Pope Benedict XVI#Birth control and HIV.2FAIDS

{{Main|Early life of Pope Benedict XVI}}

File:PopeBenedicts1stHome.jpg, Bavaria]]

Joseph Alois Ratzinger was born on 16 April, Holy Saturday, 1927 at Schulstraße 11 at 8:30 in the morning in his parents' home in Marktl, Bavaria, Germany. He was baptised the same day. He was the third and youngest child of Joseph Ratzinger Sr., a police officer, and Maria Ratzinger ({{nee|Peintner}}); his grand-uncle was the German priest-politician Georg Ratzinger. His mother's family was originally from South Tyrol (now in Italy).{{cite web |url=http://en.radiovaticana.va/articolo.asp?c=536395 |title=Vatican Radio – Pope Benedict: proud to be part of Tyrol a "land made by Angels" |publisher=En.radiovaticana.va |date=9 November 2011 |access-date=17 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517123128/http://en.radiovaticana.va/articolo.asp?c=536395 |archive-date=17 May 2013 }} Benedict's elder brother, Georg, became a Catholic priest and was the former director of the Regensburger Domspatzen choir.{{citation |url=https://www.radioswissclassic.ch/en/music-database/musician/25783c7d63f3a9fc166ad2d2d0bba2413ff3a/biography |title=Georg Ratzinger |access-date=31 December 2022 |archive-date=31 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221231113052/https://www.radioswissclassic.ch/en/music-database/musician/25783c7d63f3a9fc166ad2d2d0bba2413ff3a/biography |url-status=dead }} His sister, Maria, who never married, managed her brother Joseph's household until she died in 1991.{{Cite news |date=1 July 2020 |title=Benedict XVI's last remaining sibling, Georg Ratzinger, has died |url=https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/07/01/benedict-xvis-last-remaining-sibling-georg-ratzinger-has-died |access-date=31 December 2022 |website=America Magazine |language=en}}

Aged five, Ratzinger was in a group of children who welcomed the visiting Cardinal Archbishop of Munich, Michael von Faulhaber, with flowers. Struck by the cardinal's distinctive garb, he announced later that day that he wanted to be a cardinal. He attended the elementary school in Aschau am Inn, which was renamed in his honour in 2009.{{cite news |last=Mrugala |first=Anette |title='Papst-Schule' eingeweiht |trans-title='Pope school' opened |url=http://www.innsalzach24.de/waldkraiburg/grundschule-aschau-papst-name-einweihung-is24-397132.html |publisher=Innsalzach24.de |date=10 July 2009 |access-date=17 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331134514/http://www.innsalzach24.de/waldkraiburg/grundschule-aschau-papst-name-einweihung-is24-397132.html |archive-date=31 March 2012 |language=de}} In 1939, aged 12, he enrolled in a minor seminary in Traunstein.Cardinal Ratzinger: the Vatican's enforcer of the faith. John L. Allen, 2000. {{p.|14}} This period lasted until the seminary was closed for military use in 1942, and the students were all sent home. Ratzinger returned to Traunstein.Cardinal Ratzinger: the Vatican's enforcer of the faith. John L. Allen, 2000. {{p.|15}}

Ratzinger's family, especially his father, bitterly resented the Nazis, and his father's opposition to Nazism resulted in demotions and harassment of the family.{{cite news |last1=Landler |first1=Mark |last2=Bernstein |first2=Richard |title=A Future Pope Is Recalled: A Lover of Cats and Mozart, Dazzled by Church as a Boy |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/22/international/worldspecial2/22germany.html?pagewanted=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1114340564-13zVUfWUfsfMLXhqWFxrDA&_r=0 |work=The New York Times |date=22 April 2005}} Following his 14th birthday in 1941, Ratzinger was conscripted into the Hitler Youth{{snd}}as membership was required by law for all 14-year-old German boys after March 1939[http://www.verfassungen.de/de/de33-45/hitlerjugend36.htm Zweite Durchführungsverordnung zum Gesetz über die Hitler-Jugend (Jugenddienstverordnung) vom 25. März 1939] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170823011251/http://www.verfassungen.de/de/de33-45/hitlerjugend36.htm |date=23 August 2017 }} (§ 1){{snd}}but was an unenthusiastic member who refused to attend meetings, according to his brother.{{cite news |work=USA Today |title=New Pope Defied Nazis As Teen During WWII |date=23 April 2005 |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-04-23-new-pope-defied-Nazis_x.htm |url-status=live |access-date=10 July 2009 |agency=Associated Press |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104205507/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-04-23-new-pope-defied-Nazis_x.htm |archive-date=4 January 2012}} In 1941, one of Ratzinger's cousins, a 14-year-old boy with Down syndrome, was taken away by the Nazi regime and murdered during the Aktion T4 campaign of Nazi eugenics.{{cite news |first=John |last=Allen |author-link=John L. Allen Jr. |title=Anti-Nazi Prelate Beatified |url=http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/word101405.htm#five |work=The Word from Rome |publisher=National Catholic Reporter |date=14 October 2005 |access-date=15 April 2008}} In 1943, while still in seminary, he was drafted into the German anti-aircraft corps as Luftwaffenhelfer. Ratzinger then trained in the German infantry.{{cite book |last1=Pope Benedict XVI |last2=Thornton |first2=John F. |last3=Varenne |first3=Susan B. |title=The Essential Pope Benedict XVI: His Central Writings and Speeches |year=2007 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-112883-7 |pages=xxxix–xl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6tK0s971r_cC}} As the Allied front drew closer to his post in 1945, he deserted back to his family's home in Traunstein after his unit had ceased to exist, just as American troops established a headquarters in the Ratzinger household.{{cite web|url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/pope-recalls-being-german-pow|title=Pope Recalls Being German POW|publisher=Fox News|access-date=9 December 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130607043032/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,153942,00.html|archive-date=7 June 2013}} As a German soldier, he was interned in US prisoner of war camps, first in Neu-Ulm, then at Fliegerhorst ("military airfield") Bad Aibling (shortly to be repurposed as Bad Aibling Station) where he was at the time of Victory in Europe Day, and released on 19 June 1945.{{Cite book |last=Ratzinger |first=Josef Kardinal |title=Salz der Erde |collaboration=Seewald, Peter |publisher=Wilhelm Heyne Verlag |year=2004 |isbn=3-453-87942-2 |edition=2nd |location=Munich, Germany |pages=61 |language=de}}

Ratzinger and his brother Georg entered Saint Michael Seminary in Traunstein in November 1945, later studying at the Ducal Georgianum ({{lang|de|Herzogliches Georgianum}}) of the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. They were both ordained in Freising on 29 June 1951 by Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber of Munich{{snds}}the same man Ratzinger had met as a child. He recalled: "at the moment the elderly Archbishop laid his hands on me, a little bird{{snds}}perhaps a lark{{snds}}flew up from the altar in the high cathedral and trilled a little joyful song".{{cite book |title=Milestones: Memoirs 1927–1977 |url=https://archive.org/details/milestonesmemoir00ratz/page/99 | url-access=registration |page=99 | publisher=Ignatius Press| year=1998 |isbn=978-0-89870-702-1 |last=Ratzinger |first=Joseph Cardinal |translator-last=Leiva-Merikakis |translator-first=Erasmo}} He celebrated his first Mass later that summer in Traunstein, at St. Oswald's Church.{{Cite web |title=Pectoral cross of Benedict XVI stolen from Bavarian church |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/254619/pectoral-cross-of-benedict-xvi-stolen-from-bavarian-church |access-date=21 June 2023 |agency=Catholic News Agency |language=en}}

Ratzinger's 1953 dissertation was on Augustine of Hippo and was titled The People and the House of God in Augustine's Doctrine of the Church. His habilitation (which qualified him for a professorship) was on Bonaventure. It was completed in 1957 and he became a professor at Freising College in 1958.{{Cite web |title=Biographical notes of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/biography/documents/hf_ben-xvi_bio_20050419_short-biography_old.html |access-date=31 December 2022 |website=vatican.va}}

From 1946 to 1951, he pursued studies in philosophy and theology at the University of Munich and at the Philosophisch-Theologische Hochschule in Freising.[https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/biography/documents/hf_ben-xvi_bio_20050419_short-biography-old.html Biography of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI] - official website of the Holy See During this time, Ratzinger was deeply influenced by the ideas of Italian-German philosopher Romano Guardini,{{Cite web |title=The Intellectual Relationship between Joseph Ratzinger and Romano Guardini |url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/intellectual-relationship-between-joseph-ratzinger-and-romano-guardini-10147 |access-date=27 January 2023 |website=EWTN Global Catholic Television Network |language=en}} who was teaching in Munich while Ratzinger was a student there. The intellectual affinity between these two thinkers, who would later become decisive figures for the twentieth-century Catholic Church, was preoccupied with rediscovering the essentials of Christianity: Guardini wrote his 1938 The Essence of Christianity, while Ratzinger penned Introduction to Christianity, three decades later in 1968. Guardini inspired many in the Catholic social-democratic tradition, particularly the Communion and Liberation movement in the New Evangelization encouraged under the papacy of the Polish Pope John Paul II. Ratzinger wrote an introduction to a 1996 reissue of Guardini's 1954 The Lord.[https://www.amazon.com/Lord-None-Romano-Guardini/dp/0895267144 "The Lord by Roman Guardini, 1996, reprint of 1954 first English translation"]. Regnery Publishing. Alongside his brother Georg, he was ordained a priest on 29 June 1951 at the Cathedral in Freising. Two years later, in 1953, Ratzinger earned a Doctor of Theology degree at the University of Munich with the dissertation titled The People and House of God in St. Augustine's Doctrine of the Church. In 1957, he obtained his habilitation teaching qualification from the University of Munich with a thesis on Bonaventure.

{{Theology of Pope Benedict XVI sidebar}}

{{Catholic philosophy}}

Ratzinger began as assistant pastor (curate) at the parish St. Martin, Moosach, in Munich in 1951.{{cite news |first= Junno Arocho |last=Esteves |url=https://catholicreview.org/pope-congratulates-retired-pontiff-on-anniversary-of-priestly-ordination/ |title=The Turning Point |magazine=Catholic Review |date=29 June 2021 |access-date=27 January 2022 }} Ratzinger became a professor at the University of Bonn in 1959, with his inaugural lecture on "The God of Faith and the God of Philosophy". In 1963, he moved to the University of Münster. During this period, he participated in the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) and served as a peritus (theological consultant) to Cardinal Frings of Cologne. He was viewed during the time of the council as a reformer, cooperating with theologians like Hans Küng{{cite web |title=Hans Küng and Pope Benedict |url=http://www.noisiamochiesa.org/Archivio_NSC/attual/Allen.Kung.26.9.05.htm |publisher=noisiamochiesa.org |access-date=31 December 2022}} and Edward Schillebeeckx.{{cite web |title=Between Context and Christology: The Role of History in the Reconstruction of Christological Images |date=4 June 2021 |url=https://theo.kuleuven.be/apps/press/theologyresearchnews/2021/06/04/between-context-and-christology-the-role-of-history-in-the-reconstruction-of-christological-images/ |publisher=Theology Research News |access-date=31 December 2022}} Ratzinger became an admirer of Karl Rahner, a well-known academic theologian of the Nouvelle théologie and a proponent of Church reform.{{cite web |title=Retrieving Rahner for Orthodox Catholicism |url=https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/retrieving-rahner-for-orthodox-catholicism-10028 |publisher=EWTN |access-date=31 December 2022}}

In 1966, Ratzinger was appointed to a chair in dogmatic theology at the University of Tübingen, where he was a colleague of Hans Küng. In his 1968 book Introduction to Christianity, he wrote that the pope has a duty to hear differing voices within the Church before making a decision, and he downplayed the centrality of the papacy. During this time, he distanced himself from the atmosphere of Tübingen and the Marxist leanings of the student movement of the 1960s that quickly radicalized, in the years 1967 and 1968, culminating in a series of disturbances and riots in April and May 1968. Ratzinger came increasingly to see these and associated developments (such as decreasing respect for authority among his students) as connected to a departure from traditional Catholic teachings.{{cite news |first=David |last=Van Biema |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C1053658%2C00.html |title=The Turning Point |magazine=Time |date=24 April 2005 |access-date=7 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111215042935/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1053658,00.html |archive-date=15 December 2011}} Despite his reformist bent, his views increasingly came to contrast with the liberal ideas gaining currency in theological circles.{{cite news|first1=Daniel J. |last1=Wakin |first2=Richard |last2=Bernstein |first3=Mark |last3=Landler |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/24/international/worldspecial2/24ratzinger.html?position=&incamp=article_popular_5&pagewanted=print&position= |title=Turbulence on Campus in 60's Hardened Views of Future Pope |work=The New York Times |date=24 April 2005 |access-date=8 June 2005 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416205557/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/24/international/worldspecial2/24ratzinger.html?position=&incamp=article_popular_5&pagewanted=print&position= |archive-date=16 April 2009}} He was invited by Rev. Theodore Hesburgh to join the theology faculty at the University of Notre Dame, but declined on grounds that his English was not good enough.{{Cite web|title=Hesburgh sought Ratzinger for spot on ND faculty|url=https://news.nd.edu/news/hesburgh-sought-ratzinger-for-spot-on-nd-faculty/|access-date=15 March 2021|website=Notre Dame News|date=19 April 2005 |language=en}}

Some voices, among them Küng, deemed this period in Ratzinger's life a turn towards conservatism, while Ratzinger himself said in a 1993 interview, "I see no break in my views as a theologian [over the years]".{{cite news |magazine=Time |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C979775-1%2C00.html |title=Keeper of the Straight and Narrow |last1=Ostling |first1=Richard N. |last2=Moody |first2=John |last3=Morris |first3=Nomi |date=6 December 1993 |access-date=10 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120823043007/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,979775-1,00.html |archive-date=23 August 2012}} Ratzinger continued to defend the work of the Second Vatican Council, including Nostra aetate, the document on respect of other religions, ecumenism, and the declaration of the right to freedom of religion. Later, as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger most clearly spelled out the Catholic Church's position on other religions in the 2000 document Dominus Iesus which also talks about the Catholic way to engage in "ecumenical dialogue". During his time at Tübingen University, Ratzinger published articles in the reformist theological journal Concilium, though he increasingly chose less reformist themes than other contributors such as Küng and Schillebeeckx.{{cite web |title=Really? |date=23 January 2006 |url=https://www.commonwealmagazine.org/really |publisher=Commonweal |access-date=31 December 2022}}

