Pope Benedict RESIGNING

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Photo at the link

https://twitter.com/CatholicNewsSvc

Catholic News Service‏Verified account @CatholicNewsSvc · 2h  2 hours ago 

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.
 

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https://twitter.com/EdwardPentin?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Edward Pentin‏ @EdwardPentin · 9h  9 hours ago 

Pope Emeritus #BenedictXVI yesterday with Italian photographer Stefano Spaziani. Benedict was reported to be “lucid, in good humour and physically quite active.” (Photo: Spaziani / Facebook)

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https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/9554/jewish-leaders-complain-to-cardinal-koch-on-benedict-essay

09 August 2018 | by Christa Pongratz-Lippitt   
Jewish leaders complain to Cardinal Koch on Benedict essay

The essay on Christian-Jewish relations by Pope Emeritus Benedict that was published in Communio magazine last month has continued to provoke the anger of Jewish leaders.

Headlined “Grace and Vocation without Remorse”, the essay argued that the current rejection of the so-called substitution or replacement theory, which holds that the Church replaces Israel’s salvific role, needs more consideration. The Societies for Christian-Jewish Cooperation in Germany have already expressed “extreme irritation” and “fierce condemnation”, with regard to some of the views in the essay.

Now, in an official letter dated 3 August, the German Orthodox Rabbis’ Conference has asked the president of the pontifical commission for relations with the Jews, Cardinal Kurt Koch, to explain how Pope Emeritus Benedict’s Communio essay was supposed to enrich Jewish-Christian dialogue, and how far it is consistent with Pope Francis’ views on Judaism.

Koch persuaded Benedict to have the essay published.
 

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https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/german-bishops-website-sharply-criticizes-pope-benedict-for-new-essay-on-th

Aug 14, 2018 - 8:59 pm EST
German bishops’ website sharply criticizes Pope Benedict for new essay on the Jews

August 14, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI published an essay in July on the question of the Jews, to include the Church's teaching on the Old Covenant and her relations with the Jewish religion. His attempt at refining and modifying some of the post-conciliar teaching in this matter – to adopt a somewhat more traditional viewpoint – has, however, provoked the indignation of many Christians and Jews, and also especially of Katholisch.de, the official website of the German bishops.

Pope Benedict originally wrote a study on the topic of the Jews at the request of Cardinal Kurt Koch, and only for internal use in the Pontifical Commission for Religious Relations with the Jews which is headed by Koch. Upon Koch's pleading, Benedict finally agreed to the publication of this study, in the July issue of the international Catholic journal Communio. He signed the text “Joseph Ratzinger/ Benedict XVI,” and Cardinal Koch himself wrote a short introduction to it, explaining its genesis.
 
In response to such accusations, Cardinal Kurt Koch himself has now come to Benedict's defense. He said on August 13 that Benedict XVI's essay did not at all aim at a doubting or questioning, but, rather, aimed at a “deepening of the Jewish-Catholic dialogue.” According to Koch, Benedict tried to “deepen theologically this path” of dialogue. The cardinal also stated that this Ratzinger essay is about a “discussion within the Church which should promote the Jewish-Christian dialogue, and it is not so much a document of the Jewish-Christian dialogue itself.” But Koch also assured his Jewish partners that there is still no intention on the part of the Catholic Church to conduct missionary evangelical activities among the Jews.

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https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/9582/koch-defends-benedict-s-communio-article

16 August 2018 | by Christa Pongratz-Lippitt   
Koch defends Benedict’s Communio article

Pope Emeritus Benedict did not call Christian-Jewish dialogue into question in his article published in Communio magazine in July, as claimed by Catholic and Jewish theologians, the Curia cardinal responsible for relations with Judaism told KNA news agency on 13 August.

Jewish critics have said Benedict fails to appreciate contemporary Judaism. But Cardinal Kurt Koch says that the Pope Emeritus wanted to deepen Catholic-Jewish dialogue. “Benedict discusses the basic convictions of Christian-Jewish dialogue not to expand on the problems or relativise or undermine the convictions but to specify and differentiate – and thereby to deepen them – theologically,” Cardinal Koch explained.

