XVI’ — An Interview with Msgr. Georg Ratzinger Msgr. Ratzinger discusses his brother, his life as a priest, his passion for music, and his memories of his brother’s predecessor, Pope St. John Paul II. National Catholic Register 07/01/20. This exclusive interview originally ran as a two-part series at the Register — “When Your Little Brother Is the Pope” (April 15, 2008) and “My Brother, the Pope” (May 6, 2008). Both parts are presented here in their entirety.
• Benedict XVI remembers brother as ‘man of God’ Elise Ann Allen. Crux 07/09/20:

  In a letter read aloud at his brother’s funeral in Regensburg, retired pope Benedict XVI recalled several characteristics which he felt best described his eldest sibling, including a love of music, joy in adversity and a deep piety.

  "He was a man of God. Even if he did not show his piety, it was the real center of his life,” Benedict said in the letter, praising his brother’s “sobriety and honesty."

• Retired Pope Benedict follows his brother’s funeral virtually Catholic News Service. 07/08/20.
• Pope Francis sends condolences to Pope Benedict for brother’s death 07/02/20.
• Retired pope visits former home, parents’ grave in Germany, by David McHugh. Associated Press. 06/21/20.
• Benedict XVI heads to Regensburg to visit ailing brother, by Elise Ann Allen. Crux 06/18/20.

Commentary

• Pope Benedict XVI's prayer for the protection of life in the womb 01/22/10. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated a special prayer vigil at the beginning of Advent for the protection of unborn life. He wanted to stress the need to support women in their pregnancies and to hold up the dignity of every human person.
• The life, faith, and struggle of Joseph Ratzinger: An interview with Peter Seewald, by Carl E. Olson. 01/13/21. The veteran German journalist discusses his new biography of Benedict XVI, and reflects in detail on Ratzinger’s childhood, personality, education, and role in key Church events.
• Benedict XVI Warned Us Years Ago of Dangers Ahead, by Joseph Pronechen. National Catholic Register 01/02/21.
• New cardinal sees clear continuity between Benedict XVI, Francis Crux 11/09/20.

  "Pope Francis wants to bring the Church back to the radicality of the Gospel," Cardinal-elect Augusto Paolo Lojudice said in an interview with Crux, adding that for him, Francis’s "pontificate and his magisterium are the logical consequence of that of Pope Benedict XVI."

• "Flavors of Home": Benedict XVI's favorite restaurant in Rome Catholic News Agency. 10/03/20:

  To Notari, the quiet and gentle Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was just another patron at the little Austrian restaurant he manages a few steps from the Vatican.

  "There was this regularity of this cardinal, who always arrived with a look of humility, very reserved, and went downstairs with his little bag," he told CNA.

  Notari is the long-time manager of Cantina Tirolese, a restaurant of two floors, which since 1971 has served traditional German and Austrian dishes to its mostly Roman clients — and to a few cardinals. ...

  Notari remembers that Ratzinger liked to order a dish called frittatensuppe, which is a traditional German plate of beef broth with strips of a thinly cooked mixture of egg, flour, and milk similar to a French crêpe.

  "And he drank aranciata," he said with a smile, referring to a popular Italian orange soda usually known by the brand name Fanta.

• Joseph Ratzinger: Theological Reformer, by George Weigel. First Things 05/06/20:

  As he turned 93 on April 16, Joseph Ratzinger remained one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented men of consequence in recent Catholic history. I doubt the Pope Emeritus minds; he’s probably impervious to calumny, having had it visited upon him for over a half-century. This kindly man may feel a measure of compassion for the small minds that continually tell untruths about him and his theology. But he has better things to do than fret about his detractors: dwarves ineffectually tossing pebbles at a serene giant. ...

• Continuity in particularity: Cardinal looks at Pope Francis, Benedict XVI, by Cindy Wooden. Catholic News Service. 09/01/20:

  Between Pope Francis and retired Pope Benedict XVI, there is “continuity of magisterium and particularity in pastoral style,” but even more, there is “a living communion of affection,” said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.