In 1969, Ratzinger returned to Bavaria, to the University of Regensburg and co-founded the theological journal Communio, with Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac, Walter Kasper, and others, in 1972. Communio, now published in seventeen languages, including German, English, and Spanish, has become a prominent journal of contemporary Catholic theological thought. Until he was elected pope, he remained one of the journal's most prolific contributors. In 1976, he suggested that the Augsburg Confession might be recognised as a Catholic statement of faith.{{cite journal |last=Dulles, s.j.|first=Avery|date=October 1983 |title=The Catholicity of the Augsburg Confession|journal=The Journal of Religion|volume=63|issue=4|pages=337–354|doi=10.1086/487060|author-link=Avery Dulles|jstor=1203403|s2cid=170148693 |issn=0022-4189}}{{cite book | last1 = Fahlbusch | first1 = Erwin|first2=Geoffrey William |last2= Bromiley |first3=David B. |last3= Barrett | chapter=Evangelical Catholicity|title = The Encyclopedia of Christianity | publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |location = Grand Rapids | year = 1999 | isbn = 90-04-11695-8}} Several of Benedict's former students became his confidantes, notably Christoph Schönborn, and a number of his former students sometimes meet for discussions.{{cite web |url=http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/cardinal-schonborn-explains-what-ratzinger-students-will-discuss |title=Cardinal Schönborn Explains What Ratzinger Students Will Discuss |work=ZENIT |date=30 August 2012 |access-date=20 February 2013}}{{cite web |last=Alexander |first=Fr |url=http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2012/08/31/ecumenism-is-of-primary-importance-to-the-pope-says-cardinal-schonborn/ |title=Ecumenism is of 'primary importance' to the Pope, says Cardinal Schönborn |work=Catholic Herald |date=31 August 2012 |access-date=20 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130430193631/http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2012/08/31/ecumenism-is-of-primary-importance-to-the-pope-says-cardinal-schonborn/ |archive-date=30 April 2013 }} He served as vice-president of the University of Regensburg from 1976 to 1977.{{cite web|agency=CNS |url=http://www.georgiabulletin.org/local/2005/04/21/theologians/ |title=Pope Benedict One of Most Respected Theologians |publisher=Georgia Bulletin |access-date=17 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110904043608/http://www.georgiabulletin.org/local/2005/04/21/theologians/ |archive-date=4 September 2011}} On 26 May 1976, he was appointed a Prelate of Honour of His Holiness.{{cite journal |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-68-1976-ocr.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/AAS-68-1976-ocr.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live|title=Segretaria di Stato |trans-title=Secretariat of State |journal=Acta Apostolicae Sedis – Commentarium Officiale |department=Diarium Romanae Curiae |date=30 September 1976|volume=LXVIII |issue=9 |page=589 |language=it |access-date=9 July 2022}}

File:Palais Holnstein Munich.JPG in Munich, the residence of Benedict as Archbishop of Munich and Freising]]

On 24 March 1977, Ratzinger was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising, and was ordained a bishop on 28 May. He took as his episcopal motto {{lang|la|Cooperatores veritatis}} (Latin for 'cooperators of the truth'),{{cite web |url=http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/biography/documents/hf_ben-xvi_bio_20050419_short-biography.html |title=Biography of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI |date=19 April 2005 |website=The Holy See |publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana |access-date=21 July 2019 |archive-date=21 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721194136/http://w2.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/biography/documents/hf_ben-xvi_bio_20050419_short-biography.html }} from the Third Epistle of John,{{cite news |url=https://www.osservatoreromano.va/en/news/2021-11/ing-047/to-be-cooperatores-veritatis.html |title=To be 'cooperatores veritatis' |work=L'Osservatore Romano |date=19 November 2021 |access-date=28 December 2022}} a choice on which he commented in his autobiographical work Milestones.{{cite book |title=Milestones: Memoirs 1927–1977 |url=https://archive.org/details/milestonesmemoir00ratz/page/153 | url-access=registration |page=153 | publisher=Ignatius Press| year=1998 |isbn=978-0-89870-702-1 |last=Ratzinger |first=Joseph Cardinal |translator-last=Leiva-Merikakis |translator-first=Erasmo}}

In the consistory of 27 June 1977, he was named Cardinal Priest of Santa Maria Consolatrice al Tiburtino by Pope Paul VI. By the time of the 2005 conclave, he was one of only fourteen remaining cardinals appointed by Paul{{nbsp}}VI, and one of only three of those under the age of 80. Of these, only he and William Wakefield Baum took part in the conclave.{{cite news |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0502405.htm |publisher=Catholic News Service |first1=John |last1=Thavis |first2=Cindy |last2=Wooden |title=Cardinal Ratzinger, guardian of church doctrine, elected 265th pope |date=19 April 2005 |access-date=17 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907074836/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0502405.htm |archive-date=7 September 2011}}

{{Main|Joseph Ratzinger as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith}}

On 25 November 1981, Pope John Paul{{nbsp}}II, upon the retirement of Franjo Šeper, named Ratzinger as the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as the "Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office", the historical Roman Inquisition. Consequently, he resigned from his post in Munich in early 1982. He was promoted within the College of Cardinals to become Cardinal Bishop of Velletri-Segni in 1993 and was made the college's vice-dean in 1998 and dean in 2002. Just a year after its foundation in 1990, Ratzinger joined the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in Salzburg.[http://www.theology.de/theologie/theologen/papstbenediktxvi.php theology] → Biography Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI → Mitgliedschaften → EuropAcad → 1991[http://www.abitur-werne.de/english/religion/bio-pope-benedict.html Biography of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304114500/http://www.abitur-werne.de/english/religion/bio-pope-benedict.html |date=4 March 2016}} → Mitgliedschaften → EuropAcad → 1991

File:Ratzinger-Rom88.JPG

Ratzinger defended and reaffirmed Catholic doctrine, including teaching on topics such as birth control, homosexuality, and inter-religious dialogue. The theologian Leonardo Boff, for example, was suspended, while others such as Matthew Fox were censured. Other issues also prompted condemnations or revocations of rights to teach: for instance, some posthumous writings of Jesuit priest Anthony de Mello were the subject of a notification. Ratzinger and the congregation viewed many of them, particularly the later works, as having an element of religious indifferentism (in other words, that Christ was "one master alongside others"). In particular, Dominus Iesus, published by the congregation in the jubilee year 2000, reaffirmed many recently "unpopular" ideas, including the Catholic Church's position that "salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." The document angered many Protestant churches by claiming that they are not churches, but "ecclesial communities".{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20000806_dominus-iesus_en.html|title=Dominus Iesus|website=vatican.va}}

Ratzinger's 2001 letter {{lang|la|De delictis gravioribus}} clarified the confidentiality of internal church investigations, as defined in the 1962 document Crimen sollicitationis, into accusations made against priests of certain crimes, including sexual abuse. This became a subject of controversy during the sex abuse cases.{{cite news | first=Jamie | last=Doward | url=http://observer.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,6903,1469055,00.html | title=Pope 'obstructed' sex abuse inquiry |work=The Observer |location=London | date=24 April 2005 |access-date=14 July 2007|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111031044043/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2005/apr/24/children.childprotection|archive-date=31 October 2011}} For 20 years, Ratzinger had been the man in charge of enforcing the document.Sex Crimes and the Vatican ([http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/5402928.stm Quotation from an October 2006 BBC documentary]):

{{blockquote

| "The man in charge of enforcing it for 20 years was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the man made Pope last year. In 2001 he created the successor to the decree."

}}

While bishops hold the secrecy pertained only internally, and did not preclude investigation by civil law enforcement, the letter was often seen as promoting a coverup.{{cite news|title=UK Bishops Angered by BBC Attack on Pope |date=2 October 2006 |access-date=14 April 2008 |url=http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=71831 |agency=Catholic News Agency |publisher=Eternal Word Television Network |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128181538/http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=71831 |archive-date=28 January 2011}} Later, as pope, he was accused in a lawsuit of conspiring to cover up the molestation of three boys in Texas, but sought and obtained diplomatic immunity from liability.[https://www.smh.com.au/news/world/pope-seeks-immunity-over-sex-abuse-suit/2005/08/17/1123958097061.html "Pope seeks immunity in Texas abuse case"], The Sydney Morning Herald 17 August 2005. Retrieved 8 October 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20111001054349/http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/pope-seeks-immunity-over-sex-abuse-suit/2005/08/17/1123958097061.html WebCitation archive]

On 12 March 1983, Ratzinger, as prefect, notified the lay faithful and the clergy that Archbishop Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục had incurred excommunication latae sententiae for illicit episcopal consecrations without the apostolic mandate. It is reported that in 1997, when he turned 70, Ratzinger asked Pope John Paul{{nbsp}}II for permission to leave the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith and to become instead the head of the Vatican Secret Archives and of the Vatican Library, but John Paul refused his assent.Caldwell, Simon [https://web.archive.org/web/20130212082125/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/7928493/Pope-Benedict-wanted-to-be-a-librarian.html "Pope Benedict wanted to be a librarian"] The Daily Telegraph, 5 August 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20130212082125/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/the-pope/7928493/Pope-Benedict-wanted-to-be-a-librarian.html WebCitation archive]{{Cite web|url=https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=7114|title=Cardinal Ratzinger asked to resign in 1997, become Vatican librarian | News Headlines|website=catholicculture.org}}

Ratzinger engaged in a dialogue with critical theorist Jürgen Habermas in 2004, published three years later by Ignatius Press.{{Cite book |author1=Benedict XVI |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ERzoAPsS9usC&q=the+Dialectics+of+Secularization&pg=PP1 |title=Dialectics of Secularization: On Reason and Religion |last2=Habermas |first2=Jürgen |date=2006 |publisher=Ignatius Press |isbn=978-1-58617-166-7 |language=en}}{{Primary source inline|date=January 2023}}

File:Papst Benedikt XVI., Pfingstmesse im Petersdom, 15. Mai 2005.jpg, 15{{nbsp}}May 2005]]

File:Pope Benedict XVI-desaturated-colors.jpg, 2007]]

File:Pope Benedict XVI Delivers Angelus.jpg for further guidance -->, 2012]]

{{Main|2005 papal conclave}}

In April 2005, before his election as pope, Ratzinger was identified as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time.{{cite news |last=Sullivan |first=Andrew |title=Time 100 2005 |url=http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1972656_1972691_1973018,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100618214719/http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1972656_1972691_1973018,00.html |archive-date=18 June 2010 |magazine=Time |date=18 April 2005 |access-date=3 April 2013}} While Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger repeatedly stated he would like to retire to his house in the Bavarian village of Pentling near Regensburg and dedicate himself to writing books.{{Cite web |last=Wittl |first=Wolfgang |title=Blau-weiß gekachelte Bescheidenheit |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/bayern/wohnhaus-von-papst-blau-weiss-gekachelte-bescheidenheit-1.1474839 |access-date=2 January 2023 |website=Süddeutsche.de |date=24 September 2012 |language=de}}

At the papal conclave, "it was, if not Ratzinger, who? And as they came to know him, the question became, why not Ratzinger?"{{cite news|author=Goodstein, Laurie and Elisabetta Povoledo |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/11/world/europe/among-cardinals-deep-divisions-over-next-pope.html |title=Before Smoke Rises at Vatican, It's Romans vs. the Reformers |work=The New York Times |date=11 March 2013}}{{cite news |last=Ivereigh |first=Austen |title=Does cardinal confusion spell a long conclave? |url=http://www.osvdailytake.com/2013/03/ivereigh-in-rome-does-cardinal.html |work=Our Sunday Visitor |date=11 March 2013 |access-date=12 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316114559/http://www.osvdailytake.com/2013/03/ivereigh-in-rome-does-cardinal.html |archive-date=16 March 2013}} On 19 April 2005, he was elected on the second day after four ballots. Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor described the final vote, "It's very solemn when you go up one by one to put your vote in the urn and you're looking up at the Last Judgement of Michelangelo. And I still remember vividly the then Cardinal Ratzinger sitting on the edge of his chair."Cormac Murphy-O'Connor speaking on BBC Radio 4's Midweek, 13 May 2015 Ratzinger had hoped to retire peacefully and said that "At a certain point, I prayed to God 'please don't do this to me'...Evidently, this time He didn't listen to me."Pizzey, Allen [https://www.cbsnews.com/news/benedict-i-prayed-not-to-be-pope/ "Benedict: I Prayed Not To Be Pope"], CBS News, 11 February 2009. Retrieved 21 August 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20111228010014/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/04/02/world/main684865.shtml WebCitation archive]

The day following Ratzinger's election, the German newspaper Bild ran what would become one of its most iconic headlines in response to the announcement of the prior day, Wir Sind Papst (We are (the) Pope).{{Cite web |date=2024-10-11 |title=How 'Wir sind Papst!' became a headline for the ages |url=https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/how-wir-sind-papst-became-a-headline |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=www.pillarcatholic.com/ |language=en}}

At the balcony, Benedict's first words to the crowd, given in Italian before he gave the traditional Urbi et Orbi blessing in Latin, were:

{{blockquote

| Dear brothers and sisters, after the great Pope John Paul{{nbsp}}II, the Cardinals have elected me, a simple, humble labourer in the vineyard of the Lord. The fact that the Lord knows how to work and to act even with insufficient instruments comforts me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers. In the joy of the Risen Lord, confident of his unfailing help, let us move forward. The Lord will help us, and Mary, His Most Holy Mother, will be on our side. Thank you.{{cite web| url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2005/april/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20050419_first-speech.html |title=First greeting of His Holiness Benedict XVI |date=19 April 2005| access-date=31 December 2022| publisher=The Holy See}}

