Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI RIP

Farewell to Benedict XVI: ‘Humble worker in vineyard of the Lord' (Vatican News)

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has returned to the Father’s House. The Holy See Press Office announced that the Pope Emeritus died at 9:34 AM on Saturday morning in his residence at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, which the 95-year-old Pope emeritus had chosen as his residence after resigning from the Petrine ministry in 2013...

Former Pope Benedict XVI dies at 95 (BBC)

Former Pope Benedict XVI has died at his Vatican residence, aged 95, almost a decade after he stood down because of ailing health...

Pope Benedict XVI: What the death of a former pope means for the Vatican (BBC)

The Catholic Church has strict protocols in place following the death of its leader, but with the death of former Pope Benedict, it is unclear whether those same protocols will apply to a retired pope... "We've never had this before where a living pope will help bury a dead pope"...

Requiescat in pace.

Benedictus XVI

I see I have 9 of his titles. Introduction to Christianity was the most memorable. Though a fairly large book, I sailed through it in just two days.
He was a premier scholar, but also was able to explain the faith in very clear terms.

Fr. Lombardi: ‘Benedict spent his life seeking the face of Jesus’ (Vatican News)

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s former spokesperson, Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ, paints a portrait of the late Joseph Ratzinger and his extraordinary mission centred on faith in Christ...

‘So noble, so kind’: Pope Francis leads tributes to Benedict (Guardian)

Pope Francis called former pope Benedict XVI a noble, kind man who was a gift to the church and the world, in his first public comments since the death of his predecessor earlier on Saturday... “It is with emotion that we remember his person, so noble, so kind. And we feel in our heart such gratitude, gratitude to God for having gifted him to the church and the world,” Francis said.

Political and religious leaders around the world paid tribute to Pope Benedict XVI, after his death was announced on Saturday. President Joe Biden, a devoted Catholic, said the Pope Emeritus, who stunned the Roman Catholic church when he retired almost 10 years ago, would “be remembered as a renowned theologian, with a lifetime of devotion to the church, guided by his principles and faith”. “May his focus on the ministry of charity continue to be an inspiration to us all,” he added... King Charles III praised Benedict’s “constant efforts to promote peace and goodwill to all people” after his death... Rishi Sunak, the UK prime minister... Keir Starmer, the Labour leader... Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon... Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister... French president, Emmanuel Macron... Michael D Higgins, the president of Ireland... Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor... Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy... UN secretary general, António Guterres... Justin Welby, the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, described him as “one of the greatest theologians of his age – committed to the faith of the Church and stalwart in its defence”...

Benedict XVI's last words: "Lord, I love you!" (Vatican News)

Archbishop Gänswein recounts Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's last words spoken during the night several hours before he died. It was precisely his seeking Jesus, "the beloved", that was the distinguishing hallmark of Joseph Ratzinger's priestly service, as Pope Francis himself recalled in 2016...

FULL TEXT: Benedict XVI shares his final thoughts with the Church (CNA)

The Vatican on Saturday evening published the Spiritual Testament of Benedict XVI, written on Aug. 29, 2006, one year and four months into his pontificate. Each pope writes a spiritual testament to be made public only after his death... CNA’s translation of the full testament from Italian...

Benedict XVI: Thinker, Preacher, Saint? Scholars and Former Students Discuss Legacy (ACI Africa)

The death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI prompted his former students and other Catholic scholars to reflect on his importance for the Catholic Church as a theologian, a scholar, and a preacher. Some even raised the prospect of the late pontiff’s canonization and recognition as a doctor of the Church...

The Guardian view on Catholicism after Benedict: winds of change blow from below (Guardian)

The world’s biggest Christian church needs to revive the open, progressive spirit of Vatican II... In 2021, the pope launched the awkwardly named “synod on synodality” – the biggest consultation of global Catholic opinion ever undertaken by the church. This is Francis’s flagship attempt to return to the open, participative spirit of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, which concluded that church stances could and should be open to change in light of “the signs of the times”. In October, the first summary of the synodal process’s findings suggested that congregations around the world long to revive that ethos... The Catholic church is not a democracy, and the final outcome of the synod is likely to be less radical than many participants would hope. But in an era in which Christian identity – and Benedict’s traditionalism – have been weaponised by the radical right, a reform programme with its roots in the laity would have welcome ramifications beyond the pews. Pope Francis’s listening exercise can let the winds of change finally blow through a global institution in need of renewal.

American conservatives don't understand the late Pope Benedict's legacy (NCR)

The myopia of American Catholics has been on full display this week as they rush to canonize or demonize the late Pope Benedict XVI, and to contrast his time as pope with that of the current pontiff, Pope Francis... What these three conservative voices miss is that for all the differences of style and approach, all popes do their best to articulate a Catholic response to the challenges of their times, not a liberal or conservative one. These would-be defenders of the Ratzingerian legacy ignore the obvious points of continuity between Benedict and Francis. Nowhere is that continuity more obvious than in the area of Catholic social teaching. Benedict "pushed the tradition forward on both ecological and economic justice," Meghan Clark, a theologian at St. John's University, told me via email. "Caritas in Veritate may be an overly dense document, but it provides a clear bridge from John Paul II's cautions about unfettered capitalism and Francis's exposing structures of inequality and exclusion"... another area where Benedict's writings resonated especially with those on the Catholic left. "American Catholics struggle with the relationship between charity and justice," Clark said. "Charitable work is important but it is no substitute for building a more just society. Benedict XVI 's Caritas in Veritate provides no quarter for those who think charity or philanthropy are a sufficient response to injustice: 'I cannot give what is mine to the other, without first giving him what pertains to him in justice' "..."Benedict came of age as the German postwar 'social market' economy was being put in place. This was a core pillar of Christian Democracy, and it had its roots in Catholic social teaching"... This historical insight helps correct two misinterpretations of Catholic teaching and the Ratzingerian legacy made by conservative American Catholics. First, while it is true that, as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger issued two notes on liberation theology, the critique was not about Marxist economics but about lousy Marxist anthropology. What many conservative Americans would consider "socialist" would have been normal and acceptable to the German cardinal, quite distinct from the problems with Marxist determinism and ideas of class conflict he identified in liberation theology. Second, Benedict, like all popes, saw unions as central to the creation of a just economy. This disposition clearly escapes the attention of some Catholic conservatives... "Benedict was steeped in Catholic social teaching and in many ways paved the way for Francis"... "Although Benedict XVI's legacy is complex, his writings contributed a helpful remedy to heal some of the effects of the culture wars that have seeped into the life of the church in the U.S."... Links between Benedict and Francis extend beyond the specific focus of Catholic social teaching... Francis relies heavily on Benedict's interpretation of modernity... Those who try to enlist the late pope as an avatar of conservatism sometimes do to him what they did to John Paul II: They distort the record...