“Benedict’s reflections are concerned with an intra-Christian understanding that will promote Christian-Jewish dialogue, but not with a Christian-Jewish dialogue document itself,” the cardinal said. “It is of great importance to me,” he emphasised, “that the article should not cause uncertainty on the Jewish side but rather clarify the Catholic position and that no one on the Christian side should be able to get the idea that anti-Semitism and anti-Judaism are in any way at all justified and that Christians must or should try to convert Jews.”
 

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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/benedict-xvi-defends-resignation-and-title-pope-emeritus-in-private-letters-71782

Benedict XVI defends resignation and title ‘pope emeritus’ in private letters
Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican City, Sep 20, 2018 / 09:35 am (ACI Prensa).- In newly-surfaced letters from Benedict XVI, the pope emeritus has defended his abdication, and warned that continued anger at his decision risked undermining the papal office. The private correspondence, excerpts from which were carried in a German newspaper, was reportedly addressed to Cardinal Walter Brandmüller.

According to the letters, Benedict said he understood “the deep-seated pain” the end of his papacy caused the cardinal and others. At the same time, the pope emeritus wrote, he recognized that for some people the pain had “turned into an anger that no longer merely concerns my resignation, but increasingly also my person and my papacy as a whole.”

German newspaper Bild carried the excerpts in a story published Sept. 20. The letters were originally sent in November, 2017.

Bild did not name the recipient but referred to him only as “a German cardinal” who had made critical comments about Benedict’s resignation in an interview. On the same day, The New York Times reported that it had received a copy of the two letters in their entirety from Bild, and named Cardinal Brandmüller as the recipient. 
 
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/20/world/europe/pope-francis-benedict.html
In Private Letters, Benedict Rebukes Critics of Pope Francis
By Jason Horowitz
Sept. 20, 2018

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https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/leaked-letter-benedict-explains-why-he-chose-to-be-called-pope-emeritus

Fri Sep 21, 2018 - 10:29 am EST
Leaked letters: Benedict explains why he chose to be called ‘Pope Emeritus’ (FULL TEXTS)
Diane Montagna

ROME, September 21, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) — The full contents of Benedict XVI’s letters to Cardinal Walter Brandmüller have been published, revealing Benedict’s conviction that he made the right decision to resign, his sensitivity to those critical of it, and why he chose to be called ‘Pope Emeritus.’

The contents of the letters also show that the New York Times was incorrect when it stated that Benedict said Francis’ critics need to, as the Times put it, “knock it off.”

The two letters (see below) appeared today in the German newspaper, Die Bild, and in English, in the National Catholic Register.

In the first letter, dated Nov. 9, 2017, Benedict explains that he chose to be ‘Pope Emeritus’ rather than returning to the life of a cardinal, in part to avoid the media spotlight.

He writes to Cardinal Brandmüller: “In my case it surely would not have made sense simply to claim a return to the Cardinalate. I then would have constantly been exposed to the public in the way a Cardinal is – indeed, even more so, because in that Cardinal one would have seen the former Pope.”

“This could have led, intentionally or unintentionally, to difficult consequences, particularly in the context of the present situation,” he adds.

Benedict continues: “With the Pope Emeritus I have tried to create a situation in which I am absolutely inaccessible to the media and in which it is completely clear that there is only one Pope. If you know of a better way and thus believe that you may condemn the one I have chosen, please tell me about it.”

The second letter, dated Nov. 23, 2017, reveals Benedict’s concern that Brandmüller’s Oct. 2017 interview with Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung would whip up anger against him and his pontificate, and the current state of the Church. Benedict describes his pontificate as being “devalued and fused into a sadness about the situation of the Church today.”

“From this fusion a new kind of agitation gradually results, for which the little book by Fabrizio Grasso, La rinuncia (Algra Editore, Viagrande/Catania 2017) could become emblematic,” writes Benedict.

