The German professor who became pope
By Catherine Sheehan
Born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger on 16 April 1927, in Bavaria, Germany, the future pope was raised in a devout Catholic family, the third child of Joseph and Maria Ratzinger.
He was conscripted into the Hitler Youth in 1941 when he was 14 years old, as required under German law at the time, but refused to attend meetings. Joseph was later drafted into anti-aircraft service but deserted in 1945, returning to his family as the Second World War drew to a close. He was briefly interred in a US prisoner of war camp until his release in June 1945.
In November of the same year, Joseph and his older brother Georg entered the seminary to study for the priesthood. They were both ordained on 29 June 1951 in Freising.
Ratzinger later wrote in his memoirs, “at the moment the elderly Archbishop laid his hands on me, a little bird – perhaps a lark – flew up from the altar in the high cathedral and trilled a little joyful song”.
He quickly became known as an outstanding intellectual and theologian and was appointed a professor at the University of Bonn in 1959 when he was only 32 years of age. Throughout his academic career he lectured at Munster, Tubingen, and Regensburg universities.
During the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), while still only in his early thirties, Ratzinger served as theological consultant to Cardinal Josef Frings, Archbishop of Cologne.
He was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1977 and the same year made a cardinal by Pope St Paul VI.
In 1981, Pope St John Paul II appointed Cardinal Ratzinger Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It was during this time that he oversaw the production of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, a compendium of all Catholic beliefs. He also entrusted then Archbishop of Hobart, Eric d’Arcy, with editing the English translation of the Catechism.
Cardinal Ratzinger successfully persuaded Pope John Paul II to put all investigations into allegations of sexual abuse within the Church into the hands of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
He also extended incidences of child sexual abuse covered by Canon Law and implemented a speedier process for removing offenders from the clerical state.
In his homily for the Mass for the Election of the Roman Pontiff on 18 April 2005, following the death of John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger warned his brother cardinals of the “dictatorship of relativism” shaping the modern world which “does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one’s own ego and desires”.
He asserted the antidote to this dictatorship, stating, “We, however, have a different goal: the Son of God, the true man. He is the measure of true humanism. An ‘adult’ faith is not a faith that follows the trends of fashion and the latest novelty; a mature adult faith is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ.”
His stirring address clearly had an impact and on 19 April 2005 Ratzinger himself was elected pope, choosing to take the name Benedict XVI. He was the eighth German pope and the 265th successor of St Peter.
Pope Benedict wrote three encyclicals during his reign—Deus Caritas Est (God is Love), Spe Salvi (Saved by Hope) and Caritas in Veritate (Love in Truth). He also wrote a trilogy of books on the life of Christ, titled Jesus of Nazareth.
In 2007, Benedict published his Motu proprio, Summorum Pontificum, allowing for wider use of the Tridentine Mass according to the 1962 Missal, than previously permitted. More recently Pope Francis issued a further Motu Propio placing some additional restrictions on Mass celebrated according to this Missal.
On 11 February 2013, Benedict shocked the world by resigning the papacy, citing health concerns as the reason. For his remaining years the retired pope lived in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City. He continued to study and write, and occasionally attended events.
According to his long-time friend and personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, Benedict’s last words before he passed away on 31 December 2022, were, “Jesus, I love you.”