}}

On 24 April, Benedict celebrated the Papal Inauguration Mass in St. Peter's Square, during which he was invested with the Pallium and the Ring of the Fisherman.{{cite web |title=Mass, Imposition of the Pallium and Conferral of the Fisherman's ring for the beginning of the Petrine ministry of the Bishop of Rome |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050424_inizio-pontificato.html |website=vatican.va |date=24 April 2005 |access-date=31 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123231542/https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050424_inizio-pontificato.html |archive-date=23 November 2022 |url-status=live}} On 7 May, he took possession of his cathedral church, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran.{{cite web |title=Mass of possession of the chair of the Bishop of Rome |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050507_san-giovanni-laterano.html |website=vatican.va |date=7 May 2005 |access-date=31 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809012609/https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050507_san-giovanni-laterano.html |archive-date=9 August 2022 |url-status=live}}

Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI chose his papal name, which comes from the Latin word meaning "the blessed", in honour of both Benedict XV and Benedict of Nursia.{{cite news |title=Pope Benedict XVI DiesUpdates: Pope Francis Will Preside Over Benedict's Funeral on Thursday |url=https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/12/31/world/pope-benedict-dies |work=The New York Times |date=31 December 2022 |access-date=31 December 2022|last1=Horowitz |first1=Jason |last2=Povoledo |first2=Elisabetta }} Benedict{{nbsp}}XV was pope during the First World War, during which time he passionately pursued peace between the warring nations. St. Benedict of Nursia was the founder of the Benedictine monasteries (most monasteries of the Middle Ages were of the Benedictine order) and the author of the Rule of Saint Benedict, which is still the most influential writing regarding the monastic life of Western Christianity. The Pope explained his choice of name during his first general audience in St. Peter's Square, on 27 April 2005:

{{blockquote

| Filled with sentiments of awe and thanksgiving, I wish to speak of why I chose the name Benedict. Firstly, I remember Pope Benedict{{nbsp}}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. Additionally, I recall Saint Benedict of Nursia, co-patron of Europe, whose life evokes the Christian roots of Europe. 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!{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20050427.html|title=General Audience of 27 April 2005 | Benedict XVI|website=vatican.va}}

}}

File:Benedikt XVI im Papamobil.jpg, 2005]]

File:Oliver Mark - Pope Benedict XVI, Etzelsbach 2011.jpg

During Benedict's inaugural Mass, the previous custom of every cardinal submitting to the pope was replaced by being greeted by twelve people, including cardinals, clergy, religious, a married couple and their child, and some who were newly confirmed people; the cardinals had formally sworn their obedience upon the election of the new pontiff. He began using an open-topped papal car, saying that he wanted to be closer to the people. Benedict continued the tradition of his predecessor John Paul{{nbsp}}II and baptised several infants in the Sistine Chapel at the beginning of each year, on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, in his pastoral role as Bishop of Rome.{{cite news |last1=Aldern |first1=Natalie |title=16 Babies Baptized by Benedict in Sistine Chapel |url=https://www.italymagazine.com/featured-story/16-babies-baptized-benedict-sistine-chapel |work=Italy Magazine |access-date=11 August 2021}}

{{see also|List of people beatified by Pope Benedict XVI|date= May 2024}}

During his pontificate, Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI beatified 870 people. On 9 May 2005, Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI began the beatification process for his predecessor, Pope John Paul{{nbsp}}II. Normally, five years must pass after a person's death before the beatification process can begin. However, in an audience with Benedict, Camillo Ruini, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome and the official responsible for promoting the cause for canonization of any person who dies within that diocese, cited "exceptional circumstances" which suggested that the waiting period could be waived. (This had happened before, when Pope Paul{{nbsp}}VI waived the five-year rule and announced beatification processes for two of his own predecessors, Pope Pius XII and Pope John XXIII. Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI followed this precedent when he waived the five-year rule for John Paul{{nbsp}}II.{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_20050509_rescritto-gpii_en.html |title=Response of His Holiness Benedict XVI for the examination of the cause for beatification and canonization of the Servant of God John Paul II |publisher=Vatican.va |date=9 May 2005 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110181753/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_20050509_rescritto-gpii_en.html |archive-date=10 November 2011}}) The decision was announced on 13 May 2005, the Feast of Our Lady of Fátima and the 24th anniversary of the attempt on John Paul{{nbsp}}II's life.{{cite news |author=Drummer, Alexander |url=http://www.zenit.org/article-13001?l=english |title=Waiting Period Waived for John Paul II |agency=Zenit News Agency |date=13 May 2005 |access-date=24 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001064726/http://www.zenit.org/article-13001?l=english |archive-date=1 October 2012}} John Paul{{nbsp}}II often credited Our Lady of Fátima for preserving him on that day. Cardinal Ruini inaugurated the diocesan phase of the cause for beatification in the Lateran Basilica on 28 June 2005.{{cite news |author=Drummer, Alexander |url=http://www.zenit.org/article-13422?l=english |title=John Paul II's Cause for Beatification Opens |agency=Zenit News Agency |date=28 June 2005 |access-date=24 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607233645/http://www.zenit.org/article-13422?l=english |archive-date=7 June 2011}}

The first beatification under the new pope was celebrated on 14 May 2005, by José Cardinal Saraiva Martins, Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The new Blesseds were Marianne Cope and Ascensión Nicol Goñi. Cardinal Clemens August Graf von Galen was beatified on 9 October 2005. Mariano de la Mata was beatified in November 2006 and Rosa Eluvathingal was beatified on 3 December of that year, and Basil Moreau was beatified in September 2007.{{cite web |url=http://www.holycrossusa.org/spirituality/our-founder-blessed-basil-moreau-csc/ |title=Our Founder |publisher=Congregation of Holy Cross |date=24 August 2011 |access-date=8 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016095517/http://www.holycrossusa.org/spirituality/our-founder-blessed-basil-moreau-csc/ |archive-date=16 October 2011}} In October 2008, the following beatifications took place: Celestine of the Mother of God, Giuseppina Nicoli, Hendrina Stenmanns, Maria Rosa Flesch, Marta Anna Wiecka, Michael Sopocko, Petrus Kibe Kasui and 187 Companions, Susana Paz-Castillo Ramírez, and Maria Isbael Salvat Romero.

On 19 September 2010, during his visit to the United Kingdom, Benedict personally proclaimed the beatification of John Henry Newman.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11360529|title=Pope beatifies Cardinal Newman as his UK tour ends (with video clip)|work=BBC News|date=19 September 2010}}

Unlike his predecessor, Benedict delegated the beatification liturgical service to a cardinal. On 29 September 2005, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints issued a communiqué announcing that henceforth beatifications would be celebrated by a representative of the pope, usually the prefect of that Congregation.{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_20050929_comunicato_en.html |title=Communiqué on beatification process |publisher=Vatican.va |date=29 September 2005 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103085410/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/csaints/documents/rc_con_csaints_doc_20050929_comunicato_en.html |archive-date=3 November 2011}}

File:BentoXVI-43-11052007.jpg, 2007]]

{{see also|List of saints canonized by Pope Benedict XVI|date=May 2024}}

During his pontificate, Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI canonized 45 people.{{cite web |title=How Do You Become a Saint? What to Know About Canonization |date=27 April 2014 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/new-saints/how-do-you-become-saint-what-know-about-canonization-n89846 |publisher=NBC News |access-date=11 August 2021}} He celebrated his first canonizations on 23 October 2005 in St. Peter's Square with the Canonizations of Josef Bilczewski, Alberto Hurtado, Zygmunt Gorazdowski, Gaetano Catanoso, and Felice da Nicosia. The canonizations were part of a mass that marked the conclusion of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops and the Year of the Eucharist.{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20051023_canonizations_en.html |title=Canonization of the Blesseds |publisher=Vatican.va |date=23 October 2005 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111018164211/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20051023_canonizations_en.html |archive-date=18 October 2011}} Benedict canonized Bishop Rafael Guízar y Valencia, Théodore Guérin, Filippo Smaldone, and Rosa Venerini on 15 October 2006.

During his visit to Brazil in 2007, Benedict presided over the canonization of Frei Galvão on 11 May, while George Preca, founder of the Malta-based MUSEUM}}, Szymon of Lipnica, Charles of Mount Argus, and Marie-Eugénie de Jésus were canonized in a ceremony held at the Vatican on 3 June 2007.{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=76178 |title=Pope Schedules Five Canonizations for May–June |publisher=EWTN |date=23 February 2007 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101206083133/http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=76178 |archive-date=6 December 2010}} Preca is the first Maltese saint since the country's conversion to Christianity in A.D. 60 when St. Paul converted the inhabitants.{{cite web |url=http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=4346 |title=Malta to get its first saint |publisher=CathNews |date=2 March 2007 |access-date=8 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120120103442/http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=4346 |archive-date=20 January 2012}} In October 2008, the following canonizations took place: Alphonsa of the Immaculate Conception of India,[http://en.radiovaticana.va/storico/2008/03/01/pope_announces_canonisation_of_indias_first_native_woman_saint/en1-190137 "Pope Announces Canonisation of India's First Native Woman Saint"]. Vatican Radio. 1 March 2008. Retrieved 3 August 2013. Gaetano Errico, Narcisa de Jesus Martillo Moran, and Maria Bernarda Bütler. In April 2009, the Pope canonized Arcangelo Tadini, Bernardo Tolomei, Nuno Álvares Pereira, Geltrude Comensoli, and Caterina Volpicelli.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20090426_canonizzazioni.html|title=26 April 2009: Holy Mass for the Canonization of Arcangelo Tadini, Bernardo Tolomei, Nuno de Santa Maria Alvares Pereira, Gertrude Comensoli and Caterina Volpicelli | Benedict XVI|website=vatican.va}} In October of the same year he canonized Jeanne Jugan, Damien de Veuster, Zygmunt Szczęsny Feliński, Francisco Coll Guitart, and Rafael Arnáiz Barón.{{cite web|url=http://www.expatica.com/es/news/spanish-news/Pope-canonises-_lepers_-apostle_-and-four-others-_57173.html|title=Pope canonises 'lepers' apostle' and four others|access-date=26 January 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925185810/http://www.expatica.com/es/news/spanish-news/Pope-canonises-_lepers_-apostle_-and-four-others-_57173.html|archive-date=25 September 2012}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2009/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20091011_canonizzazioni.html|title=11 October 2009: Canonization of five new Saints: Zygmunt Szczęsny Feliński, Francisco Coll y Guitart, Josef Daamian de Veuster, Rafael Arnáiz Barón, Marie de la Croix (Jeanne) Jugan | Benedict XVI|website=vatican.va}}

On 17 October 2010, Benedict canonized André Bessette, a French-Canadian; Stanisław Sołtys, a 15th-century Polish priest; Italian nuns Giulia Salzano and Camilla Battista da Varano; Spanish nun Candida Maria de Jesus Cipitria y Barriola; and the first Australian saint, Mary MacKillop.Winfield, Nicole [http://www.aolnews.com/2010/10/17/pope-creates-first-australian-saint-5-others/ "Pope Creates First Australian Saint, 5 Others"] AOL News 17 October 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20101228141825/http://www.aolnews.com/2010/10/17/pope-creates-first-australian-saint-5-others/ WebCitation archive] On 23 October 2011, he canonized three saints: a Spanish nun Bonifacia Rodríguez y Castro, Italian archbishop Guido Maria Conforti, and Italian priest Luigi Guanella.Kerr, David [https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/23611/pope-benedict-canonizes-three-new-saints "Pope Benedict canonizes three new saints"] In December 2011, the Pope formally recognized the validity of the miracles necessary to proceed with the canonizations of Kateri Tekakwitha, who would be the first Native American saint; Marianne Cope, a nun working with lepers in what is now the state of Hawaii; Giovanni Battista Piamarta, an Italian priest; Jacques Berthieu, a French Jesuit priest and African martyr; Carmen Salles y Barangueras, a Spanish nun and founder of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception; Peter Calungsod, a lay catechist and martyr from the Philippines; and Anna Schäffer, whose desire to be a missionary was unfulfilled on account of her illness.Glatz, Carol [http://www.the-tidings.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1903:pope-advances-sainthood-causes-of-kateri-tekakwitha-others&catid=114:national&Itemid=403 "Pope advances sainthood causes of Kateri Tekakwitha, others"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630082301/http://www.the-tidings.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1903%3Apope-advances-sainthood-causes-of-kateri-tekakwitha-others&catid=114%3Anational&Itemid=403 |date=30 June 2013}} The Tidings Online 23 December 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2012 They were canonized on 21 October 2012.Donadio, Rachel [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/22/nyregion/pope-canonizes-kateri-tekewitha-and-marianne-cope.html "Pope Canonizes 7 Saints, Including 2 Women With New York Ties"] The New York Times, 21 October 2012. Retrieved 4 November 2012

On 7 October 2012, Benedict named Hildegard of Bingen and John of Ávila as Doctors of the Church, the 34th and 35th individuals so recognized in the history of Christianity.{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/world/pope-names-2-church-doctors-preacher-st-john-of-avila-and-mystic-st-hildegard-of-bingen |title=Pope names 2 church doctors: preacher St. John of Avila and mystic St. Hildegard of Bingen |publisher=Fox News |date=26 June 2012 |access-date=9 October 2012}}