Three thoughtful pieces from The Tablet which avoid simplistically labelling Benedict XVI as a "conservative".

The pope who was God’s shy, studious, charming, conservative radical

After just eight years on the throne of St Peter, Joseph Ratzinger radically altered the course of the papacy by resigning, but not before making his mark as a thinker looking both backwards to the certainties of the past and forward to the new evangelising possibilities of the future...

Benedict was a defender of tradition who opened the door to reform

His resignation was a dramatic step towards the demystification of the papacy, a development his successor continued by replacing the monarchical model with a servant-leader model of papacy...

Benedict was a pope who wondered about the questions that people are failing to ask

Benedict XVI was pope for four of the five years that a writer and diplomat served as Sweden’s ambassador to the Holy See. A left-leaning feminist and a conservative found points in common...

And one from the National Catholic Register:

Benedict XVI’s Theology Summed Up by His Last Words, Says Theologian

In his teachings, Pope Benedict XVI “always unites charity and truth”... the hallmark of all Benedict XVI’s theology is “that encounter with Jesus Christ {that} is divine charity”... Benedict’s final words before his death... “sums it up at the end of his life by saying, ‘Jesus, I love you’”... from the beginning of his ministry “he focused on a Christo-centric way of looking at the whole world”...

An interesting German perspective from Der Spiegel.

Ratzinger's Dark Legacy

Following the death of Benedict XVI, many Catholics are hoping that the Vatican will finally embark on far-reaching reforms. But Pope Francis is weak and has plenty of adversaries... the shadow pope remained the hero of traditional forces in the Vatican – forces that are separated by a vast gulf from the lives of normal Catholics. The Benedict faction exerts a huge amount of influence in the Vatican. And they are sure to continue to work at odds to Francis, who they consider to be a lightweight... The Catholic Church is in need of far-reaching reform. German bishops launched the Synodal Path...

A Methodist Appreciation of Benedict XVI (First Things)

Throughout his life and ministry, Benedict XVI was committed to the foundational truth that the triune God actually reveals himself to the world, to the Church, and to the Christian. Without such revelation, God would be unknowable. Furthermore, the grandest glory and greatest strength of this revelation is Jesus Christ, the God-man. Revelation, Christ, and Church are great themes throughout Benedict’s ministry. Protestants who have read Karl Barth or Dietrich Bonhoeffer are sure to notice how their theologies are consistent with the writing of Benedict XVI...

Partisans Have Used Benedict XVI’s Death "to serve their own interests": Pope Francis (ACI Africa)

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s death was used by people in a self-serving way, Pope Francis said aboard the papal plane returning from South Sudan on Sunday. “I think Benedict’s death was instrumentalized by people who want to serve their own interests,” he said during an in-flight press conference Feb. 5. People who instrumentalize such a good and holy person, Francis added, are partisans and unethical. There is a widespread tendency to make political parties out of theological positions, he said. “I leave it alone. These things will fall on their own, or if they don’t fall they will move on as has happened so many times in the history of the Church.” Pope Francis’ comments were made aboard the papal plane from Juba, South Sudan, to Rome, at the end of a six-day trip that also included nearly four days in the Democratic Republic of Congo... Francis reiterated that he was able to speak about everything with Benedict, even to change his own mind. “He was always by my side, supporting me. And if he had any difficulty he would tell me and we would talk and there was no problem,” the pope said... Benedict XVI, he emphasized, “was not a bitter man”...

Why did Benedict XVI always place a crucifix on the altar? (Aleteia)

While the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church requires a crucifix to be placed either on the altar or near it, there is no specific requirement on the exact placement. It could be placed on the wall, be the processional cross, or simply be a small cross placed flat on the altar. However, Pope Benedict XVI was a strong advocate for placing a large, visible crucifix on the altar. Pope Francis has continued this tradition as well, following the example of his predecessor. Benedict XVI explained his reasoning in his book Spirit of the Liturgy... the cross on the altar is not an impediment to sight, but rather a common point of reference. It is an ‘iconostasi’ that remains open, which does not impede being mutually in communion, but is a mediator and still signifies for everyone the image that concentrates and unifies our sight. I dare to propose the thesis that the cross on the altar is not an obstacle, but the preliminary condition for the celebration ‘versus populum’...

Pope Benedict XVI’s very concrete advice for being a little holier every day (Aleteia)

What is essential? For Benedict XVI, it’s our encounter with Christ. “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction,” he wrote in his first encyclical, Deus caritas est. Faith is above all a relationship, an encounter with God...