  What retired Pope Benedict XVI once described as the importance of “newness and continuity” in the teaching of the Second Vatican Council compared to the past also can be seen in comparing the teaching of the two popes, Parolin wrote in the introduction to “Una Sola Chiesa,” (“Only One Church”).

  The book, released Sept. 1, demonstrates continuity by presenting excerpts of general audiences talks from Pope Benedict and Pope Francis on the themes of church, family, prayer, faith and mercy. ...

Recent / Forthcoming Books By Pope Benedict XVI

	On Love: Selected Writings Ignatius Press (January 21, 2021). 149 pages. In these homilies, most of which are previously unpublished, Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, addresses the theme he has celebrated, pondered, and witnessed by his life more than any other: love. For him, love is the vital nucleus of the Church and to serve Christ is above all a question of love: "Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep" (Jn 21:15–17). Love is also the quest of every human being on the journey toward eternity. He beautifully states, "Christianity is a movement, a journey; it is not a theory, a sum total of doctrine; Christianity is life, it is a vital impetus that carries us toward true life. . . . Someone who has found love can say: I have found life." Arranged by the liturgical seasons of the Church year, the homilies predate the author's pontificate. The earliest dates from 1970 while he was still a professor of theology. Thus, this collection traces the way Joseph Ratzinger has been enamored of the love of God throughout his years of serving the Church.
	Signs of New Life: Homilies on the Church's Sacraments by Joseph Ratzinger. Ignatius Press; None edition (March 15, 2020). 125 pages. At life's many crossroads, the Sacraments of the Church continually bring people into contact with the saving work of God: Baptism, Confirmation, Confession, Holy Eucharist, Matrimony Holy Orders, Anointing of the Sick. The celebrations of the Church always offer an opportunity to announce the faith and deepen our understanding of it. Signs of New Life gathers a selection of fourteen homilies by Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI) on each of the Seven Sacraments, as well as an additional two texts on the theme of the Church more broadly. Ratzinger endeavored as a theologian to develop an understanding of the Sacraments in new ways and to make fruitful the participation of others in the celebration of them. Many of his homilies refer to individual Sacraments and connect them with a profound interpretation of Scripture and of the Christ event. The Scriptural passages interpreted in each homily are listed at the start, so that this volume can also be used for Scriptural meditation and spiritual reading. This book is intended to help us grasp more profoundly the essence of the Church and to aid us in celebrating and proclaiming the Sacraments as that which they truly are: signs of the new life in Christ.
	Seeking God's Face: Meditations for the Church Year by Elio Guerriero. Cluny Media (February 18, 2020). 154 pages. "Seek out the Lord and his might; constantly seek his face.” This concise admonition from the Book of Psalms captures the impetus of Seeking God’s Face. In these meditations, Joseph Ratzinger reflects upon the major feasts and the Sundays of the year, inspired by Scripture, the Church Fathers, and the lives of the saints. The seasons of Advent and Christmas receive particular attention, with an address on the mystery of suffering, a sermon on the “Word Made Flesh,” and a consideration of the contribution of St. Francis of Assisi to Christmas celebrations, which join “The Lesson of the Christmas Donkey” by Pope John Paul I in honoring the birth of Jesus Christ, in whom we encounter the very face of God. Originally published in English in 1982, Seeking God’s Face shines with a spirit of joyful wisdom and serves as a source for much fruitful meditation on the central mysteries of the Catholic faith as they are celebrated over the course of the Church calendar.
	Western Culture Today and Tomorrow: Addressing the Fundamental Issues Ignatius Press (October 15, 2019). 170 pages. ell known for his important scholarly contributions to dogmatic theology and biblical commentary, Joseph Ratzinger has also been an insightful, shrewd analyst of political modernity and its discontents. This work reveals Ratzinger's keen insight into the fundamental challenges confronting the twenty-first-century West.

