Facts of pope benedict xvi

According to several media reports, Benedict's decision centered on his old age, and physical and mental weakness. In one statement, the pope explained, "I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise. 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 St.

Benedict served his final day as pope on February 28, Traveling by helicopter, he departed the Vatican for the summer papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy. Benedict stayed there while renovations were made to a convent, Mater Ecclesiae, in the southwest corner of Vatican City, which became his residence. One of Benedict's final acts as a pope was a tweet to his Twitter following: "Thank you for your love and support.

May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the center of your lives. Though Benedict had no further administrative or official duties and rarely appeared in public, he did join Pope Francis on December 8, , as he pushed open the great bronze doors of St. Peter's Basilica to launch his Holy Year of Mercy. Benedict walked through the doorway right after Francis, gingerly negotiating the two steps with the help of a cane and his longtime assistant.

Pope Francis seemed taken aback by Benedict's frailty when he saw him at the Holy Door, and he asked the throngs of pilgrims in the piazza to send their prayers for his "good health. In a public letter written in February , Benedict stated that he was nearing the end of his life. Benedict wrote a total of 66 books. We strive for accuracy and fairness.

John Lateran, on May 7 Peter's Square, on April 27, Firstly, I remember Pope Benedict XV, that courageous prophet of peace, who guided the Church through turbulent times of war. In his footsteps I place my ministry in the service of reconciliation and harmony between peoples. I ask him to help us all to hold firm to the centrality of Christ in our Christian life: May Christ always take first place in our thoughts and actions!

Official biography released by the Holy See. During the last months of the war he was enrolled in an auxiliary anti-aircraft corps. He received his priestly ordination on 29 June A year later he began teaching at the Higher School of Freising. Latest news. In seeking truth we come to live by belief because ultimately truth is a person: Jesus Christ.

That is why authentic freedom is not an opting out. As pope, Benedict often spoke of the need to evangelize. Benedict XVI made major moves against clergy who abused children, but was recently faulted for his handling of four cases while he was the head of the Munich Archdiocese. Hundreds of priests who had committed sex abuse were laicized under Pope Benedict.

This was a continuation of his previous work at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which acquired increased authority over clergy sex abuse cases in Two months into his papacy, Benedict disciplined Father Marcial Maciel, the charismatic and influential founder of the Legionaries of Christ who had long been accused of sexually abusing seminarians and was later revealed to have led a deeply scandalous double life.

At times, controversy has arisen over the claim that Benedict XVI, as the Archbishop of Munich and Freising from to , mishandled or covered up for a sexual abuser. The vicar general at the time has taken full responsibility for a decision to assign the priest from outside the diocese to a parish without any pastoral restrictions, where Hullermann was able to abuse again.

On Jan. The investigative study faulted Benedict for his handling of three other cases, in addition to the one involving Hullermann.

Facts of pope benedict xvi

In two of the three new cases, clerics committed abuse while the future pope was in office. While the priests were criminally sanctioned by secular courts, they continued to perform pastoral duties, and no action was taken against them under canon law, according to the report. In a third case, a cleric convicted by a foreign court worked in the Munich archdiocese.

In a briefing to the media, one of he report's authors suggested the future Benedict XVI knew of the priest's history, but the pope emeritus strongly denies the allegations. The rapid succession of his numerous, detailed publications has also continued as the years have passed, serving as a reference point for Catholics and especially for those involved in advanced theological studies.

He was ordained a Bishop on 28 May that same year and was the first diocesan priest in 80 years to take on the pastoral governance of this large Bavarian Diocese. He chose as his episcopal motto: "Fellow Worker in the Truth" cf. III Jn 1: 8. On 15 February , he resigned his pastoral office as Archbishop of Munich and Freising.