Benedict made only modest changes to the structure of the Roman Curia. In March 2006, he placed both the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace under a single president, Cardinal Renato Martino. When Martino retired in 2009, each council received its own president once again. Also in March 2006, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue was briefly merged into the Pontifical Council for Culture under Cardinal Paul Poupard. Those Councils maintained their separate officials and staffs while their status and competencies continued unchanged, and in May 2007, Interreligious Dialogue was restored to its separate status again with its own president.{{cite news | newspaper = National Catholic Reporter |access-date= 2 September 2016 |date= 30 May 2006 | url = https://www.ncronline.org/news/council-interreligious-dialogue-be-restored-vatican-says | title=Council for Interreligious Dialogue to be restored, Vatican says | first = John L. Jr. |last= Allen}} In June 2010, Benedict created the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, appointing Archbishop Rino Fisichella its first president.{{cite news |agency= Catholic News Agency | access-date = 2 September 2016 | date = 30 June 2010 | url = https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/20136/pope-appoints-archbishop-fisichella-to-lead-council-for-new-evangelization |title= Pope appoints Archbishop Fisichella to lead Council for New Evangelization}} On 16 January 2013, the Pope transferred responsibility for catechesis from the Congregation for the Clergy to the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization.{{cite news|title=Pope transfers responsibility for catechesis, seminaries|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/26446/pope-transfers-responsibility-for-catechesis-seminaries|access-date=2 September 2016|agency=Catholic News Agency|date=25 January 2013}}

{{See also|Theology of Pope Benedict XVI}}

As pope, one of Benedict's main roles was to teach about the Catholic faith and the solutions to the problems of discerning and living the faith,Beach, Kevin [http://www.catholicmissionleaflets.org/leafpope.htm "What is the role of the Pope?"] Catholic Mission Leaflets [https://web.archive.org/web/20111012035803/http://catholicmissionleaflets.org/leafpope.htm WebCitation archive] a role that he could play well as a former head of the Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. {{Crossreference|(The main points of emphasis of his teachings are stated in more detail in Theology of Pope Benedict XVI.)}}

After his first homily as pope, Benedict referred to both Jesus Christ and John Paul{{nbsp}}II. Citing John Paul{{nbsp}}II's well-known words, "Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors for Christ!", Benedict said:

{{blockquote

| Are we not perhaps all afraid in some way? If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to Him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us? ... And once again the Pope said: No! If we let Christ into our lives, we lose nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful, and great. No! Only in this friendship do we experience beauty and liberation. ... When we give ourselves to Him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life.{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050424_inizio-pontificato_en.html |title=Mass for the Inauguration of the Pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI – Homily of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI |publisher=Vatican.va |date=24 April 2005 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111101130100/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050424_inizio-pontificato_en.html |archive-date=1 November 2011}}

}}

"Friendship with Jesus Christ" was a frequent theme of Benedict's preaching.{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/B16CLERO.HTM |title=To the Clergy of Rome, with Response to Interventions by Roman Clergy |publisher=EWTN |date=13 May 2005 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709184929/http://www.ewtn.com/library/papaldoc/b16clero.htm |archive-date=9 July 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/pope/words/conclave_homily.asp |title=For Electing the Supreme Pontiff |publisher=EWTN |date=18 April 2005 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111115103236/http://www.ewtn.com/pope/words/conclave_homily.asp |archive-date=15 November 2011}} He stressed that on this intimate friendship, "everything depends". He also said: "We are all called to open ourselves to this friendship with God ... speaking to Him as to a friend, the only One who can make the world both good and happy ... That is all we have to do is put ourselves at His disposal ... is an extremely important message. It is a message that helps to overcome what can be considered the great temptation of our time: the claim, that after the Big Bang, God withdrew from history."{{Cite web|url=http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/cdfjosma.htm|title=ST JOSEMARÍA|access-date=5 November 2005|archive-date=28 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128114335/http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/cdfjosma.htm}} Thus, in his book Jesus of Nazareth, his main purpose was "to help foster [in the reader] the growth of a living relationship" with Jesus Christ.{{cite news |author=Drummer, Alexander |url=http://www.zenit.org/article-19369?l=english |title=Benedict XVI's Book a Pastoral Work |agency=Zenit News Agency |date=15 April 2007 |access-date=24 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001064700/http://www.zenit.org/article-19369?l=english |archive-date=1 October 2012}} He took up this theme in his first encyclical Deus caritas est. In his explanation and summary of the encyclical, he stated: "If friendship with God becomes for us something ever more important and decisive, then we will begin to love those whom God loves and who are in need of us. God wants us to be friends of His friends and we can be so, if we are interiorly close to them."{{cite news |author=Drummer, Alexander |url=http://www.zenit.org/article-15211?l=english |title=The Secret of Love, According to Benedict XVI – Pope Explains Encyclical to Readers of Italian Magazine |agency=Zenit News Agency |date=7 February 2006 |access-date=8 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811075615/http://www.zenit.org/article-15211?l=english |archive-date=11 August 2011}} Thus, he said that prayer is "urgently needed ... It is time to reaffirm the importance of prayer in the face of the activism and the growing secularism of many Christians engaged in charitable work."{{cite web |title=Practicing Catholic Social Teaching is Personal and Spiritual |date=21 December 2021 |url=https://capp-usa.org/2021/12/cst-personal-and-spiritual/ |publisher=Catholic Social Teaching in Action |access-date=31 December 2022}}

Continuing what he said in the pre-conclave Mass about what he often referred to as the "central problem of our faith today",Ratzinger, Joseph Relativism: The Central Problem for Faith Today EWTN May 1996. Retrieved 8 October 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20111006175209/http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/ratzrela.htm WebCitation archive] on 6 June 2005, Benedict also said:

{{blockquote

| Today, a particularly insidious obstacle to the task of education is the massive presence in our society and culture of that relativism which, recognising nothing as definitive, leaves as the ultimate criterion only the self with its desires. And under the semblance of freedom it becomes a prison for each one, for it separates people from one another, locking each person into his or her own ego.[https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2005/june/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20050606_convegno-famiglia_en.html "Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the participants in the Ecclesial Diocesan Convention of Rome"] 6 June 2005

Retrieved 8 October 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20111007204950/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2005/june/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20050606_convegno-famiglia_en.html WebCitation archive]

}}

Benedict said that "a dictatorship of relativism"{{cite news |url=http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/wyd082105.htm |title=Coverage of World Youth Day exclusively by NCR Report #4: Do-it-yourself religion 'cannot ultimately help us,' pope tells youth | last=Allen | first=John L. Jr. |newspaper=National Catholic Reporter |date=21 August 2005 |access-date=2 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927165721/http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/wyd082105.htm |archive-date=27 September 2011 }} was the core challenge facing the Church and humanity. At the root of this problem, he said, is Immanuel Kant's "self-limitation of reason". This, he said, is contradictory to the modern acclamation of science whose excellence is based on the power of reason to know the truth. He said that this self-amputation of reason leads to pathologies of religion such as terrorism and pathologies of science such as ecological disasters.{{cite book |title=Truth And Tolerance: Christian Belief And World Religions |last=Ratzinger |first=Joseph |year=2003 |publisher=Ignatius Press|isbn=1-58617-035-X }} Benedict traced the failed revolutions and violent ideologies of the 20th century to a conversion of partial points of view into absolute guides. He said "Absolutizing what is not absolute but relative is called totalitarianism."{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2005/august/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20050820_vigil-wyd.html|title=Apostolic Journey to Cologne: Vigil with youth at Marienfeld area (August 20, 2005) | Benedict XVI|website=vatican.va}}

In the discussion with secularism and rationalism, one of Benedict's basic ideas can be found in his address on the "Crisis of Culture" in the West, a day before Pope John Paul{{nbsp}}II died, when he referred to Christianity as the "religion of the Logos" (the Greek for "word", "reason", "meaning", or "intelligence"). He said:

{{blockquote

| From the beginning, Christianity has understood itself as the religion of the Logos, as the religion according to reason ... It has always defined men, all men without distinction, as creatures and images of God, proclaiming for them ... the same dignity. In this connection, the Enlightenment is of Christian origin and it is no accident that it was born precisely and exclusively in the realm of the Christian faith. ... It was and is the merit of the Enlightenment to have again proposed these original values of Christianity and of having given back to reason its own voice ... Today, this should be precisely [Christianity's] philosophical strength, in so far as the problem is whether the world comes from the irrational, and reason is not other than a 'sub-product,' on occasion even harmful of its development{{snd}}or whether the world comes from reason, and is, as a consequence, its criterion and goal ... In the so necessary dialogue between secularists and Catholics, we Christians must be very careful to remain faithful to this fundamental line: to live a faith that comes from the Logos, from creative reason, and that, because of this, is also open to all that is truly rational.{{cite news |author=Drummer, Alexander |url=http://www.zenit.org/article-13705?l=english |title=Cardinal Ratzinger on Europe's Crisis of Culture (Part 4) |agency=Zenit News Agency |date=29 July 2005 |access-date=24 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121001064719/http://www.zenit.org/article-13705?l=english |archive-date=1 October 2012}}

}}

Benedict also emphasised that "Only creative reason, which in the crucified God is manifested as love, can really show us the way."

Benedict wrote three encyclicals: Deus caritas est (Latin for "God is Love"), Spe salvi ("Saved by Hope"), and Caritas in veritate ("Love in Truth").

In his first encyclical, Deus caritas est, he said that a human being, created in the image of God who is love, can practise love: to give himself to God and others (agape) by receiving and experiencing God's love in contemplation. This life of love, according to him, is the life of the saints such as Teresa of Calcutta and the Blessed Virgin Mary, and is the direction Christians take when they believe that God loves them in Jesus Christ.{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html |title=Deus caritas est |publisher=Vatican.va |date=25 December 2005 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008152102/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20051225_deus-caritas-est_en.html |archive-date=8 October 2011}} The encyclical contains almost 16,000 words in 42 paragraphs. The first half is said to have been written by Benedict in German, his first language, in the summer of 2005; the second half is derived from uncompleted writings left by his predecessor, Pope John Paul{{nbsp}}II.Fisher, Ian [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/26/international/europe/26pope.html?pagewanted=all "Benedict's First Encyclical Shuns Strictures of Orthodoxy"] The New York Times, 26 January 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20150705164524/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/26/international/europe/26pope.html?pagewanted=all WebCitation archive] The document was signed by Benedict on Christmas Day, 25 December 2005.Thavis, John

[http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20060104001515/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0507411.htm "The pope needs a theologian? Former papal adviser reveals why"] Catholic News Service 30 December 2005. Retrieved 5 October 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20110927012222/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0507411.htm WebCitation archive] The encyclical was promulgated a month later in Latin and was translated into English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Spanish. It is the first encyclical to be published since the Vatican decided to assert copyright in the official writings of the pope.McMahon, Barbara [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jan/23/catholicism.religion "Vatican invokes papal copyright"] The Guardian 22 January 2006. Retrieved 5 October 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20110923141758/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/jan/23/catholicism.religion WebCitation archive]

Benedict's second encyclical titled Spe Salvi ("Saved by Hope"), about the virtue of hope, was released on 30 November 2007.{{cite web |author=Thavis, John |url=http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=26059 |title=People need God to have hope, pope in new encyclical |publisher=Catholic News Service |date=30 November 2007 |access-date=2 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011153026/http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=26059 |archive-date=11 October 2012}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20071130_spe-salvi.html|title=Spe salvi (November 30, 2007) | Benedict XVI|website=vatican.va}}

His third encyclical titled Caritas in veritate ("Love in Truth" or "Charity in Truth"), was signed on 29 June 2009 (the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul) and released on 7 July 2009.{{cite news|first=Rachel |last=Donadio |title=Pope Urges Forming New World Economic Order to Work for the 'Common Good' |work=The New York Times |date=7 July 2009 |access-date=7 July 2009 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/world/europe/08pope.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111223064347/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/world/europe/08pope.html |archive-date=23 December 2011}} In it, the Pope continued the Church's teachings on social justice. He condemned the prevalent economic system "where the pernicious effects of sin are evident", and called on people to rediscover ethics in business and economic relations.

At the time of his resignation, Benedict had completed a draft of a fourth encyclical entitled Lumen fidei ("The Light of Faith"),{{cite news | url = http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/enciclica-papa-el-papa-pope-lumen-fidei-26222/ | title = The light of faith: origin, history and horizon of the christianism | newspaper = La Stampa | location = Turin | first = Alessandro | last = Speciale | date = 4 July 2013 | access-date = 19 October 2013 | archive-date = 8 July 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130708110458/http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/enciclica-papa-el-papa-pope-lumen-fidei-26222 }} intended to accompany his first two encyclicals to complete a trilogy on the three theological virtues of faith, hope, and love. Benedict's successor, Francis, completed and published Lumen Fidei in June 2013, four months after Benedict's retirement and Francis's succession. Although the encyclical is officially the work of Francis, paragraph 7 of the encyclical explicitly expresses Francis's debt to Benedict: "These considerations on faith – in continuity with all that the Church's magisterium has pronounced on this theological virtue – are meant to supplement what Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI had written in his encyclical letters on charity and hope. He himself had almost completed a first draft of an encyclical on faith. For this I am deeply grateful to him, and as his brother in Christ I have taken up his fine work and added a few contributions of my own."[https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/francesco/encyclicals/documents/papa-francesco_20130629_enciclica-lumen-fidei_en.html Lumen Fidei], 7

Sacramentum caritatis (The Sacrament of Charity), signed 22 February 2007, was released in Latin, Italian, English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Polish. It was made available in various languages on 13 March 2007 in Rome. The English edition of Libera Editrice Vaticana is 158 pages. This apostolic exhortation "seeks to take up the richness and variety of the reflections and proposals which emerged from the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops" which was held in 2006.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_ben-xvi_exh_20070222_sacramentum-caritatis.html|title=Sacramentum Caritatis: Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation on the Eucharist as the Source and Summit of the Church's Life and Mission (22 February 2007) | Benedict XVI|website=vatican.va}}

{{Main|Summorum Pontificum}}

File:unchurch.jpg]]

On 7 July 2007, Benedict issued the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, declaring that upon "the request of the faithful", the celebration of Mass according to the Missal of 1962 (of the Tridentine Mass), was to be more easily permitted. Stable groups who previously had to petition their bishop to have a Tridentine Mass may now merely request permission from their local priest.{{cite news |title=Pope Allows Worldwide Use of Old Latin Mass|publisher=Catholic Information Service for Africa|date=10 July 2007|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/200707101009.html}} While Summorum Pontificum directs that pastors should provide the Tridentine Mass upon the requests of the faithful, it also allows for any qualified priest to offer private celebrations of the Tridentine Mass, to which the faithful may be admitted if they wish.{{cite web|title=Letter of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the Bishops on the Occasion of the Publication of the Apostolic Letter Motu Proprio Data Summorum Pontificum, On the Use of the Roman Liturgy Prior to the Reform of 1970 |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20070707_lettera-vescovi_en.html |author=Pope Benedict XVI |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010203101/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20070707_lettera-vescovi_en.html |archive-date=10 October 2011}} For regularly scheduled public celebrations of the Tridentine Mass, the permission of the priest in charge of the church is required.Article 5 §4 of the motu proprio

In an accompanying letter, the Pope outlined his position concerning questions about the new guidelines. As there were fears that the move would entail a reversal of the Second Vatican Council,{{cite news|title=Criticism over return of Latin Mass |author=Burke, Jason |url=http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/09/stories/2007070955601600.htm |date=9 July 2007 |access-date=4 October 2011 |location=Chennai, India |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121108194155/http://www.hindu.com/2007/07/09/stories/2007070955601600.htm |work=The Hindu |archive-date=8 November 2012 }} Benedict emphasised that the Tridentine Mass would not detract from the council and that the Mass of Paul VI would still be the norm and priests were not permitted to refuse to say the Mass in that form. He pointed out that the use of Tridentine Mass "was never juridically abrogated and, consequently, in principle, was always permitted." The letter also decried "deformations of the liturgy ... because in many places celebrations were not faithful to the prescriptions of the new Missal" as the Second Vatican Council was wrongly seen "as authorising or even requiring creativity", mentioning his own experience.

