Pope Benedict RESIGNING

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Like last year (this @oss_romano photo), retired Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his birthday today in the company of his brother, Msgr Georg Ratzinger. This evening, the Vatican says, the Swiss Guard Band will stop by and play some tunes. Happy 91st, Pope Benedict!

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Video at the link

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-04/pope-benedict-birthday-16-april-2018.html

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI celebrates his 91st birthday
16 April 2018, 09:40

April 16 marks Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's 91st birthday. He will be spending the day quietly in the 'Mater Ecclesia' Monastery in the Vatican, where he lives.

The day of Joseph Ratzinger’s birth has been seen by some as a sign of Divine Providence. It was certainly a sign of things to come. The future Pope Benedict XVI was born on Holy Saturday, April 16th 1927. His birthplace is Marktl-an-Inn, a tiny village less than an hour’s walk away from Altoetting, the most important Marian Shrine in Bavaria.
 

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http://www.lastampa.it/2018/04/16/vaticaninsider/eng/the-vatican/ratzinger-turns-with-a-small-party-francis-sends-his-wishes-pvtS04TMiS1iWp3WPp2tOL/pagina.html

Ratzinger turns 91 with a “small party”. Francis sends his wishes   
Pubblicato il  16/04/2018
Ultima modifica il 16/04/2018 alle ore 21:48

A small party for a few intimate friends, "in a quiet and familiar atmosphere", very different from last year's 90th birthday amid beer mugs, pretzels and sweets of all kinds, even the Schuetzen had participate dressed in typical costume, to play traditional Bavarian music. Joseph Ratzinger celebrated his 91th birthday this afternoon in that Mater Ecclesiae, a former monastery in the heart of the Vatican Gardens, which became his residence on May 2, 2013 after the historic renunciation of the Petrine ministry. 

In honor of the Pope Emeritus the Swiss Guard musical band performed some songs, the Vatican Press Office informs us, reporting, among other things, that "early this morning, Pope Francis offered the holy mass for Benedict XVI and then sent him his personal wishes". 

At the feast in the Vatican Gardens there was Joseph Ratzinger’s elder brother, 94-year-old Monsignor Georg, who had come specially from Bavaria and who, in recent months had raised some concerns for an interview he gave in which he claimed that Benedict suffered from a "paralyzing disease", with the risk that it would also reach his heart. The Pope Emeritus’ closest collaborators, the Memores Domini and the Prefect of the Papal Household, Georg Gänswein, his special secretary, were there too. At 5 p.m., he moved to the Vatican Film Library where a preview of the documentary "Benedict XVI, the hour of truth" was presented, curated by Javier Martinez Brocal and Antonio Olivié, produced by Rome Reports, in collaboration with TV2000 and the Ratzinger Foundation, and under the patronage of the Ramon Tallaj Urena Foundation. 

Gänswein, who has been with Ratzinger for over a decade now, told those present that Pope Benedict "told me to bring you his greetings". And added, "I am often asked how he is. His mind is fine. He is 91, it is obvious that his strengths have diminished, they are reduced, but he is in a good mood, at peace with himself. And, above all, as I always say, he's in good company”.
 
https://zenit.org/articles/feature-a-walk-through-the-life-of-benedict-xvi/
BIRTHDAY FEATURE: A Walk Through the Life of Benedict XVI 
Christmas Lists, Teddy Bears, and Miracles Have What in Common? Joseph Ratzinger … Pilgrimage Retraces His Life From Birth to Present
April 16, 2018 15:47

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-05/pope-francis-benedict-xvi-preface-collected-writings-book.html#.WvA7DCKd1Ow.twitter

Pope Francis writes preface for 2nd volume of Ratzinger's collected writings
07 May 2018, 13:11

Pope Francis has written the preface for the second volume of collected writings by the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, on the theme "faith and politics".

Entitled "Liberating freedom. Faith and politics in the third millennium", Pope Francis describes the work as a sort of compass to "understand our present and find a solid orientation for the future."

He elaborates on the main themes touched upon and concludes his preface saying that together with Benedict’s powerful Opera Omnia these writings are also “ a real source of inspiration for political action that, by placing the family, solidarity and equity at the centre of its attention and planning, truly looks to the future with foresight” .

The volume is scheduled to be launched in Rome on 11 May, in the presence of Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Prefect of the Papal Household and particular secretary of the Pope Emeritus together with other political and religious representatives.