“All this fills me with worry and, precisely for that reason, the end of your FAZ [Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung] interview left me so troubled, because it ultimately cannot but foster the same sort of atmosphere,” he says.

The 2017 book, ‘The resignation. Has God been defeated?’ [La rinuncia. Dio è stato sconfitto?] deals with Benedict’s resignation through the lens of the thought of Carl Schmitt, a German political theorist who, having abandoned Catholicism and allied himself with Nazism, became known as the “crown jurist of the Third Reich.” The author delves into the debate on the simultaneous presence of two Popes in the Catholic Church.

Here below we publish the full texts of both letters, with the kind permission of the National Catholic Register.
 
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/benedict-xvi-discusses-his-resignation-in-newly-published-letters
Sep. 19, 2018
Benedict XVI Discusses His Resignation in Newly Published Letters
The words of the Pope Emeritus from November 2017 show he is aware of the pain his resignation caused, and the sorrow people feel about the current situation facing the Church.
Edward Pentin

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https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/remembering-cardinal-brandmuellers-criticism-of-pope-benedicts-resignation

Sep 20, 2018 - 1:40 pm EST
Remembering Cardinal Brandmüller’s criticism of Pope Benedict’s resignation

September 20, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – Today, two letters from Pope Benedict XVI to an unnamed German cardinal were leaked. In these letters, the retired Pope defends himself against criticism of his decision to resign.

In 2016 and 2017, it was Cardinal Walter Brandmüller who wrote his own public criticism of this papal resignation.

“The resignation of a Pope is possible and has happened. But it is to be hoped that it never happens again,” were Cardinal Brandmüller’s specific and earnest words.

As today Katholisch.de – the news website of the German bishops – points out, Cardinal Brandmüller, as a Church historian and former President of the Papal Commission for Historical Sciences, rebuked Pope Benedict XVI in a 2017 interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Cardinal Brandmüller said in that interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung that “the ‘papa emeritus’ as a figure does not exist in the entire Church history.” It did “not only astonish the cardinals,” he adds, “that a Pope now comes and tumbles down a 2,000-year-old tradition.” For him, at the time, the news of Benedict's resignation seemed to be a pre-Lenten “carnival jest.”

Earlier, in the summer of 2016, Cardinal Brandmüller made even more detailed remarks. At the time, there had been a discussion going on concerning Archbishop Georg Gänswein’s claims of a “continued mystical participation in the papacy” from the retired Pope. Brandmüller responded to this in an essay for the Italian journal Stato, Chiese, e pluralismo confessionale and said that such talk belongs to the realm “of uplifting speculations of religious poetry.”
 

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https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/10854/cardinal-sarah-and-pope-emeritus-contribute-to-new-commemorative-edition-of-the-spirit-of-the-liturgy-from-ignatius-press

12 October 2018 | by James Roberts   
Cardinal Sarah and Pope Emeritus contribute to new commemorative edition of “The Spirit of the Liturgy” from Ignatius Press

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the founding of Ignatius Press, the publisher’s founder, Fr Joseph Fessio SJ, has arranged for the publication of a new edition of the Spirit of the Liturgy by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, in combination with the book of the same title by Fr Romano Guardini, that had a profound impact on Ratzinger.

The commemorative edition contains a foreword by the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Robert Sarah, dated 13 January this year, and a Preface by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, dated 2 February this year.

Cardinal Sarah emphasises the importance of catechesis with regard to the liturgy. “We can say that our liturgical life is impoverished and very soon turns into hollow ritualism if it is not based on serious knowledge of the meaning of the liturgy, and that catechesis becomes intellectualised if it fails to come alive in liturgical practice,” he writes.
 