The Pope considered that allowing the Tridentine Mass to those who request it was a means to prevent or heal schism, stating that, on occasions in history, "not enough was done by the Church's leaders to maintain or regain reconciliation and unity" and that this "imposes an obligation on us today: to make every effort to enable for all those who truly desire unity to remain in that unity or to attain it anew." Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, the president of the Pontifical Commission established to facilitate full ecclesial communion of those associated with that Society,{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/ced_documents/rc_con_cfaith_20090930_ecclesia-dei_en.html |title=Pontifical Commission 'Ecclesia Dei' |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=14 June 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911163000/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/ced_documents/rc_con_cfaith_20090930_ecclesia-dei_en.html |archive-date=11 September 2011 }} stated that the decree "opened the door for their return". Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the SSPX, expressed "deep gratitude to the Sovereign Pontiff for this great spiritual benefit".

In July 2021, Pope Francis issued the apostolic letter titled Traditionis custodes, which substantially reversed the decision of Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI in Summorum Pontificum and imposed new and broad restrictions on the use of the Traditional Latin Mass. The decision was controversial and widely criticized by conservative and traditionalist Catholics as lacking in charity and an attack on those attached to the liturgical patrimony of the Church.{{Cite news|title=Pope Francis renews restrictions on old Latin Mass, reversing Benedict XVI|language=en-US|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pope-francis-latin-mass/2021/07/16/5fe7238e-e638-11eb-88c5-4fd6382c47cb_story.html|access-date=19 July 2021|issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite news|last=Horowitz|first=Jason|date=16 July 2021|title=Pope Francis Restricts Use of Old Latin Mass, in a Blow to Conservatives|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/16/world/europe/pope-francis-old-latin-mass.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20211228/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/16/world/europe/pope-francis-old-latin-mass.html |archive-date=28 December 2021 |url-access=limited|access-date=19 July 2021|issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}

Near the end of June 2007, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a document approved by Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI "because some contemporary theological interpretations of Vatican II's ecumenical intent had been 'erroneous or ambiguous' and had prompted confusion and doubt." The document has been seen as restating "key sections of a 2000 text the pope wrote when he was prefect of the congregation, Dominus Iesus."{{cite news |last=Winfield |first=Nicole |date=10 July 2007 |title=Pope: Other Christians not true churches |newspaper=USA Today |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-07-10-1587290358_x.htm |url-status=live |access-date=18 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091114133425/http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2007-07-10-1587290358_x.htm |archive-date=14 November 2009}}

Benedict condemned excessive consumerism, especially among youth. He stated in December 2007 that "[A]dolescents, youths and even children are easy victims of the corruption of love, deceived by unscrupulous adults who, lying to themselves and to them, draw them into the dead-end streets of consumerism."{{cite news|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/11217/children-in-consumerist-societies-risk-losing-hope-says-pope-benedict

|title=Children in consumerist societies "risk losing hope," says Pope Benedict

|agency=Catholic News Agency

|date=10 December 2007 |access-date=4 October 2011 |url-status=live

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729011949/http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/children_in_consumerist_societies_risk_losing_hope_says_pope_benedict/

|archive-date=29 July 2013

}} In June 2009, he blamed outsourcing for the greater availability of consumer goods which lead to the downsizing of social security systems.{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html |title=Caritas in veritate Encyclical Letter of 29 June 2009 |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902070515/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html |archive-date=2 September 2011 }}

{{Main|Pope Benedict XVI and ecumenism}}

File:Pope Benedict XVI 1.jpg in the Vatican, 2011]]

Speaking at his weekly audience in St. Peter's Square on 7 June 2006, Benedict asserted that Jesus himself had entrusted the leadership of the Church to his apostle Peter. "Peter's responsibility thus consists of guaranteeing the communion with Christ. Let us pray so that the primacy of Peter, entrusted to poor human beings, may always be exercised in this original sense desired by the Lord, so that it will be increasingly recognised in its true meaning by brothers who are still not in communion with us."{{cite web |title=Pope speaks on the Primacy of Peter |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/6911/pope-speaks-on-the-primacy-of-peter |agency=Catholic News Agency |access-date=31 December 2022}}

Also in 2006, Benedict met the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams. In their Common Declaration, they highlighted the previous 40 years of dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans while also acknowledging "serious obstacles to our ecumenical progress".{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/november/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20061123_common-decl_en.html |title=Common Declaration of Pope Benedict XVI and the Archbishop of Canterbury His Grace Rowan Williams |publisher=Vatican.va |date=23 November 2006 |access-date=17 February 2013}}

On 4 November 2009, in response to a 2007 petition by the Traditional Anglican Church, Benedict issued the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, which authorized the creation of "Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans entering into full communion."{{Cite web|title=Anglicanorum coetibus Providing for Personal Ordinariates for Anglicans Entering into Full Communion with the Catholic Church (November 4, 2009) {{!}} Benedict XVI|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_ben-xvi_apc_20091104_anglicanorum-coetibus.html|access-date=6 August 2021|website=www.vatican.va}}{{Cite web|title=Traditionalist Anglicans prepare response to Holy See {{!}} VirtueOnline – The Voice for Global Orthodox Anglicanism|url=https://virtueonline.org/traditionalist-anglicans-prepare-response-holy-see|access-date=6 August 2021|website=virtueonline.org}} Between 2011 and 2012, three ordinariates were erected, currently totalling 9090 members, 194 priests, and 94 parishes.{{Cite web|title=The Chair of Saint Peter (Personal Ordinariate) [Catholic-Hierarchy]|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/duspo.html|access-date=6 August 2021|website=catholic-hierarchy.org}}{{Cite web|title=Our Lady of Walsingham (Personal Ordinariate) [Catholic-Hierarchy]|url=https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/dgbpo.html|access-date=6 August 2021|website=catholic-hierarchy.org}}{{Cite web|title=Our Lady of the Southern Cross (Personal Ordinariate) [Catholic-Hierarchy]|url=http://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/diocese/daupo.html|access-date=6 August 2021|website=catholic-hierarchy.org}}

{{Main|Pope Benedict XVI and Judaism}}

When Benedict ascended to the papacy, his election was welcomed by the Anti-Defamation League who noted "his great sensitivity to Jewish history and the Holocaust".{{cite web|url=http://www.adl.org/PresRele/VaticanJewish_96/44698_96.htm|title=ADL Welcomes Election of Cardinal Ratzinger as New Pope|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115060118/http://www.adl.org/PresRele/VaticanJewish_96/44698_96.htm|archive-date=15 January 2013}} However, his election received a more reserved response from British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, who hoped that Benedict would "continue along the path of Pope John{{nbsp}}XXIII and Pope John Paul{{nbsp}}II in working to enhance relations with the Jewish people and the State of Israel."{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4462503.stm | title=In quotes: Reaction to Pope election | date=20 April 2005 |work=BBC News | access-date=31 January 2009|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305050120/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4462503.stm|archive-date=5 March 2012}} Israeli foreign minister Silvan Shalom also offered tentative praise, though Shalom believed that "this Pope, considering his historical experience, will be especially committed to an uncompromising fight against anti-Semitism."

Critics have accused Benedict's papacy of insensitivity towards Judaism. The two most prominent instances were the expansion of the use of the Tridentine Mass and the lifting of the excommunication on four bishops from the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). In the Good Friday service, the Tridentine Mass rubrics include a prayer that asks God to lift the veil so "they [Jews] may be delivered from their darkness". This prayer has historically been contentious in Judaic-Catholic relations and several groups saw the restoration of the Tridentine Mass as problematic.{{cite web |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/9812/vatican-to-release-benedict-xvis-letter-on-the-use-of-the-tridentine-mass-tomorrow |title=Vatican to release Benedict XVI's letter on the use of the Tridentine Mass tomorrow |publisher=Catholicnewsagency.com |date=6 July 2007 |access-date=17 February 2013 |archive-date=15 April 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090415234336/http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=9812 }}[http://sandiegojewishworld.com/2007-sdjw/2007-07%20sdjw/2007-07-06friday/2007-07-06.htm "Mikulanis says ADL jumped gun, got its facts wrong"] San Diego Jewish World. Vol. 1, Number 67. 6 July 2007. Retrieved 2 October 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20120118192352/http://sandiegojewishworld.com/2007-sdjw/2007-07%20sdjw/2007-07-06friday/2007-07-06.htm WebCitation archive]{{cite news|url=https://www.boston.com/news/local/articles_of_faith/2009/02/omalley_meets_j.html |title=O'Malley meets Jews over Holocaust flap |work=The Boston Globe |date=24 February 2009 |last=Paulson |first=Michael |access-date=20 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090226211312/http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles_of_faith/2009/02/omalley_meets_j.html |archive-date=26 February 2009 }}{{cite news |url=http://www.zenit.org/article-24928?l=english |title=What Is Not True About the Good Friday Prayer for Jews |agency=Zenit News Agency |date=27 January 2009 |access-date=20 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111109182547/http://www.zenit.org/article-24928?l=english |archive-date=9 November 2011 }}{{cite web |author=Cernera, Anthony J. and Eugene Korn |date=26 November 1986 |url=http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=10250 |title=The Latin Liturgy and the Jews |publisher=America |access-date=2 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612145354/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=10250 |archive-date=12 June 2011 }} Among those whose excommunications were lifted was Bishop Richard Williamson, an outspoken historical revisionist sometimes interpreted as a Holocaust denier.{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/ukfs_news/hi/newsid_7870000/newsid_7878500/7878580.stm|title=Seminary sacks 'Holocaust bishop'|date=9 February 2009|publisher=BBC}}Willan, Philip.

[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-readmits-holocaustdenying-priest-to-the-church-1515339.html "Pope readmits Holocaust-denying priest to the church"] The Independent. 25 January 2009. Retrieved 1 June 2009 [https://web.archive.org/web/20111013071241/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-readmits-holocaustdenying-priest-to-the-church-1515339.html WebCitation archive]Wensierski, Peter [http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,606660,00.html "Williamson's Colleagues Under Fire: SSPX in Germany Criticized over Anti-Semitic Statements"] Der Spiegel. 10 February 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2009. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120129165747/http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,606660,00.html WebCitation archive] "The latest issue of the SSPX's newsletter for German-speaking countries{{nbsp}}[...] contains several anti-Semitic statements. 'The Jewish people were once the chosen people. But the majority of the people denied the Messiah on his first coming,' reads the February issue's cover story{{nbsp}}[...] According to the newsletter article, this is why the Bible's Gospel of Matthew states, 'His blood be upon us and upon our children,' a phrase historically used by some Christians to justify anti-Semitism."[http://www.adl.org/main_Interfaith/Society_Saint_Pius_X.htm "The Society of St. Pius X: Mired in Antisemitism"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116185834/http://www.adl.org/main_Interfaith/Society_Saint_Pius_X.htm |date=16 January 2013 }} The Anti-Defamation League 26 January 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2009 "SSPX has promoted theological and conspiratorial anti-Semitism among its adherents." The lifting of his excommunication led critics to charge that the Pope was condoning his historical revisionist views.Liphshiz, Cnaan {{cite news|url=http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/news/report-vatican-readmits-society-that-propagates-anti-semitism-1.270517 |title=Report: Vatican readmits society that propagates anti-Semitism |access-date=3 October 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110201106/http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/news/report-vatican-readmits-society-that-propagates-anti-semitism-1.270517 |archive-date=10 November 2011 |newspaper=Haaretz |date=19 February 2009 }} Haaretz. 19 February 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2011 "The [web]site from Germany{{nbsp}}[...] clarifies that 'contemporary Jews are for sure guilty of the murder of God, as long as they don't recognise Christ as God.'"

