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The most frequently asked questions about Pope Benedict XVI

December 28, 2022 Catholic News Agency 2
Pope Benedict XVI greets the faithful in St. Peter’s Square on the occasion of the Beatification of Pope John Paul II on May 1, 2011, in Vatican City, Rome. / Jeffrey Bruno / Shutterstock

CNA Newsroom, Dec 28, 2022 / 11:00 am (CNA).

On Dec. 28 the press office of the Holy See announced that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s condition had taken a turn for the worse and that he was receiving medical care at his residence at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican.

The news has sparked an outpouring of prayer for the 95-year-old retired pope and renewed interest among Catholics and others around the world in the details of his life and pontificate. Here are answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about Benedict XVI:

How many years was Benedict pope?

He was pope for eight years, from April 19, 2005, to Feb. 11, 2013.

When and why did Benedict resign?

Benedict announced his resignation from the papacy on Feb. 11, 2013. On that day he explained that, due to his advanced age, he no longer had the strength to properly exercise the Petrine ministry.

Why is he called pope emeritus?

The title with which the pontiff is designated, who of his own free will decides to resign from the papal ministry, is pope emeritus or also bishop emeritus of Rome.

Where does Pope Benedict XVI live?

Pope Benedict XVI lives in Mater Ecclesiae, a monastery in Vatican City. This place was named in honor of the Virgin Mary (Mother of the Church) and is located on Vatican Hill within the Vatican gardens.

How old is Pope Benedict?

Benedict is 95 years old.

Where is Benedict from?

Benedict was born in the city of Marktl, in Bavaria, southern Germany.

How many trips did Benedict make?

During his pontificate, Benedict visited 24 countries on six continents. Antarctica was the only continent he didn’t travel to as pope.

Did Benedict have siblings?

Yes, Benedict was the youngest of three siblings. His siblings were Georg and Maria Ratzinger, both of whom have died. Georg, who died on July 1, 2020, was a priest.

Why did he take the name, Benedict XVI?

After being elected pope, he chose the name Benedict XVI inspired by the memory of St. Benedict of Nursia, the man who founded the Benedictine order and who is considered the patron saint of the West, and also as “a link to the venerated Pontiff, Benedict XV, who guided the Church through the turbulent times of the First World War.”

Is it true that Benedict was part of the Nazi army?

Although his family did not support the Nazis, at age 16, Joseph Ratzinger was forcibly recruited into the German army during World War II. He never saw combat, and in 1945 he deserted and was taken as a prisoner of war by U.S. troops.

Is it true that Benedict loves cats?

Yes, Benedict loves cats and had two as pets when he was pope. One of them was a stray cat that he found in Rome.

In an interview with the Spanish newspaper ABC in 2005, Cardinal Tarsicio Bertone, who a year later would become the Vatican’s secretary of state, said that Benedict was an “inveterate cat-lover.”

“On his walk from Borgo Pío to the Vatican, he stopped to talk with the cats; don’t ask me in what language he spoke to them, but the cats were delighted. When the cardinal approached, the cats raised their heads and greeted him,” the cardinal said.

Is it true that Benedict likes beer?

Yes. In fact, Weideneder Brau Vertriebs GmbH, a family-owned brewery in the town of Tann, Germany, created a special beer called Pabstbier (Pope’s Beer). The label read: “Dedicated to the Great Son of our Country, Pope Benedict XVI.”

How many languages does Benedict speak?

The pope emeritus is fluent in nine languages: German, Italian, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Latin, Ancient Greek, and Biblical Hebrew.

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Vatican shares prayer for Benedict XVI’s health

December 28, 2022 Catholic News Agency 3
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI greets Colombian Cardinal Jorge Enrique Jiménez Carvajal at the retired pope’s Vatican residence on Aug. 27, 2022. / Screenshot from EWTN video

Vatican City, Dec 28, 2022 / 06:30 am (CNA).

The Vatican’s news service posted a prayer for the health of Benedict XVI on Wednesday, after Pope Francis asked Catholics to pray for the “very ill” pope emeritus.

At the end of his weekly public audience on Dec. 28, Pope Francis said: “I ask to all of you a special prayer for the pope emeritus Benedict, who, in silence, is sustaining the Church.”

“Remember him — he is very ill — asking the Lord to console him and to sustain him in this testimony of love for the Church until the end.”

Shortly afterward, the Vatican’s spokesperson, Matteo Bruni, confirmed that the 95-year-old Benedict XVI’s health had worsened “in recent hours.”