In his new Preface the Pope Emeritus himself writes: “ The question of what it means to be Catholic, of what fundamental spiritual decisions today’s Catholic must make, has been asked since the Second Vatican Council with a new radicalness … It soon became obvious that a Church that could no longer mediate the encounter with the living God, but instead only enabled little groups to celebrate themselves, would be a meaningless Church. And it became evident as well that this issue concerned far more than just the community of believers. Rather, it was seen that the collapse of the Church, considered a possibility by sociologists, would represent a catastrophe of unforeseeable proportions for the whole of mankind.”

The right understanding and celebration of the liturgy, the Pope Emeritus writes, is key to the prevention of this catastrophe, and he praises the “courage and humility” of Fr Fessio, who was prepared to endure “many blows” in making credible through what Ignatius published, “the tidings for which he stands”.

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2018-11/pope-emeritus-benedict-dialogue-with-the-jews-not-mission.html#.W_2Be53kP18.twitter

Pope emeritus Benedict: Dialogue with the Jews, not mission
27 November 2018, 09:02

Pope emeritus Benedict XVI 
The Pope emeritus “corrects” an article by theologian Michael Böhnke and rejects as “absolutely false” the insinuation that Benedict has called into question the foundations of Jewish-Christian dialogue.
By Vatican News

In a “correction” sent to the German monthly Herder Korrespondenz, Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI affirmed that Christians are called to a “dialogue” with the Jews, rather than a “mission.” The Pope emeritus was responding to an article by theologian Michael Böhnke of Wuppertal. In the September issue of the journal, Böhnke had commented disapprovingly on statements made by Benedict concerning the relationship between Jews and Christians.

A completely false insinuation

Judaism and Christianity, said Benedict, are “two ways of interpreting the Scriptures.” For Christians, the promises made to Israel are the hope of the Church, and “those who abide by it are in no way questioning the foundations of the Jewish-Christian dialogue.” The accusation contained in the article, he continued, is “grotesque nonsense and has nothing to do with what I said about it. I therefore reject his article as a completely false insinuation.”

Böhnke had argued that Benedict XVI, in an article for the theological journal Communio, had demonstrated a problematic understanding of Judaism, and had ignored the suffering Christians had inflicted upon Jews.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-12/pope-francis-pays-christmas-visit-to-pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi.html

Pope Francis pays Christmas visit to Pope emeritus Benedict XVI
22 December 2018, 11:24

On Friday evening, Pope Francis visited the Pope emeritus in order to exchange Christmas greetings.

As he has done every year since his election, Pope Francis on Friday made the short journey to the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, for a Christmas visit with his predecessor, Pope emeritus Benedict XVI.
 

More photos--
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/pope-francis-and-benedict-xvi-exchange-christmas-greetings
Dec. 21, 2018
Pope Francis and Benedict XVI Exchange Christmas Greetings

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https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/11267/austrian-and-german-rabbis-reconciled-with-pope-benedict-xvi-

22 January 2019, The Tablet
Austrian and German Rabbis reconciled with Pope Benedict XVI

Tensions between emeritus Pope Benedict XVI and a number of Austrian and German Rabbis which arose over a text written by Benedict on Jewish-Christian relations and published in the theological journal "Communio" last July (2018), have been resolved, Vienna’s Chief Rabbi has said.

The Chief Rabbi of Vienna, Arie Folger told Vatican News on 16 January that he along with Rabbi Jehuda Pushkin from Stuttgart, Rabbi Jehoschua Ahrens from Darmstadt and the emeritus Pope had a “very good talk” during a 16 January meeting in the Vatican.

Orthodox Jews were now prepared to “discuss matters that had only cropped up in recent decades” with Catholics, above all the matter of the Promised Land, that is the Land God promised to the Jews, Rabbi Folger said.