{{Main|Pope Benedict XVI and Islam}}

Benedict's relations with Islam were strained at times. On 12 September 2006, he delivered a lecture which touched on Islam at the University of Regensburg in Germany. He had served there as a professor of theology before becoming Pope, and his lecture was entitled "Faith, Reason and the University{{snd}}Memories and Reflections". The lecture received much attention from political and religious authorities. Many Islamic politicians and religious leaders registered their protest against what they labelled an insulting mischaracterization of Islam, although his focus was aimed towards the rationality of religious violence, and its effect on the religion.{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5348436.stm|title=In quotes: Muslim reaction to Pope|date=16 September 2006|publisher=BBC}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5353208.stm |title=Pope sorry for offending Muslims |work=BBC News |date=17 September 2006 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820032525/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/5353208.stm |archive-date=20 August 2011 }} Muslims were particularly offended by a passage that the Pope quoted in his speech: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

The passage originally appeared in the Dialogue Held with a Certain Persian, the Worthy Mouterizes, in Anakara of Galatia{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2006/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060912_university-regensburg.html|title=Apostolic Journey to München, Altötting and Regensburg: Meeting with the representatives of science in the Aula Magna of the University of Regensburg (September 12, 2006) | Benedict XVI|website=vatican.va}} written in 1391 as an expression of the views of the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaeologus, one of the last Christian rulers before the Fall of Constantinople to the Muslim Ottoman Empire, on such issues as forced conversion, holy war, and the relationship between faith and reason. According to the German text, the Pope's original comment was that the emperor "addresses his interlocutor in an astoundingly harsh{{snd}}to us surprisingly harsh{{snd}}way" ({{langx|de|wendet er sich in erstaunlich schroffer, uns überraschend schroffer Form}}).{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/de/speeches/2006/september/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060912_university-regensburg.html|title=Apostolische Reise nach München, Altötting und Regensburg: Treffen mit den Vertretern der Wissenschaft in der Aula Magna der Universität Regensburg (12. September 2006) | Benedikt XVI|website=vatican.va}} Benedict apologized for any offence he had caused and made a point of visiting Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, and praying in its Blue Mosque. Benedict planned on 5 March 2008, to meet with Muslim scholars and religious leaders autumn 2008 at a Catholic-Muslim seminar in Rome.{{Cite web|url=http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/05/pope.muslims/index.html|title=Pope to hold seminar with Muslims |publisher=CNN|date=5 March 2008|access-date=8 January 2023}} That meeting, the "First Meeting of the Catholic-Muslim Forum", was held from 4–6 November 2008.{{cite web |url=http://www.zenit.org/article-24175?l=english |title=Final Statement of Catholic-Muslim Forum |publisher=Zenit |date=6 November 2008 |access-date=2 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110608000710/http://www.zenit.org/article-24175?l=english |archive-date=8 June 2011 }} On 9 May 2009, Benedict visited the King Hussein Mosque in Amman, Jordan where he was addressed by Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad.Saleh, Fakhri [http://en.qantara.de/Signs-of-Hope/9472c9571i1p642/ "Arab Reactions to the Pope's Visit Signs of Hope"] Qantara.de 18 May 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20120406114314/http://en.qantara.de/Signs-of-Hope/9472c9571i1p642/ WebCitation archive]

The Dalai Lama congratulated Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI upon his election,{{Cite web|url=http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=9643&t=1|title=His Holiness the Dalai Lama Greets New Pope|access-date=21 February 2017|archive-date=11 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211202324/http://www.phayul.com/news/article.aspx?id=9643&t=1}} and visited him in October 2006 in Vatican City. In 2007, the People's Republic of China was accused of using its political influence to stop a meeting between the Pope and the Dalai Lama.[http://www.adnkronos.com/AKI/English/Religion/?id=1.0.1604471683 "Italy: China blamed for absence of Papal audience for Dalai Lama"], Adnkronos, 27 November 2007. Retrieved 19 June 2009

While visiting Brazil in May 2007, "the pope sparked controversy by saying that native populations had been 'silently longing' for the Christian faith brought to South America by colonizers."{{cite news|title=Pope Softens Remarks on Conversion of Natives |first=Ian |last=Fisher |author-link=Ian Fisher (journalist) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/world/europe/23cnd-pope.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=23 May 2007 |access-date=2 October 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150605085737/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/world/europe/23cnd-pope.html |archive-date=5 June 2015 }} The Pope continued, stating that "the proclamation of Jesus and of his Gospel did not at any point involve an alienation of the pre-Columbus cultures, nor was it the imposition of a foreign culture." Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez demanded an apology, and an indigenous organization in Ecuador issued a response which stated that "representatives of the Catholic Church of those times, with honourable exceptions, were accomplices, deceivers and beneficiaries of one of the most horrific genocides of all humanity." Later, the Pope, speaking Italian, said at a weekly audience that it was "not possible to forget the suffering and the injustices inflicted by colonizers against the indigenous population, whose fundamental human rights were often trampled" but made no apology.Fisher, Ian [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/world/americas/23iht-pope.4.5843368.html "Pope tries to quell anger over speech he gave in Brazil"], The New York Times, 23 May 2007. Retrieved 2 October 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20130516200837/http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/23/world/americas/23iht-pope.4.5843368.html WebCitation archive]

While visiting the United States on 17 April 2008, Benedict met with International Society for Krishna Consciousness representative Radhika Ramana Dasa,{{Cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Peter |url=http://news.iskcon.com/node/963 |title=ISKCON Scholar To Meet with the Pope |work=ISKCON News |date=31 March 2008 |access-date=2 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118183046/http://news.iskcon.com/node/963 |archive-date=18 January 2012 }} a noted Hindu scholar{{cite web|url=http://news.iskcon.com/node/988 |title=Young Vaisnava Scholar to Bring a Gift to the Pope |work=ISKCON News |date=16 April 2008 |location=Washington D.C. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080706140348/http://news.iskcon.com/node/988 |archive-date=6 July 2008 }} and disciple of Hanumatpreshaka Swami.{{Cite web|url=http://bhaktivedantacollege.com/?p=article&g=33|title=Bhaktivedanta College |publisher=Bhaktivedanta College |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130730154759/https://bhaktivedantacollege.com/?p=article&g=33 |archive-date=30 July 2013}} On behalf of the Hindu American community, Radhika Ramana Dasa presented a gift of an Om symbol to Benedict.{{cite web|url=http://news.iskcon.com/node/991/2008-04-18/iskcon_scholar_greets_pope_behalf_of_us_hindus |title=ISKCON Scholar Greets Pope on Behalf Of US Hindus |work=ISKCON News |date=19 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606082910/http://news.iskcon.com/node/991/2008-04-18/iskcon_scholar_greets_pope_behalf_of_us_hindus |archive-date=6 June 2013}}{{Cite news |last1=Alexander |first1=David |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pope-usa-interfaith-idUSN1438604520080415 |title=Despite missteps, pope reaching out to other faiths |work=Reuters |date=15 April 2008 |access-date=2 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120726141925/http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/04/15/us-pope-usa-interfaith-idUSN1438604520080415 |archive-date=26 July 2012 }}

{{Main|List of pastoral visits of Pope Benedict XVI}}

File:Popemobil Mai 2007.jpg popemobile, São Paulo, Brazil, 2007]]

As pontiff, Benedict carried out numerous Apostolic activities, including journeys in Italy and across the world.

Benedict travelled extensively during the first three years of his papacy. In addition to his travels within Italy, he made two visits to his homeland, Germany, one for World Youth Day and another to visit the towns of his childhood. He also visited Poland and Spain, where he was enthusiastically received.Israely, Jeff [https://web.archive.org/web/20060718005249/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1211537,00.html "The Pope Squares Off With Spain's Secular Champion"] "No doubt Benedict was buoyed by the enthusiastic welcome he received in Valencia." Time. 9 July 2006. Retrieved 20 November 2010 [https://web.archive.org/web/20111212124229/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1211537,00.html WebCitation archive] His visit to Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, was initially overshadowed by the controversy about a lecture he had given at Regensburg. His visit was met by nationalist and Islamic protestersMoore, Molly. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/26/AR2006112600191.html "Turks Protest Pope's Coming Visit"], The Washington Post, 27 November 2006. Retrieved 13 May 2008. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120401053034/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/26/AR2006112600191.html WebCitation archive] and was placed under unprecedented security measures.{{cite web|url=http://www.breakingnews.ie/world/massive-security-for-popes-turkey-visit-286901.html|title=Massive security for Pope's Turkey visit|work=Breaking News|date=28 November 2006}} Benedict made a joint declaration with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in an attempt to begin to heal the rift between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches.

In 2007, Benedict visited Brazil to address the Bishops' Conference there and canonize Friar Antônio Galvão, an 18th-century Franciscan. In June 2007, Benedict made a personal pilgrimage and pastoral visit to Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis. In September, Benedict undertook a three-day visit to Austria,Vatican Radio [http://storico.radiovaticana.org/en1/storico/2007-09/153562_pope_benedict_xvi_going_to_vienna.html "Pope Benedict XVI Going to Vienna"] 7 September 2007. Retrieved 26 January 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20110812141040/http://storico.radiovaticana.org/%2fen1%2fstorico%2f2007-09%2f153562_pope_benedict_xvi_going_to_vienna.html WebCitation archive] during which he joined Vienna's chief rabbi, Paul Chaim Eisenberg, in a memorial to the 65,000 Viennese Jews who perished in Nazi death camps.{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6982878.stm|title=Pope honours Austrian Jewish dead|date=7 September 2007|publisher=BBC}} During his stay in Austria, he also celebrated Mass at the Marian shrine Mariazell and visited Heiligenkreuz Abbey.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bundespraesident.de/SharedDocs/Reden/DE/Christian-Wulff/Reden/2011/09/110922-Papst-Begruessung.html|title=bundespraesident.de: Der Bundespräsident / Reden / Begrüßung Seiner Heiligkeit Papst Benedikt XVI. zum offiziellen Besuch in Deutschland|website=bundespraesident.de}}

File:20080416 Benedict XVI George W Bush birthday.jpg and First Lady Laura Bush at the White House in Washington, D.C., 2008]]

In April 2008, Benedict made his first visit to the United States since becoming pope.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/04/15/pope.us/index.html|title=Pope Benedict XVI begins first U.S. tour |publisher=CNN}} He arrived in Washington, D.C., where he was formally received at the White House and met privately with US president George W. Bush.{{Cite news |agency=Associated Press |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/bush-thousands-of-fans-welcome-pope-at-white-house-on-his-birthday |title=Bush, Thousands of Fans Welcome Pope at White House on His Birthday |publisher=Fox News |date=16 April 2008 |access-date=13 May 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207190333/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351460,00.html |archive-date=7 February 2011 |url-status=deviated}} While in Washington, the pope addressed representatives of US Catholic universities, met with leaders of other world religions, and celebrated Mass at the Washington Nationals' baseball stadium with 47,000 people.{{cite news |last=Elsibai |first=Nadine |title=Pope Benedict Says Mass Before 47,000 in New Washington Stadium |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a4XCdKnx9gfw |url-status=live |publisher=Bloomberg L.P. |date=17 April 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418075112/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a4XCdKnx9gfw |archive-date=18 April 2012}} The Pope also met privately with victims of sexual abuse by priests. The Pope travelled to New York City where he addressed the United Nations General Assembly.{{Cite web|url=http://www.undemocracy.com/generalassembly_62/meeting_95|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813043609/http://www.undemocracy.com/generalassembly_62/meeting_95|archive-date=13 August 2011|title=UNdemocracy – General Assembly Session 62 meeting 95|date=13 August 2011}} Also while in New York, the Pope celebrated Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, met with disabled children and their families, and attended an event for Catholic youth, where he addressed some 25,000 young people in attendance.Duin, Julia. [http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080420/NATION/168699792/1001 "Youths revel in pope's message"], The Washington Times, 20 April 2008. Retrieved 13 May 2008. [https://archive.today/20120720064610/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/apr/20/youths-revel-in-popes-message/ WebCitation archive] On the final day of the Pope's visit, he visited the World Trade Center site and later celebrated Mass at Yankee Stadium.Vitello, Paul {{cite news |last=Vitello |first=Paul |title=After Ground Zero Prayer, Pope Ministers to 60,000 in Stadium |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/21/us/nationalspecial2/21pope.html |work=The New York Times |date=21 April 2008 |access-date=29 September 2011}}

In July 2008, the Pope travelled to Australia to attend World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney. On 19 July, in St. Mary's Cathedral, he made an apology for child sex abuse perpetrated by the clergy in Australia.{{cite news |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jtGYmNq72j_-TNnXfLbSdMgiTPMQ |title=Pope apologises for 'evil' of child sex abuse |agency=Agence France-Presse |date=18 July 2008 |access-date=2 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520151344/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jtGYmNq72j_-TNnXfLbSdMgiTPMQ |archive-date=20 May 2011 }}{{cite news |last=Pullella |first=Philip |date=19 July 2008 |title=Pope apologises for Church sex abuse |work=Reuters |url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/burningIssues/idUKSYD1805020080719 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811001902/http://uk.reuters.com/article/2008/07/19/uk-pope-australia-abuse-idUKSYD1805020080719|archive-date=11 August 2011}} On 13 September 2008, at an outdoor Paris Mass attended by 250,000 people, Benedict condemned the modern materialism – the world's love of power, possessions, and money as a modern-day plague, comparing it to paganism.{{cite web |url=http://www.huliq.com/3257/68370/pope-condemns-materialism-pagan |title=Pope Condemns Materialism as "Pagan" |publisher=Huliq.com |date=14 September 2008 |access-date=2 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929235010/http://www.huliq.com/3257/68370/pope-condemns-materialism-pagan |archive-date=29 September 2011 }}{{Cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-09-13-Pope-France_N.htm |title=Pope drinks water from Lourdes spring |newspaper=USA Today |date=15 September 2008 |location=Lourdes, France |agency=Associated Press |access-date=26 January 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201192645/http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2008-09-13-Pope-France_N.htm |archive-date=1 December 2008 |url-status=live}} In 2009, he visited Africa (Cameroon and Angola) for the first time as pope. During his visit, he suggested that altering sexual behaviour was the answer to Africa's AIDS crisis and urged Catholics to reach out and convert believers in sorcery.{{cite web| title=Pope Tells Clergy in Angola to Work Against Belief in Witchcraft |last1=Bearak| first1=Barry |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/world/africa/22pope.html |website=The New York Times |date=21 March 2009 |access-date=31 December 2022 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151104055212/https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/22/world/africa/22pope.html |archive-date=4 November 2015}} He visited the Middle East (Jordan, Israel, and Palestine) in May 2009.

