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Pope Benedict XVI died recently on Saturday at 95 in the Vatican City, according to the Vatican press office.
As a result of his advanced age, the office claims that Pope Benedict XVI was already ill. He was already losing health, which ultimately caused him to pass away. Pope Francis revealed this week that Pope Benedict XVI already had health issues in a public forum.
According to a Vatican announcement, Pope Francis will preside over this Thursday’s burial for the late pope in St. Peter’s Square.
The late pope acquired considerable theological instruction after being born Joseph Ratzinger in Bavaria, Germany, on April 26, 1927. Because of his expertise and 25 years of experience serving as the chief defender of orthodoxy inside the Vatican, Pope John Paul II’s congregation chose him to succeed as pope in 2005.
Pope Benedict XVI, as a result, became the first German to hold the papacy since the 11th century. As the most traditional pope, Pope Benedict XVI was regarded. The world was shocked by his choice in 2013, and the papacy’s image in the modern era was altered.
“Here is a man who in prayer discerned his own limits and said, ‘I can go so far, I do not have the physical strength to go further, and therefore I resign,’ as he explains in that interview book. He had a sense of peace that he had made the right decision,” said Gerard O’Connell, a Vatican correspondent.
Pope Benedict XVI was also criticized by others for leaving his position, with some claiming that his departure had an impact on the direction the Vatican was taking. Benedict’s other initiatives were criticized by other critics as well.
“They’re sympathetic with Benedict, but they saw that really he was not able to push through some big items on his agenda. They see Benedict as perhaps a frustrated pope, frustrated in his ambitions, frustrated in part by his own top officials, and I think that’s where we’re seeing some more open criticism than we ever saw before,” said one Vatican Diaries author John Thavis.
“Pope Benedict came into office knowing more about abuse than any other Catholic official on the planet, and I think many victims and many Catholics had some real hope that he would clean house, and he clearly didn’t,” added David Clohessy, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests executive director.
“With Pope Benedict XVI, we saw the reverse — we saw the pope obliged to defend his advisers who were attacked, and the outcome was that the pope was overexposed and eventually was forced to resign,” adds Massimo Franco, another author.
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Pope Benedict XVI gave up the papacy
With his declaration, the late pope stunned the whole globe. Since the 15th century, no candidate for the pope has consciously chosen to resign from office, yet Benedict did just that.
“I have convoked you to this Consistory, not only for the three canonizations but also to communicate to you a decision of great importance for the life of the Church. After repeatedly examining my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry,” he wrote.
“I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.”
“For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter, entrusted to me by the Cardinals on April 19 2005, in such a way, that as from February 28 2013, at 20:00 hours, the See of Rome, the See of Saint Peter, will be vacant and a Conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is.”
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The policy of Pope Benedict XVI
1951 saw the ordination of Ratzinger. He then started teaching theology. He was appointed the Second Vatican Council’s theological consultant eleven years ago. Ratzinger implemented changes inside the Catholic Church of the 20th century while serving as the adviser to a high-ranking position at the Vatican.
He was chosen the archbishop of Munich in 1977 by the pope at the time, Pope Paul VI. He served as the chairman of the congregation for the doctrine of faith, the Vatican’s watchdog for theology, for several years before Pope John Paul II appointed him to the position.
Ratzinger, who had considerable authority inside the Vatican hierarchy, pushed through some orthodox religious beliefs. For instance, he categorically disregarded the prospect of priests who wished to be married, same-sex unions, and female priests.
He also cracked down on homosexuality and made a public statement in 1986, referring to it as an “objective disease and an essential moral evil.”
Pope Benedict XVI conducted a pro-life, pro-stem-cell, pro-divorce, and anti-abortion campaign when he was elected.