Recent / Forthcoming Books About Pope Benedict XVI

	Benedict XVI: A Life: Volume Two: Guardian of the Faith, Pope, Pope Emeritus 1965–The Present by Peter Seewald. Bloomsbury Continuum (October 12, 2021). 400 pages. Benedict XVI: Volume One offers insight into the young life and rise through the Church's ranks of a man who would become a hero and a lightning rod for Catholics the world over. Based on countless hours of interviews in Rome with Benedict himself, this much-anticipated two-volume biography is the definitive record of the life of Joseph Ratzinger and the legacy of Pope Benedict XVI. Volume I follows the early life of the future Pope, from his days growing up in Germany and his conscription into the Hitler Youth during World War II to his career as an academic theologian and eventual Archbishop of Munich. Volume II, to be published in 2021, will cover his move to Rome under Pope John Paul II, his ascension to the papacy, and his controversial retirement and news-making statements under his successor, Pope Francis I. This necessary companion to Benedict's own memoir, Last Testament, is the fullest account to date of the life of a radical Catholic leader who has continued to make news while cloistered in retirement in the Vatican gardens.
	Benedict XVI: A Life: Volume One: Youth in Nazi Germany to the Second Vatican Council 1927–1965 by Peter Seewald. Bloomsbury Continuum (December 15, 2020). 512 pages. Benedict XVI: Volume One offers insight into the young life and rise through the Church's ranks of a man who would become a hero and a lightning rod for Catholics the world over. Based on countless hours of interviews in Rome with Benedict himself, this much-anticipated two-volume biography is the definitive record of the life of Joseph Ratzinger and the legacy of Pope Benedict XVI. Volume I follows the early life of the future Pope, from his days growing up in Germany and his conscription into the Hitler Youth during World War II to his career as an academic theologian and eventual Archbishop of Munich. Volume II, to be published in 2021, will cover his move to Rome under Pope John Paul II, his ascension to the papacy, and his controversial retirement and news-making statements under his successor, Pope Francis I.
	What Does it Mean to Believe?: Faith in the Thought of Joseph Ratzinger by Fr. Daniel Cardo. Ignatius Pr (November 6, 2018). 715 pgs. The testimony and teachings of Joseph Ratzinger on the act of faith are particularly urgent for the Church today. Doctrinal confusion and other signs of crisis experienced by believers find their root in a crisis of faith. Understanding what it means to believe is more than an academic exercise; rather, it is a necessary step for authentic renewal in the Church. In What Does it Mean to Believe?, Fr. Daniel Cardó outlines the different insights of Joseph Ratzinger on the act of faith—understood as a personal, integral, and ecclesial act. Cardó provides an organic view of the rich contribution made by the Pope Emeritus in his many theological works. What Does it Mean to Believe? is also an invitation to appreciate the mind and the faith of one of the greatest theologians of our time.
	The Experiment of Faith: Pope Benedict XVI on Living the Theological Virtues in a Secular Age by Matthew J. Ramage. The Catholic University of America Press (March 23, 2020). 304 pages. Pope Benedict XVI memorably remarked that the Christian faith is a lot like a Gothic cathedral with its stained-glass windows. From the outside, the Church can appear dark, dreary, and worn with age—the crumbling relic of an institution that no longer speaks to men and women living in our modern world. Indeed, for many people today, Christian morality with all of its commandments appears to be a source not of life and joy but instead of suffering and oppression. Even within the Church, many wonder: why should I submit to ancient doctrines and outdated practices that restrict my freedom and impede my happiness? In this timely and original book, his third exploring the riches of Benedict XVI's vast corpus, theologian Matthew Ramage sets out to meet this challenge with an in-depth study of the emeritus pontiff's wisdom on how to live Christian discipleship in today's increasingly secularized world. Taking as his starting point Benedict's conviction that the truth of Christianity—like the beauty of a cathedral's glorious windows—can be grasped only from the inside, Ramage draws on Benedict's insights to show how all Christians can make the "experiment of faith" by living the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity in daily life. Along the way, he shares his personal reflections on how Benedict's wisdom has helped him to navigate difficulties in embracing the faith and provides a way forward to those struggling to live as disciples in a way that is intellectually serious without remaining merely intellectual. In so doing, he also presents a highly nuanced yet accessible approach to defending the truth of the gospel in a world where life in Jesus Christ tends to be seen as unfulfilling, irrelevant, or just one lifestyle choice among others.