Benedict's main arena for pastoral activity was the Vatican itself, his Christmas and Easter homilies and Urbi et Orbi were delivered from St. Peter's Basilica. The Vatican is also the only regular place where Benedict travelled via motor without the protective bulletproof case common to most popemobiles. Despite the more secure setting, Benedict was victim to security risks several times inside Vatican City. On Wednesday, 6 June 2007, during his General Audience, a man leapt across a barrier, evaded guards, and nearly mounted the Pope's vehicle, although he was stopped and Benedict seemed to be unaware of the event. On Thursday, 24 December 2009, while Benedict was proceeding to the altar to celebrate Christmas Eve Mass at St. Peter's Basilica, a woman later identified as 25-year-old Susanna Maiolo, who holds Italian and Swiss citizenship, jumped the barrier and grabbed the Pope by his vestments and pulled him to the ground. The 82-year-old Benedict fell but was assisted to his feet and he continued to proceed toward the altar to celebrate Mass. Roger Etchegaray, the vice-dean of the College of Cardinals, fell as well and suffered a hip fracture. Italian police reported that Maiolo had in a prior action attempted to accost Benedict at the previous Christmas Eve Mass, but was prevented from doing so.{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-12-24-pope-christmas-mass_N.htm |title=Pope OK after woman knocks him down at Mass |work=USA Today |date=25 December 2009 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207154059/http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2009-12-24-pope-christmas-mass_N.htm |archive-date=7 February 2011 }}{{Cite news |last1=Winfield |first1=Nicole |url=http://www.toledoblade.com/Religion/2009/12/25/Pope-delivers-Christmas-blessing-after-fall.html |title=Pope delivers Christmas blessing after fall |newspaper=The Blade |date=25 December 2009 |location=Vatican City |access-date=26 January 2011}}

File:Pope Benedict XVI in Malta.JPG, Malta, 2010]]

In his homily, Benedict forgave Susanna Maiolo{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/12/25/2009-12-25_pope_benedict_forgives_.html |title=Pope Benedict forgives Susanna Maiolo one day after she knocked him down during Christmas Eve Mass |work=Daily News |date=25 December 2009 |access-date=2 February 2010 |first=Samuel |last=Goldsmith |archive-date=29 December 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091229115647/http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/2009/12/25/2009-12-25_pope_benedict_forgives_.html }} and urged the world to "wake up" from selfishness and petty affairs, and find time for God and spiritual matters.

File:Pope Benedict XVI in Zagreb 04.jpg, Croatia, 2011]]

Between 17 and 18 April 2010, Benedict made an Apostolic Journey to the Republic of Malta. Following meetings with various dignitaries on his first day on the island, 50,000 people gathered in a drizzle for Papal Mass on the granaries in Floriana. The Pope also met with the Maltese youth at the Valletta Waterfront, where an estimated 10,000 young people turned up to greet him.{{cite web|title=Wrap-up: Pope Benedict's historic Malta visit ends|work=The Times of Malta|date=18 April 2010|url=http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100418/papal-visit/pope-benedicts-historic-malta-visit-ends|access-date=21 April 2010|archive-date=3 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303155017/http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20100418/papal-visit/pope-benedicts-historic-malta-visit-ends.303399|url-status=live}}

{{See also|Catholic Church sexual abuse cases}}

Prior to 2001, the primary responsibility for investigating allegations of sexual abuse and disciplining perpetrators rested with the individual dioceses. In 2001, Ratzinger convinced John Paul{{nbsp}}II to put the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in charge of all sexual abuse investigations.{{cite news|last1=Pancevski|first1=Bojan|last2=Follain|first2=John|date=4 April 2010|title=John Paul 'ignored abuse of 2,000 boys'|work=The Sunday Times|location=London|url=https://www.thetimes.com/travel/destinations/europe-travel/italy/former-pope-john-paul-ii-ignored-abuse-of-2000-boys-prrb6bgt0zs|url-status=live|access-date=22 January 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201127055607/https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/former-pope-john-paul-ii-ignored-abuse-of-2000-boys-prrb6bgt0zs|archive-date=27 November 2020}}{{cite web|last=Berry|first=Jason|url=http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/money-paved-way-maciels-influence-vatican |title=Money paved way for Maciel's influence in the Vatican|work=National Catholic Reporter|date=6 April 2010|access-date=14 June 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111021133610/http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/money-paved-way-maciels-influence-vatican|archive-date=21 October 2011}} According to John L. Allen Jr., Ratzinger in the following years "acquired a familiarity with the contours of the problem that virtually no other figure in the Catholic Church can claim. Driven by that encounter with what he would later refer to as 'filth' in the Church, Ratzinger seems to have undergone something of a 'conversion experience' throughout 2003–04. From that point forward, he and his staff seemed driven by a convert's zeal to clean up the mess."{{cite web|last=Allen|first=John L|url=http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/will-ratzingers-past-trump-benedicts-present|title=Will Ratzinger's past trump Benedict's present?|work=National Catholic Reporter|date=17 March 2010|access-date=12 September 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007015331/http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/will-ratzingers-past-trump-benedicts-present|archive-date=7 October 2011}}

Cardinal Vincent Nichols wrote that in his role as head of the CDF "[Ratzinger] led important changes made in church law: the inclusion in canon law of internet offences against children, the extension of child abuse offences to include the sexual abuse of all under 18, the case by case waiving of the statute of limitation and the establishment of a fast-track dismissal from the clerical state for offenders."{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article7076344.ece|work=The Times|location=London|title=The Church is not trying to cover anything up|first=Vincent|last=Nichols|date=26 March 2010|access-date=22 May 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100531183647/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article7076344.ece|archive-date=31 May 2010}} According to Charles J. Scicluna, a former prosecutor handling sexual abuse cases, "Cardinal Ratzinger displayed great wisdom and firmness in handling those cases, also demonstrating great courage in facing some of the most difficult and thorny cases, sine acceptione personarum [without respect of persons]".{{cite web |url=http://www.catholicnews.sg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4151%3Apromoter-of-justice-at-doctrine-of-faith-on-paedophilia&catid=196%3Avis-vatican-information-service&Itemid=127 |title=Promoter of Justice at Doctrine of Faith on Paedophilia |publisher=Catholic News |date=13 March 2010 |access-date=14 June 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719123020/http://www.catholicnews.sg/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4151:promoter-of-justice-at-doctrine-of-faith-on-paedophilia&catid=196:vis-vatican-information-service&Itemid=127 |archive-date=19 July 2011 }} According to Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Ratzinger "made entirely clear efforts not to cover things up but to tackle and investigate them. This was not always met with approval in the Vatican".{{cite news|date=4 April 2010|title=Pope John Paul ignored abuse of 2,000 boys: Report|work=The Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/uk/Pope-John-Paul-ignored-abuse-of-2000-boys-Report/articleshow/5759289.cms|access-date=12 September 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104174143/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-04-04/uk/28124994_1_sexual-abuse-boys-pontiff|archive-date=4 November 2012}} Ratzinger had pressed John Paul{{nbsp}}II to investigate Hans Hermann Groër, an Austrian cardinal and friend of John Paul accused of sexual abuse, which resulted in Groër's resignation.

In March 2010, Benedict sent a pastoral letter to the Catholic Church in Ireland addressing cases of sexual abuse by priests of minors, expressing sorrow and promising changes in the way in which accusations of abuse were addressed.{{cite web|date=19 March 2010|title=Pastoral Letter of the Holy Father Benedict XVI to the Catholics of Ireland|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20100319_church-ireland_en.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007055248/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20100319_church-ireland_en.html|archive-date=7 October 2011|access-date=14 June 2010|publisher=Vatican.va}} Victims' groups claimed the letter failed to clarify if secular law enforcement had priority over canon law confidentiality regarding internal investigation of abuse allegations.{{cite journal|date=20 March 2010|title=Pope's letter fails to calm anger over abuse|url=http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/20/pope-blasts-irish-bishops-over-abuse/|url-status=live|journal=The Washington Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121019122835/http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/mar/20/pope-blasts-irish-bishops-over-abuse/|archive-date=19 October 2012|access-date=17 April 2010}}{{cite web|date=19 March 2010|title=Pope finalizes letter on abuse|url=http://articles.cnn.com/2010-03-19/world/pope.letter.abuse.ireland_1_abuse-scandal-child-abuse-cardinal-sean-brady?_s=PM:WORLD|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100906131551/http://articles.cnn.com/2010-03-19/world/pope.letter.abuse.ireland_1_abuse-scandal-child-abuse-cardinal-sean-brady?_s=PM%3AWORLD|archive-date=6 September 2010|access-date=26 January 2011|publisher=CNN World}}{{cite news|last=Moskowitz|first=Eric|date=21 March 2010|title=Pope's letter strikes a mixed chord|work=The Boston Globe|url=https://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/03/21/popes_letter_strikes_a_mixed_chord/?page=2|access-date=14 June 2010}} The Pope then promised to introduce measures that would "safeguard young people in the future" and "bring to justice" priests who were responsible for abuse and the next month the Vatican issued guidelines on how existing church law should be implemented. The guidelines asserted that "Civil law concerning reporting of crimes ... should always be followed."{{cite web|title=Guide to Understanding Basic CDF Procedures concerning Sexual Abuse Allegations|url=https://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_guide-CDF-procedures_en.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903143810/https://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_guide-CDF-procedures_en.html|archive-date=3 September 2011|access-date=23 April 2010|publisher=Vatican.va}}{{cite news|last=Winfield|first=Nicole|date=12 April 2010|title=Vatican to bishops: Follow law, report sex abuse|newspaper=Newsday|agency=Associated Press|url=http://www.newsday.com/news/world/vatican-to-bishops-follow-law-report-sex-abuse-1.1858057|access-date=18 September 2010|archive-url=https://archive.today/20110930014128/http://www.newsday.com/news/world/vatican-to-bishops-follow-law-report-sex-abuse-1.1858057|archive-date=30 September 2011}}

Despite being more proactive than his predecessor in addressing sexual abuse, Benedict was nonetheless cited as failing to do so on more than one occasion. In January 2022, a report written by German law firm Westpfahl Spilker Wastl and commissioned by the Catholic Church concluded that Cardinal Ratzinger failed to adequately take action against clerics in four cases of alleged abuse while he was Archbishop of Munich and Freising from 1977 to 1982. The pope emeritus denied the accusations.{{Cite news|date=20 January 2022|title=Former Pope Benedict failed to act over abuse, new report finds|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60070132|access-date=20 January 2022}}{{Cite news|last1=Horowitz|first1=Jason|last2=Povoledo|first2=Elisabetta|last3=Pianigiani|first3=Gaia|date=20 January 2022|title=Benedict Faulted for Handling of Abuse Cases When He Was an Archbishop|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/20/world/europe/benedict-germany-sexual-abuse.html|access-date=22 January 2022|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news|last=Moody|first=Oliver|date=20 January 2022|title=Pope Benedict failed to act on child abuse, report finds|language=en|work=The Times|url=https://www.thetimes.com/article/pope-benedict-failed-to-act-on-child-abuse-report-finds-s72l6ngsp|access-date=22 January 2022|issn=0140-0460}} Benedict corrected his former statement that he had not been at a meeting of the ordinariate of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising in January 1980, saying he mistakenly told German investigators he was not there. However, the error was "not done out of bad faith", but "the result of an error in the editorial processing" of his statement. According to Reuters, lawyer Martin Pusch said that "in a total of four cases, we have come to the conclusion that the then Archbishop Cardinal Ratzinger can be accused of misconduct in cases of sexual abuse."{{Cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ex-pope-benedict-acknowledges-faulty-testimony-german-abuse-case-2022-01-24/|title=Ex-Pope Benedict acknowledges faulty testimony in German abuse case|first=Philip|last=Pullella|date=24 January 2022|work=Reuters}}{{Cite news|url=https://m.tagesspiegel.de/gesellschaft/panorama/gutachten-zu-missbrauch-in-der-kirche-benedikt-gibt-falschaussage-zu/28001622.html|title = Benedikt gibt Falschaussage zu| newspaper=Der Tagesspiegel Online }}

In February 2022, Benedict admitted that errors were made in the treating of sexual abuse cases when he was Archbishop of Munich. According to the letter released by the Vatican, he asked forgiveness for any "grievous fault" but denied personal wrongdoing. Benedict stated: "I have had great responsibilities in the Catholic Church. All the greater is my pain for the abuses and the errors that occurred in those different places during the time of my mandate."{{Cite news|date=8 February 2022|title=Ex-Pope admits errors in handling of abuse cases|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60305844|access-date=9 February 2022}} Public prosecutor's office in Munich had begun investigations as a result of the 2022 report against both Benedict and Cardinal Friedrich Wetter. The investigation was "discontinued" in March 2023 after it "did not reveal sufficient suspicion of criminal activity". The case of the investigation "was not acts of abuse committed by the Church personnel managers themselves, but possible acts of aiding and abetting by active action or omission".{{Cite web |title=Prosecutors drop case of alleged 'cover up' against Benedict XVI |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253917/prosecutors-drop-case-of-alleged-cover-up-against-benedict-xvi |access-date=24 March 2023 |agency=Catholic News Agency |language=en}}

One of the cases Ratzinger pursued involved Marcial Maciel, a Mexican priest and founder of the Legionaries of Christ who had been accused repeatedly of sexual abuse. Biographer Andrea Tornielli suggested that Cardinal Ratzinger had wanted to take action against Maciel but that John Paul{{nbsp}}II and other high-ranking officials, including several cardinals and the Pope's influential secretary Stanisław Dziwisz, prevented him from doing so.{{cite news |work=Irish Independent | first=Richard | last=Owen |url=http://www.independent.ie/world-news/europe/vatican-tries-to-shift-blame-for-abuse-on-to-john-paul-26646654.html |title=Vatican tries to shift blame for abuse on to John Paul – Europe, World News |date=3 April 2010 |access-date=15 December 2015}}