Of course Christians and Jews had differences of opinion, “but now we are on an upward swing and are trying to see one another positively”, he said.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-02/benedict-xvi-relevance-magisterium-tornielli-editorial.html#.XGF8XC1aGcs.twitter

Benedict XVI six years later: the relevance of a Magisterium
11 February 2019, 12:13

Benedict XVI   (Vatican Media)
On February 11th 2013, Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation. Vatican News’ Editorial Director looks back at this event and suggests it would be a mistake to remember the Pope Emeritus for this reason only.
By Andrea Tornielli

Six years have passed since that bolt from the blue: the announcement of the first papal resignation for reasons of health and old age. After eight years as Pope, Benedict XVI announced his intention to resign from the Petrine ministry at the end of February, because he no longer felt able, physically and spiritually, to carry the weight of that ministry – one that has changed greatly over the past century in the way it is exercised: in terms of celebrations, commitments, and international journeys.

Testimony of Benedict XVI

Much has been said and written about that papal resignation. The result is that we risk focusing exclusively on the gesture itself, being distracted from the personal testimony and, above all, the Magisterium of Pope Benedict XVI.  In a few days, the Meeting for the Protection of Minors will take place in the Vatican, with the participation of Presidents of Bishops’ Conferences from around the world, together with Pope Francis. In terms of Pope Benedict’s testimony, it is worthwhile remembering that he was the one who began meeting with victims of abuse. Meetings that always took place far from the cameras, and that involved listening, praying, and tears. Accompanying these meetings were clearer and more decisive rules to combat the terrible plague of abuse. Today there is no doubt that the necessary change of mentality, on the part of bishops and religious superiors first of all, passes through this ability to meet with victims and their families. It requires participating in the pain of their dramatic stories, being aware that this phenomenon can never be fought with norms, codes or best practices alone.

Magisterium of Benedict XVI
 
https://zenit.org/articles/pope-benedicts-address-on-resignation-from-the-see-of-rome/
Pope Benedict’s 11 February 2013 Address on Resignation From the See of Rome 
February 11, 2019 12:39

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http://www.mondayvatican.com/vatican/here-is-why-pope-francis-trip-to-the-uae-is-benedict-xvis-vindication

Here is why Pope Francis’ trip to the UAE is Benedict XVI’s vindication
By Andrea Gagliarducci On 11 febbraio 2019

Nothing is born out of nothing. Not even Pope Francis’ trip to the United Arab Emirates. The first Pope to travel to a country in the Arab Gulf, Pope Francis brought back home a joint declaration with al Azhar university that underscores that no violence can be applied in the name of God; that citizenship is something not connected to religion; that freedom is everybody’s right, and includes religious freedom.

These are not issues that can be taken for granted, when it comes to the Islamic world. Because citizenship, in Islam, is always connected to the faith you profess. Because, where Islamic law is understood and applied literally, conversion to another religious confessions is still considered apostasy and condemned. And because acts of terrorism have often been justified as part of the “jihad mandate”.

These are not issues that can be taken for granted, though there is a path within Islam to overcome these notions, and even to go beyond the literal application of the Quran. This path led to the Marrakech declaration in 2015, to the Beirut Conference in 2016, to the International Conference for Peace of Cairo in 2017, to the Islamabad Declaration in 2018, and finally to the conference on Human Fraternity in the Arab Emirates.

A main blazer of this path is the Council of the Elderly, established in 2014 and led by Ahmed al Tayyib, Grand Imam of al Azhar. While not all of the Islamic world is in this path, it is anyway a beginning.

It must be said that, back in 2006, few would have thought that Islamic scholars could sign a declaration like the Abu Dhabi one. During those years, a dialogue with Islam was feared, or carried out with a sort of inferiority complex. There was a fear to spell out with the Islamic world the real nature of the issues.

Then, in 2006, with Benedict XVI’s Regensburg lecture, everything changed.
 
Six years after the historic Benedict XVI’s renunciation, though, it can be said that Benedict XVI and his pontificate were not understood at all, since it was really larger than its time, and identified trends before they clearly emerged.

Now, retired on the mountain, held in great esteem by Pope Francis —who recently underscored again his merit in countering the sex abuse scandals— Benedict XVI intercedes for the Church. From that far position, despite all the limits imposed by the current situation, he can begin to see part of his work flourishing.