Pope Benedict Roundup

• Benedict XVI, seven years after, by Andrea Gagliarducci. Monday Vatican 02/10/20:

  A Benedict XVI text has passed almost unnoticed, unlike the book he wrote with Cardinal Robert Sarah on priestly celibacy: it is the letter that the Pope emeritus wrote last November to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the International Theological Commission.

  Benedict XVI’s text is of great importance to understand today’s challenges and how Benedict XVI tried to face them. ...

• The Ratzingerian Constants and the Maintenance of Harmony in the Church, by Bishop Robert Barron. 02/11/20:

  Papa Ratzinger said that the Church performs three basic tasks: it worships God, it evangelizes, and it serves the poor. The religious activities of over a billion Catholics around the globe, he maintained, can be reduced finally to these three fundamental moves. ...

• Benedict XVI responds to criticism of his essay on the Church and the sexual abuse crisis Catholic News Agency. 08/27/19:

  Pope emeritus Benedict XVI has responded to criticism of his essay on the abuse crisis, saying many negative reactions have confirmed his central thesis that apostasy and alienation from the Faith are at the heart of the crisis – by not even mentioning God in their critique of his essay.

  In a brief statement in reaction to such criticism published in German magazine “Herder Korrespondenz,” the former pope pointed to a “general deficit” in the reactions to his essay, saying that many critical responses missed the very point he was making.

