From Marktl to the Vatican - and often criticized: Pope Benedict's eventful life
Created: 12/29/2022 5:18 am
According to the Vatican, Pope Emeritus Benedict is “very ill” – an overview of the most important milestones in the eventful life of the 95-year-old:
Rome – For almost eight years, Joseph Ratzinger served as Pope Benedict XVI.
led the Catholic Christians.
With his resignation from the office of pontiff, he took a more than unusual step.
Now reports about his health are worrying.
Benedikt's eventful life in pictures and photos:
Benedict XVI: A Pope, born in Marktl am Inn
April 16, 1927:
Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger is born in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria, the son of a policeman and a cook.
Joseph Ratzinger (back right) in a family photo from 1938. © imago stock&people/Zuma Wire
1941:
In the course of compulsory youth service, Ratzinger joins the Hitler Youth and is deployed as an anti-aircraft helper in Munich during World War II.
At the end of 1944 he was drafted into the Wehrmacht.
After the war, Ratzinger was taken prisoner by the US.
On June 19, 1945 he was released.
1946:
Ratzinger begins studying theology and philosophy in Freising and Munich.
June 29, 1951:
He is ordained a priest together with his brother Georg in Freising Cathedral.
1953:
Ratzinger does his doctorate on the Church Father Augustine, four years later he habilitates on the theologian Bonaventure.
1958:
He begins his university teaching as a professor in Freising, later he goes to Bonn, Münster, Tübingen and Regensburg.
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962 to 1965:
Ratzinger takes part in the Second Vatican Council as theological advisor to Archbishop Joseph Frings of Cologne.
March 25, 1977:
Pope Paul VI.
appoints Ratzinger archbishop of Munich and Freising.
On June 27th he was promoted to Cardinal.
Joseph Ratzinger in 1977 at his episcopal consecration in Munich's Frauenkirche.
© Heinz Gebhardt via www.imago-images.de
November 25, 1981:
Pope John Paul II appoints him Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome, the central authority for the doctrine of faith and morals in the Catholic Church.
"We are Pope": Benedict's path to the office of pontiff
November 30, 2002:
Ratzinger is appointed President of the College of Cardinals, the second-highest office in the Vatican.
In this capacity he held the funeral mass for John Paul II in 2005 and chaired the subsequent conclave to elect a new pope.
April 19, 2005:
The conclave elects Ratzinger as the 265th pope.
Five days later he is known as Benedict XVI.
introduced into office.
Benedict in the Vatican – at his inauguration as Pope in 2005. © IMAGO/imageBROKER/Raimund Kutter
June 6, 2005:
At a convention on the role of the family in Rome, the Pope condemns modern forms of cohabitation, same-sex relationships and abortion.
August 21, 2005:
Benedict celebrates the largest mass in German history in front of a million pilgrims at the World Youth Day in Cologne.
Benedict's tenure as Pope - controversial decisions in the Vatican
August 31, 2005:
The Pope approves a document that obliges seminaries to no longer admit men with "deep homosexual tendencies" to priestly ordinations.
May 28, 2006:
In the former German death camp Auschwitz, the Pope calls for reconciliation and forgiveness.
September 12, 2006:
In a lecture in Regensburg, Benedict quotes a Byzantine emperor as saying that the Prophet Mohammed only brought "bad and inhumane things" because he wanted to spread the Islamic faith with the sword.
After protests, the pope said several times that his statements had been misunderstood.
February 22, 2007:
In an apostolic letter, he rejects the communion of Catholics and Protestants.
June 29, 2007:
A Pope-approved letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith denies Protestant communities the right to call themselves "churches."
Pope Benedict between reconciliation and criticism
July 7, 2007:
In an Apostolic Exhortation, he largely rehabilitates the traditional Latin Mass, which had been virtually abolished by the Second Vatican Council.
Critics call the decision a step backwards.
January 21, 2009:
Benedict provokes a wave of criticism with the withdrawal of the excommunication of all four bishops of the right-wing Society of St. Pius - including the Holocaust denier Richard Williamson.
May 11, 2009:
During his visit to the Middle East, Benedict spoke in clear terms at the Yad Vashem memorial in Jerusalem against denying, playing down or forgetting the Holocaust, but did not go into the role of the church in the extermination of the Jews.
June 11, 2010:
At a mass in St. Peter's Square, the Pope publicly asks victims of sexual abuse for forgiveness.
September 22, 2011:
On his trip to Germany, he is the first pope to speak in the Bundestag.
He also visits Thuringia and Freiburg.
Pope Benedict XVI
greets the members of the German Bundestag on September 22, 2011.
© imago stock&people
December 22, 2012:
Benedict pardons his ex-valet Paolo Gabriele.
He was sentenced to prison in October in the "Vatileaks" affair for passing on confidential documents on corruption and money laundering in the Vatican.
Benedict's unusual step: Pope resigns in 2013
February 11, 2013:
Benedikt publicly announces his resignation.
Among other things, he refers to his advanced age.
February 27, 2013:
Due to the great interest, the Pope's last general audience is moved to St. Peter's Square in Rome.
The last general audience of Benedict's pontificate: the outgoing pope was welcomed by tens of thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter's Square under a blue sky.
© imago stock&people
February 28, 2013:
His term of office ends at 8:00 p.m.
March 23, 2013:
The Pope Emeritus receives his successor Francis for the first time at the summer residence of Castel Gandolfo.
May 2, 2013:
After two months in Castel Gandolfo, Benedict returns to the Vatican.
He moves to the Mater Ecclesiae monastery.
September 9, 2016:
Benedikt's interview volume "Last Conversations" is published.
In it, he acknowledges mistakes during his tenure.
January 13, 2020:
In the book “Des profondeurs de nos coeurs” (“From the depths of our hearts”) he and the conservative Cardinal Robert Sarah warn against a softening of celibacy.
This is understood as an affront to Pope Francis, who had opened a debate about it.
Pope Benedict on his last great journey - visiting his brother in Regensburg
June 18, 2020:
For the first time since his resignation, Benedikt returns to Germany and visits his seriously ill brother Georg Ratzinger in Regensburg.
The 96-year-old dies two weeks later.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is pushed onto a bus in a wheelchair.
He returned to Germany to visit his dying brother.
© picture alliance/dpa
January 20, 2022:
A report accuses Benedict of multiple misconduct in dealing with cases of abuse.
As Archbishop of Munich, he reinstated priests who had abused children in pastoral care.
Later, Benedict admits a false statement in this context, but speaks of an "accident".
December 28, 2022:
Pope Francis announces that Benedict is "very ill" and asks the faithful for a "special prayer" for the 95-year-old.
Years ago, Benedict had declared that he was “preparing for death”.
(
dpa/fn
)