“The situation at the moment remains under control, constantly followed by doctors,” Bruni said, noting that Pope Francis had gone to visit Benedict at his home in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery on Vatican grounds.

Below is the text of the prayer shared by Vatican News on Facebook:

A prayer for the health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

Let us pray.

Almighty and Eternal God,

You are the everlasting health of

those who believe in You.

Hear our prayers for your sick servant Benedict

for whom we implore the aid of Your tender mercy,

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The president of the Italian bishops’ conference, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, said Wednesday the bishops are praying for Benedict XVI.

“At this time of suffering and trial, we gather around the Pope Emeritus,” the cardinal said in a Dec. 28 statement. “We assure remembrance in prayer in our churches, in the knowledge, as he himself had reminded us, that ‘no matter how hard the trials, difficult the problems, heavy the suffering, we will never fall out of the hands of God, those hands that created us, sustain us and accompany us on the journey of existence, because they are guided by an infinite and faithful love.’”

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Vatican: Benedict XVI under medical care as health takes sudden turn

December 28, 2022 Catholic News Agency 1
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Nov. 9, 2022 / Rome’s Secretariat of the Major Archbishop of the Greek Catholic Church

Vatican City, Dec 28, 2022 / 03:48 am (CNA).

The Vatican confirmed Wednesday that pope emeritus Benedict XVI has experienced a sudden decline in his health, but is stable and under medical care.

“I can confirm that in the last few hours there has been a worsening due to advancing age. The situation at the moment remains under control, constantly followed by doctors,” Holy See Press Office director, Matteo Bruni, told journalists Dec. 28.

Bruni added that Pope Francis went to visit the 95-year-old pope emeritus where he lives, in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican, after his general audience on Wednesday morning.

At the end of his weekly public audience, Pope Francis had asked for prayers for Benedict XVI’s health.

“I ask to all of you a special prayer for the pope emeritus Benedict, who, in silence, is sustaining the Church,” he said.

“Remember him — he is very ill — asking the Lord to console him and to sustain him in this testimony of love for the Church until the end.”

In its statement, the Vatican said it joins Pope Francis “in praying for the pope emeritus.”

[…]

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Benedict XVI tells Ukrainian archbishop: ‘I continue to pray for peace’

November 10, 2022 Catholic News Agency 1
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Nov. 9, 2022 / Rome’s Secretariat of the Major Archbishop of the Greek Catholic Church

Rome Newsroom, Nov 10, 2022 / 02:53 am (CNA).

The leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church met with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery Nov. 9 and asked him to keep praying for Ukraine. 

The pope emeritus told Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk that he “keeps praying for Ukraine.” 

The last meeting between the two dates back to February 2019. During that meeting, Benedict proved to be incredibly informed of the events in Ukraine and stressed that he always prayed for peace in Ukraine.

Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Arcbbishop Georg Gänswein, Nov. 9, 2022. Rome's Secretariat of the Major Archbishop of the Greek Catholic Church
Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk with Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and Arcbbishop Georg Gänswein, Nov. 9, 2022. Rome’s Secretariat of the Major Archbishop of the Greek Catholic Church

In their meeting on Nov. 9, Shevchuk spoke about the war in Ukraine, presented the humanitarian situation to the pope emeritus, reiterated that the war in Ukraine is ideological and colonial, and compared it to the Nazi regime.

He also thanked Benedict XVI for his letter at the beginning of the war.

Benedict stressed that he was following the situation in Ukraine closely, expressed his great sorrow for the suffering of the Ukrainian people, and said that he always prayed for peace to come.

Shevchuk replied that “only the power of prayer keeps the Ukrainian people alive,” so he asked to continue praying for Ukraine.

Benedict XVI appointed Sviatoslav Shevchuk bishop on January 14, 2009, assigning him as an auxiliary to the eparchy of Santa Maria del Patrocinio in Buenos Aires, where he met Pope Francis. Benedict XVI also confirmed the election of Sviatoslav Shevchuk as head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church on March 25, 2011. There is, therefore, a strong link between the two.

The Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is in Rome for a week of meetings at the Vatican. It is the first time he has left Ukraine since the Russian aggression on February 24. 

On Monday, he met Pope Francis, to whom he brought a fragment of a mine that destroyed a Greek-Catholic church in the city of Irpin. On November 12, he will meet with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state. On the 14th, he will meet ambassadors accredited to the Holy See.

[…]