Upcoming Published Works by and about Pope Benedict XVI

	From the Depths of Our Hearts: Priesthood, Celibacy and the Crisis of the Catholic Churchby Benedict XVI (Author), Robert Cardinal Sarah (Author) Ignatius Press (March 12, 2020). 152 pages. The Catholic Church faces a major crisis and the turmoil in priestly ministry is at the heart of it. "The priesthood is going through a dark time," write Pope Emeritus Benedict and Cardinal Robert Sarah. “Wounded by the revelation of so many scandals, disconcerted by the constant questioning of their consecrated celibacy, many priests are tempted by the thought of giving up and abandoning everything." In this book, Pope Emeritus Benedict and Cardinal Robert Sarah give their brother priests and the whole Church a message of hope. They honestly address the spiritual challenges faced by priests today, including struggles of celibacy. They point to deeper conversion to Jesus Christ as the key to faithful and fruitful priestly ministry and church reform. From the Depths of Our Hearts is an unprecedented work by the Pope Emeritus and a Cardinal serving in the Vatican. As bishops, they write “in a spirit of filial obedience” to Pope Francis, who has said, "I think that celibacy is a gift for the Church... I don’t agree with allowing optional celibacy, no." Responding to calls for refashioning the priesthood, including proposals from the Amazonian Synod, two wise, spiritually astute pastors explain the biblical and spiritual role of the priesthood, celibacy, and genuine priestly ministry. Drawing on Vatican II, they present priestly celibacy as more than “a mere precept of ecclesiastical law”. They insist that renewal of the Church is bound to a renewed understanding of priestly vocation as sharing in Jesus’ priestly identity as Bridegroom of the Church. This is a book whose crucial message is for clergy and laity alike.
	Witness through Encounter: The Diplomacy of Benedict XVI by Bernard J. O'Connor St. Augustines Press; 1 edition (January 20, 2020). 386 pages. Appealing to dialogue is often just a safe way of referring to something negative, or at best blandly neutral: the avoidance of conflict, the denial of similarity, not stirring deep-seated disagreement, etc. When Bernard o’Connor says pope Benedict XVI facilitated dialogue, however, he means something quite positive, very much tangible and certainly transformative. In providing an account of the pope’s interactions with various groups of the international community, O’Connor attempts to convey Benedict XVI’s diplomacy as encounter, where even in the sphere of international relations exhortations to “dialogue” are invitations to see more clearly and be moved as much as move. To dialogue is to embrace, revise perception such that our approaches to the great questions of our day are not simply shared but correct. As O’Connor writes, “Pope Benedict attempts to promote the outlook that a renewed emphasis upon objective, critical and structured philosophical reasoning positions practice, diplomatic and otherwise, to regain its lost foundation and framework. the quest for integrity, if nothing else, should motivate our fidelity to academic pursuit, to intellectual investigation, and to rigorous interdisciplinary inquiry. so influenced, practice will then reject what is arbitrary and be guided by what is time-tested and enduring.” O’Connor illustrates true dialogue emerging from the encounter, and in turn provides scores of characteristics of this encounter as it unfolds in papal diplomacy. In providing scores of addresses and speeches to various bodies, O’Connor presents pope Benedict XVI as an example of effective diplomacy that treats the meetings on the world stage as engaging in true dialogue. encounter is the true basis of dialogue and one that allows it to open to what is truly a catalyst for change toward cooperation––witness, both personal and collective. As o’Connor shows, “where there is authentic encounter, as meeting in mutual trust, what arises is context for witness.” If authentic even the diplomatic encounter has the means to deepen and transform one’s being. Witness Through Encounter intends to fulfill multiple needs. the diplomatic approach exemplified herein is singular and worthy of study among political scientists, sociologists, philosophers and diplomats eager to embrace a worldview that is more personal than simply humanistic. this work will also be useful in inter-religious settings. An additional advantage of O’Connor’s presentation of Benedict XVI’s diplomatic approach, his witness through encounter, is that it contains insight valuable to the scholar alongside the resources used.
	Joseph Ratzinger and the Healing of Reformation-Era Divisions by Emery de Gaál (Editor) (Author), Matthew Levering (Editor) Publisher: Emmaus Academic (November 1, 2019). 408 pages. Edited by Emery de Gaál and Matthew Levering, Joseph Ratzinger and the Healing of Reformation-Era Divisions examines Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI's manifold contributions to Catholic-Protestant theological reflection. The collection opens with an introduction comparing Ratzinger's approach to ecumenism to that of Karl Rahner. Rahner argues that the structural uniting of Protestants and Catholics should take place now without worrying about doctrinal differences. In contrast, Ratzinger argues that unity in Christ requires probing the doctrinal differences and seeking a deeper understanding of the reasoning of each side—on the grounds that the truth of the Gospel that each side desires to preserve will ultimately be the basis for the only kind of Christian ecclesial unity worth having, namely, a unity of the basis of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Detailed essays follow, treating a number of loci including papal primacy, ecumenical principles, liturgy, evangelization, Mariology, Christ's birth and the celebration of Christmas, public theology, Christocentrism, Martin Luther, charity, conscience, missiology, justification, the reception of Ratzinger/Benedict in Radical Orthodoxy, and Scripture and Tradition. These essays run the full gamut of Ratzinger/Benedict's major themes and preoccupations. Ten of the essays are by Catholic scholars, and seven by Protestant scholars. Contributors include many of the world's leading Ratzinger experts, and the volume opens with an essay by Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer, Director of the Pope Benedict XVI Institute in Regensburg, Germany.

Pope Benedict Roundup

• Amid JPII Institute controversy, Benedict XVI meets with recently dismissed professor Catholic News Agency 08/05/19:

  Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI met last week with a recently dismissed professor of moral theology at Rome’s Pontifical John Paul II Institute, amid ongoing controversy regarding recent changes to the Institute.

  Benedict XVI invited Monsignor Livio Melina to meet with him in on August 1, a source close to Melina told CNA.

  The pope emeritus “wanted to receive Prof. Mons. Livio Melina at a private audience. After a long discussion of the recent events at the Pontifical Institute John Paul II, he granted his blessing, expressing his personal solidarity and assuring him of his closeness in prayer.”

  Melina, who was president of the John Paul II Institute from 2006 until 2016, was dismissed from the institute after the recent promulgation of new statutes, or rules of order, for the graduate school, and a decision to eliminate the chair of moral theology which Melina held.

• Benedict XVI takes short trip outside Vatican, visits towns outside Rome, by Claire Giangravè. Crux 07/27/19:

  ... While it was heartening for people to see Benedict, 92, outside the Vatican walls, the wheelchair that followed him around wherever he went served as a constant remainder of the emeritus pope’s advanced age.

