The Dispatch: More from CWR...

‘I hope that I can join them soon’: Benedict XVI sends condolence message after friend’s death

CNA Staff   By CNA Staff

Benedict XVI. / Giulio Napolitano via Shutterstock.

Wilhering, Austria, Oct 19, 2021 / 09:00 am (CNA).

Pope emeritus Benedict XVI has said that he looks forward to joining his friends in heaven in a condolence message following the death of a Cistercian priest.

In a letter dated Oct. 2 and released by Wilhering Abbey in Austria, the 94-year-old retired pope said that the death of Fr. Gerhard Winkler touched him profoundly, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner.

“The news of the passing of Prof. Dr. Gerhard Winkler O. Cist., which you have conveyed to me, has affected me deeply,” wrote Benedict XVI, who was pope from 2005 to 2013.

“Among all colleagues and friends, he was the closest to me. His cheerfulness and deep faith always attracted me.”

“Now he has arrived in the next world, where I am sure many friends are already waiting for him. I hope that I can join them soon.”

Bernhard Winkler was born in Wilhering, Upper Austria, near the city of Linz, in 1931. He entered the local Cistercian monastery in 1951, taking the religious name Gerhard. He was ordained a priest on June 29, 1955, in Linz.

After gaining a doctorate in theology in Vienna in 1956, he taught German and English. He earned a master’s degree in English from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.

In 1969, he embarked on an academic career in Germany, teaching in Bochum and Freiburg.

He worked closely with Joseph Ratzinger, the future Benedict XVI, at the University of Regensburg, where he lectured in Medieval and Modern Church History from 1974 to 1983.

Ratzinger had joined the University of Regensburg in 1969 as a professor of dogmatic theology and the history of dogma. He served as the university’s vice president until 1977, when he was named archbishop of Munich and Freising.

Winkler was a professor of Church history at the University of Salzburg, Austria, from 1983 until his retirement in 1999.

From 2018, he lived in a care home run by religious sisters in Linz.

“In the meantime,” Benedict XVI concluded his condolence message, “I am joined up with him and the monastic community of Wilhering in prayer.”


If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!

Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.


About Catholic News Agency 12240 Articles
Catholic News Agency (www.catholicnewsagency.com)

1 Comment

  1. Well Your Holiness, unfortunately you chose a route of suffering as the “Pope in captivity “— so until the chaos in the Church is strongly countered by men who can help bring about truth and order, your lot is to remain suffering for the Church.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

All comments posted at Catholic World Report are moderated. While vigorous debate is welcome and encouraged, please note that in the interest of maintaining a civilized and helpful level of discussion, comments containing obscene language or personal attacks—or those that are deemed by the editors to be needlessly combative or inflammatory—will not be published. Thank you.


*