Vatican City, Jun 22, 2020 / 06:00 am (CNA).- Pope emeritus Benedict XVI arrived back in Rome Monday after a four-day trip to Germany to visit his ailing brother.
The Diocese of Regensburg reported June 22 that 93-year-old Benedict XVI said goodbye to his 96-year-old brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, who is in poor health, before departing for Munich airport.
“It is perhaps the last time that the two brothers, Georg and Joseph Ratzinger, will see each other in this world,” the Regensburg diocese said in an earlier statement.
Benedict XVI was accompanied on the journey to the airport by Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg. Before the pope emeritus boarded an Italian air force plane he was greeted by Bavaria’s premier Markus Söder. The Süddeutsche Zeitung, a German daily newspaper, quoted Söder as saying that the encounter was a moment of “joy and melancholy.”
The pope emeritus landed in Rome at 1 p.m. local time, according to Vatican News. Benedict XVI and his entourage arrived 45 minutes later at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, his residence in the Vatican.
Benedict XVI was born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger in the town of Marktl in Bavaria in 1927. His older brother Georg is his last living family member.
On his final full day in Bavaria, Benedict XVI offered Sunday Mass with his brother in Luzengasse, Regensburg. He later went to pray at the shrine of St. Wolfgang, the patron saint of Regensburg diocese.
Archbishop Nikola Eterović, the apostolic nuncio in Germany, traveled from Berlin to meet with the pope emeritus in Regensburg over the weekend.
“It is an honor to welcome the pope emeritus again in Germany, even in this difficult family situation,” Eterović said June 21 following their meeting.
The nuncio said his impression during his meeting with Benedict was “that he feels good here in Regensburg.”
The former pope arrived in Bavaria on Thursday, June 16. Immediately upon his arrival, Benedict went to see his brother, the diocese reported. The brothers celebrated Mass together at the house in Regensburg and the pope emeritus then went to the diocesan seminary, where he stayed throughout the visit. In the evening, he returned to see his brother again.
On Friday, the two celebrated Mass for the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, according to a statement.
On Saturday the former pope visited the residence in Pentling, just outside Regensburg, where he lived while serving as a professor from 1970 to 1977.
His last time seeing the home was during his 2006 pastoral trip to Bavaria.
The diocese said Benedict XVI then stopped at the Ziegetsdorf cemetery to spend time in prayer at the graves of his parents and sister.
Christian Schaller, deputy head of the Pope Benedict XVI Institute, told Regensburg diocese that during the pope emeritus’ visit to his former home “memories awoke.”
“It was a trip back in time,” he said.
Benedict stayed at his Pentling home and in its garden for about 45 minutes, and was reportedly moved by old family portraits.
During his visit to the cemetery an Our Father and Hail Mary were prayed.
“I have the impression that the visit is a source of strength for both brothers,” Schaller said.
According to Regensburg diocese, “Benedict XVI is traveling in the company of his secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, his doctor, his nurse and a religious sister. The Pope emeritus made the decision to travel to his brother in Regensburg at short notice, after consulting with Pope Francis.”
Msgr. Georg Ratzinger is a former choir master of the Regensburger Domspatzen, the cathedral choir of Regensburg.
On June 29, 2011, he celebrated his 60th anniversary as a priest in Rome together with his brother. Both men were ordained priests in 1951.
This report has been updated to include the time of Benedict XVI’s arrival in Rome.
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I will consider nothing that Leo writes until he apologizes to the entire Catholic Church for backing Cupich’s move to bestow honors on a politician who did everything in his power to advance the cause of abortion in the USA.
I feel your hate.
Unlike that duplicitous footnote to chapter 8 to Amoris Laetitia, might we hope that the possible papal ghostwriter notes a real compass point? Not morally subversive (nor an alleged evasion from temporal desperation), but recalling theological and personal hope in the whole Christ, such as:
“Evangelization will also contain—as the foundation, center and at the same time summit of its dynamism—a clear proclamation that, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man, who died and rose from the dead, salvation is offered to all men, as a gift of God’s grace and mercy [fn—Cf. Eph 2:8, Rom 1:16]. And not an immanent salvation, meeting material or even spiritual needs, restricted to the framework of temporal existence and completely identified with temporal desires, hopes, affairs and struggles, but a salvation which exceeds all these limits in order to reach fulfillment in a communion with the one and only divine Absolute: a transcendent and eschatological salvation, which indeed has its beginning in this life but is fulfilled in eternity” (Paul VI, the apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Nuntiandi,” on the 1975 Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, n. 27).
I will consider everything Leo writes because he is my Pope, the Vicar of Christ.
“Vicar of Christ” Wasn’t that the papal appellation that Bergoglio rejected for himself?
That would be a good first start, followed by a second apology for meeting, encouraging, and supporting James Martin, SCH. We probably shouldn’t hold our breath waiting.
Dilexi te. If indeed you love me, keep my commandments (Jesus in Jn 14:15).
As reported by Pew Research only 9% of Roman Catholics believe in the Most Blessed Trinity. On the face of it that means 91% of those describing themselves as Roman Catholics aren’t.
Emergency for Pope Leo. There are many many who can deal with the poverty issue besides the Pope. The Pope, on the other hand, is perhaps the only voice who can call attention to the tragedy that 91% of self-identified Roman Catholics are deprived of the truths of the Faith.
What will the Pope do? If the current pontificate — which resembles more the Cupich-by-proxy pontificate — it would appear this disaster will be overlooked. Not quite relevant?
Are you referring to this March 2025 Barna Research poll? It’s apparently a “research report from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University [that] shows that only 11% of American adults, and only 16% of self-proclaimed Christians, believe in the trinity.” I’ve looked at it, and have questions. The methodology is not clear at all. The language is a bit strange; for example: “How Demographic Segments Perceive the Trinity (Percentage who believe in the existence and human influence of each Person of the Trinity)”. What does “human influence” refer to here? The Second Person of the Trinity, who is fully human and fully divine by virtue of the Incarnation, has “human influence”, but how does this apply to the Father and the Holy Spirit. In addition, we read: “Less than half as many Catholics (9%) are trinitarians.” Well, most Catholics don’t use the term “trinitarian” to describe themselves, even though it’s accurate. My guess is that some respondents were confused by the questions, which don’t appear to be available. Bottom line: as poor as catechesis often is, I have a really hard time believing that only 9% of Catholics say they believe in the Trinity.
And reportedly, some seventy-five percent of Catholics deny the Real Presence.
Dilexi te.
Tough love or empathy?
The Way of the Cross or cheap grace?
Is there anything new to say about the poor? – if that is what the
exhortation is about. Perhaps we should get back to the basics of
the faith, to the commandments, to basic morality. Many people are
searching for meaning and purpose in life. Another sermon about
the poor doesn’t address the deepest questions humans have.