  Archbishop Georg Ganswein, longtime secretary to the retired pontiff, made sure that Benedict was always well hydrated during his evening escapade.

  The pope’s last stop was in Frascati, yet another small town in the Castelli Romani area, where he was welcomed by the local bishop, Raffaello Martinelli, for a private meeting and light supper.

• "Pope em. Benedict XVI is Surberg's first honorary citizen" Traunsteiner Tagblatt 07/05/19:

  Benedict recently received a delegation from the village on Surberg, near Traunstein, when he was made an honorary citizen. Benedict spent his formative years in the hamlet of Hufschlag, near Trainstein. He regarded it as his hometown.

  The Mayor, Mayor Josef Wimmer, presented him with the honorary citizenship certificate at Mater Ecclesiae. Benedict spent half an hour chatting with him and a small group in his sitting room.

• Pope Benedict XVI speaks in new interview: ‘There is one pope, he is Francis’, by Gerard O’Connell. America 06/28/19:

  “The adversaries of Bergoglio, often conservatives desperately seeking a word of Benedict that would sound as a criticism of Bergoglio, have unfailingly heard [from Benedict] that ‘There is one pope, he is Francis.’”

  That sentence contains one of only a small number of quotations from the 92-year-old Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI found in a long article in the weekly magazine Corriere della Sera, Italy’s best-selling daily, published on June 28.

  The other significant quotation from Benedict regards church unity, in which he says: “The unity of the church is always in danger, for centuries. It has been throughout its entire history. Wars, internal conflicts, centrifugal pushes, threats of schism. But in the end, the consciousness that the church is and must remain united has always prevailed.

• “The Pope” brings drama of Benedict and Francis to stage, by Charles Collins. Crux 06/14/19. Anton Lesser as Pope Benedict XVI and Nicholas Woodeson as Cardinal Bergoglio in "The Pope", at the Royal & Derngate Theatre in Northampton, England.

• Benedict XVI turns 92, by Cindy Wooden. Catholic Herald 04/16/19.

• How Joseph Ratzinger saw past the Church’s established structures, by Fr. Raymond Souza. 12/13/18.

• Pope urges continued studies of the writings of Pope Benedict XVI 11/17/18:

  Pope Francis this morning met with members of the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation on the occasion of the eighth Ratzinger Prize.

  In his address, he highlighted the need to continue to study the writings of Pope Benedict XVI and appreciate the contributions of women in theology and “Christianly inspired arts”.

  The winners of this year’s prize are: German Catholic theologian Marianne Schlosser, a medieval specialist of Saint Bonaventure and professor of the theology of spirituality in the Faculty of Catholic Theology at the University of Vienna since 2004; and Swiss architect Mario Botta who built many sacred buildings and various churches.

  Addressing an "affectionate and grateful thought to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI", Francis said that "his is a spirit that views the problems of our time with awareness and courage, and knows how to draw, from attention to Scripture in the living tradition of the Church, the wisdom necessary for a constructive dialogue with today’s culture."

  As for the Ratzinger Prize going to a woman, the pontiff noted that "it is very important that the contribution of women to the scientific field of theological research and that of the teaching of theology — for so long considered almost exclusive territories of the clergy — be recognized more and more.

Upcoming Books

The Theology of Benedict XVI: A Protestant Appreciation There's no doubt about Benedict XVI's theological legacy. He's been at the center of every major theological controversy in the Catholic Church over the last fifty years. But he remains a polarizing figure, misunderstood by supporters and opponents alike. A deeper understanding of Benedict's theology reveals a man dedicated to the life and faith of the church. In this collection of essays, prominent Protestant theologians examine and commend the work of the Pope Emeritus. Katherine Sonderegger, Kevin Vanhoozer, and Carl Trueman―among others―present a full picture of Benedict's theology, particularly his understanding of the relationship between faith and reason and his pursuit of truth for the church. The global Christian faith can learn from Benedict's insight into the modern church and his desire to safeguard the future of the church by leaning on the wisdom of the ancient church.