According to Jason Berry, Cardinal Angelo Sodano "pressured" Ratzinger, who was "operating on the assumption that the charges were not justified", to halt the proceedings against Maciel in 1999.{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/update/bn051806.htm |title=Vatican restricts ministry of Legionaries priest founder |work=National Catholic Reporter |first=John L. Jr. |last=Allen |date=18 May 2006 |access-date=14 June 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927170000/http://www.nationalcatholicreporter.org/update/bn051806.htm |archive-date=27 September 2011 }} When Maciel was honoured by the Pope in 2004, new accusers came forward and Cardinal Ratzinger "took it on himself to authorize an investigation of Maciel". After Ratzinger became pope, he began proceedings against Maciel and the Legion of Christ that forced Maciel out of active service in the Church. On 1 May 2010, the Vatican issued a statement denouncing "the most serious and objectively immoral behaviour of Father Maciel, confirmed by incontrovertible witnesses, which amount to true crimes and show a life deprived of scruples and authentic religious feeling."Donadio, Rachel [https://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/world/europe/02legion.html "Pope Reins In Catholic Order Tied to Abuse"], The New York Times, 2 May 2010 [https://web.archive.org/web/20110926210130/http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/world/europe/02legion.html WebCitation archive]

In November 2020, the Vatican published a report blaming Popes John Paul{{nbsp}}II and Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI for allowing defrocked former cardinal Theodore McCarrick to rise in power despite the fact that they both knew of sex abuse allegations against him.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/nov/10/successive-popes-and-vatican-staff-promoted-priest-despite-abuse-claims|title=Popes knew of allegations against ex-Cardinal McCarrick years ago, report finds|first=Harriet|last=Sherwood|work=The Guardian|date=10 November 2020|access-date=10 November 2020}}{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/popes-knew-allegations-against-ex-cardinal-mccarrick-years-ago-report-n1247225|title=Popes knew of allegations against ex-Cardinal McCarrick years ago, report finds|publisher=NBC News|date=10 November 2020|access-date=10 November 2020}} Despite the fact that Benedict pressured McCarrick to resign as Archbishop of Washington D.C. in 2006, McCarrick remained very active in ministry throughout Benedict's papacy and even made a very public appearance when he presided over US senator Ted Kennedy's burial service at Arlington National Cemetery in 2009.{{cite news|url=https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/vaticans-mccarrick-report-timeline-events|title=The Vatican's McCarrick report: a timeline of events|first=Joshua J.|last=McElwee|publisher=National Catholic Reporter|date=9 November 2020|access-date=10 November 2020}}

In 2019, Benedict released a 6,000-word letter that attributed the Church's sexual abuse crisis to an erosion of morality driven by secularization and the sexual revolution of the 1960s. The letter was in sharp contrast to the viewpoint of his successor, Francis, who saw the issue as a byproduct of abuses of power within the Church's hierarchical structure.{{cite news|first=Jason|last=Horowitz|title=With Letter on Sexual Abuse, Pope Benedict Returns to Public Eye|newspaper=The New York Times|date=11 April 2019|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/11/world/europe/pope-benedict-letter-sex-abuse.html|access-date=6 February 2023}} The New York Times later reported that "given his frail health at the time, however, many church watchers questioned whether Benedict had indeed written the letter or had been manipulated to issue it as a way to undercut Francis."{{cite news |last1=Fisher |first1=Ian |last2=Donadio |first2=Rachel |date=31 December 2022 |title=Benedict XVI, First Modern Pope to Resign, Dies at 95 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/31/world/europe/benedict-xvi-dead.html |access-date=31 December 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}

Upon Benedict's death, his efforts to combat sexual abuse in the Church were remembered with mixed reactions, in particular by victims' groups. Francesco Zanardi, founder of the Italian victims' group Rete l'Abuso stated that "Ratzinger was less communicative than Francis but he moved" in the right direction, and that he was the first pontiff to effectively do so.{{cite news |last=Povoledo |first=Elisabetta |date=31 December 2022 |title=Pope Benedict XVI Leaves a Spotty Legacy With Sexual Abuse Scandal |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/31/world/europe/pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-sex-abuse-scandal.html |access-date=31 December 2022 |issn=0362-4331}} Anne Barrett Doyle, a co-director of BishopAccountability.org, an advocacy and research group, said that Benedict would be "remembered chiefly for his failure to achieve what should have been his job one: to rectify the incalculable harm done to the hundreds of thousands of children sexually abused by Catholic priests." She stated that his tenure had "left hundreds of culpable bishops in power and a culture of secrecy intact", while the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said in a statement that "Benedict was more concerned about the church's deteriorating image and financial flow to the hierarchy versus grasping the concept of true apologies followed by true amends to victims of abuse".

During the last year of Benedict's papacy, the Vatileaks occurred.{{Cite news |last1=Giuffrida |first1=Angela |last2=Pepinster |first2=Catherine |date=2025-01-14 |title='Abuse, corruption, dark dealings': Pope Benedict handed scandal documents to Francis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jan/14/pope-francis-inherited-box-of-documents-from-predecessor-relating-to-scandals#:~:text=He%20retired%20leaving%20a%20chequered,internal%20conflict%20and%20financial%20mismanagement. |access-date=2025-05-17 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} These revealed allegations of corruption, internal conflict, and financial mismanagement.

{{Main|Ceremonial of Benedict XVI}}

File:Benedikt XVI.jpg during an open-air Mass in front of St. Peter's Basilica, 2007]]

Benedict re-introduced several papal garments which had fallen into disuse. He resumed the use of the traditional red papal shoes, which had been used since Roman times by popes but which had fallen into disuse during the pontificate of John Paul{{nbsp}}II. Contrary to the initial speculation of the press that the shoes had been made by the Italian fashion house Prada, the Vatican announced that the shoes were provided by the Pope's personal shoemaker.Meichtry, Stacy [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB114591920439834611 "Does the Pope Wear Prada?"] The Wall Street Journal. 25 April 2006. Retrieved 19 January 2007. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130728210833/http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB114591920439834611-OtBN7F_qbGxt2YstGeEXX1WoMzQ_20060524.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top WebCitation archive]

The journalist Charlotte Allen described Benedict as "the pope of aesthetics": "He has reminded a world that looks increasingly ugly and debased that there is such a thing as the beautiful{{snd}}whether it's embodied in a sonata or an altarpiece or an embroidered cope or the cut of a cassock{{snd}}and that earthly beauty ultimately communicates a beauty that is beyond earthly things."

Before his election as pope, Ratzinger had hoped to retire{{snd}}on account of age-related health problems, a long-held desire to have free time to write, and the retirement age for bishops (75){{snd}}and submitted his resignation as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith three times, but continued at his post in obedience to the wishes of John Paul{{nbsp}}II. In September 1991, Ratzinger suffered a haemorrhagic stroke, which slightly impaired his eyesight temporarily but from which he recovered completely.{{cite web|url=http://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/neuer-papst_aid_93745.html |title=Vor Jahren Ratzinger erlitt Hirnblutung |work=FOCUS Online |language=de |access-date=14 June 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121011081327/http://www.focus.de/politik/deutschland/neuer-papst_aid_93745.html |archive-date=11 October 2012 }} This was never officially made public{{snd}}the official news was that he had fallen and struck his head against a radiator{{snd}}but was an open secret known to the conclave that elected him pope.{{cite web |url=http://www.op-online.de/nachrichten/welt/gesund-papst-benedikt-xvi-412967.html |title=Wie gesund ist Papst Benedikt XVI.? |language=de |publisher=Op-online.de |date=17 July 2009 |access-date=12 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719071958/http://www.op-online.de/nachrichten/welt/gesund-papst-benedikt-xvi-412967.html |archive-date=19 July 2011 }}

File:BentoXVI-29-10052007.jpg with the red summer papal mozzetta, embroidered red stole, and the red papal shoes]]

After his election in April 2005 there were several rumours about the Pope's health, but none of them were confirmed. Early in his pontificate Benedict predicted a short reign, which led to concerns about his health.[http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-te.health21apr21,0,5684034.story "Pope predicted 'short reign' in remarks just after election"] The Baltimore Sun 21 April 2005. Retrieved 17 September 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20110928131801/http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-te.health21apr21,0,5684034.story WebCitation archive] In May 2005 the Vatican announced that he had suffered another mild stroke. French cardinal Philippe Barbarin said that since the first stroke Ratzinger had been suffering from an age-related heart condition, for which he was on medication. In late November 2006 Vatican insiders told the international press that the Pope had had a routine examination of the heart. A few days later an unconfirmed rumour emerged that Benedict had undergone an operation in preparation for an eventual bypass operation, but this rumour was only published by a small left-wing Italian newspaper and was never confirmed by any Vatican insider.{{cite web|url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/5510527.asp?gid=74 |title=Vatican: Pope Benedict's gaffes result of high tension |work=Hürriyet Daily News |date=27 November 2006 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121018080510/http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/5510527.asp?gid=74 |archive-date=18 October 2012 }}

On 17 July 2009, Benedict was hospitalized after falling and breaking his right wrist while on vacation in the Alps; his injuries were reported to be minor.{{cite news |url=https://www.foxnews.com/story/pope-benedict-xvi-leaves-hospital-after-breaking-wrist-in-fall |title=Pope Benedict XVI Leaves Hospital After Breaking Wrist in Fall |publisher=Fox News |date=17 July 2009 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111202230348/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,533505,00.html |archive-date=2 December 2011 }}

Following the announcement of his resignation, the Vatican revealed that Benedict had been fitted with a pacemaker while he was still a cardinal, before his election as pope in 2005. The battery in the pacemaker had been replaced three months earlier, a routine procedure, but that did not influence his decision.[https://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/world/europe/pope-benedict-xvi-says-he-will-retire.html?pagewanted=all "A Statement Rocks Rome, Then Sends Shockwaves Around the World"]. The New York Times, 12 February 2013. Retrieved 12 February 2012.

{{main|Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI}}

File:Benedict XVI's Last Audience.jpg at his final Wednesday General Audience in St. Peter's Square, 27 February 2013]]

On 11 February 2013, the Vatican announced that Benedict would resign the papacy on 28 February 2013, as a result of his advanced age,{{cite news |title=Pope Renounces Papal Throne|url=http://visnews-en.blogspot.ca/2013/02/pope-renounces-papal-throne.html|newspaper=Vatican Information Service, 2 November 2013 Bulletin – English Edition}} becoming the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415.{{cite news |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/11/world/europe/pope-benedict-resignation/?hpt=hp_t1 |title=Pope Benedict to resign at the end of the month, Vatican says |publisher=CNN |date=11 February 2013 |access-date=11 February 2013 |author=Messia, Hada}} Aged 85 years and 318 days on the effective date of his retirement, he was the fourth-oldest person to hold the office of pope. The move was unexpected,{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21411304|title=Pope Benedict XVI in shock resignation|publisher=BBC|date=11 February 2013|access-date=11 February 2013}} as all popes in modern times had held office until death. Benedict was the first pope to resign without external pressure since Celestine V in 1294.{{cite news|url= http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fd16aaba-7438-11e2-a27c-00144feabdc0.html#slide0|archive-url= https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210211241/https://www.ft.com/content/fd16aaba-7438-11e2-a27c-00144feabdc0#slide0|archive-date= 10 December 2022|url-access= subscription|title= Pope Benedict XVI to step down|work= Financial Times|author= Guy Dinmore, Giulia Segreti and Ferdinando Giugliano|date= 11 February 2013|access-date= 11 February 2013|url-status= live}}{{registration required}}{{cite news |last=Alpert|first=Emily|title=Scandal, speculation surround past popes who resigned|url=https://www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2013-feb-11-la-fg-wn-scandal-speculation-past-popes-resign-20130211-story.html|access-date=1 April 2019|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=11 February 2013}}

In his declaration of 10 February 2013, Benedict resigned as "Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter".{{cite web | url=https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/speeches/2013/february/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20130211_declaratio.html |title=Declaration (resignation) of Benedict XVI|date=10 February 2013|access-date=23 June 2018}} In a statement, he cited his deteriorating strength and the physical and mental demands of the papacy; addressing his cardinals in Latin, he gave a brief statement announcing his resignation. He also declared that he would continue to serve the Church "through a life dedicated to prayer".{{cite web | url=http://en.radiovaticana.va/articolo.asp?c=663815 | title=Pope Benedict XVI announces his resignation at end of month | publisher=Vatican Radio | date=11 February 2013 | access-date=11 February 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130211225835/http://en.radiovaticana.va/articolo.asp?c=663815 | archive-date=11 February 2013 }}

According to a statement from the Vatican, the timing of the resignation was not caused by any specific illness but was to "avoid that exhausting rush of Easter engagements".{{cite news | url=http://descrier.co.uk/world/2013/02/pope-benedict-xvi-to-resign/ | title=Pope Benedict XVI to Resign due to Parkinson's Disease | newspaper=The Descrier | date=11 February 2013 | access-date=11 February 2013}} After two weeks of ceremonial farewells, the Pope left office at the appointed time and sede vacante was declared. Benedict was succeeded by Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who took the papal name of Francis on 13 March 2013.

On the eve of the first anniversary of Benedict's resignation he wrote to La Stampa to deny speculation he had been forced to step down. "There isn't the slightest doubt about the validity of my resignation from the Petrine ministry," he wrote in a letter to the newspaper. "The only condition for the validity is the full freedom of the decision. Speculation about its invalidity is simply absurd," he wrote.{{cite news| url=http://www.europenews.net/index.php/sid/220244698/scat/88176adfdf246af5/ht/Benedict-dismisses-speculation-about-his-resignation| archive-url=https://archive.today/20140227084614/http://www.europenews.net/index.php/sid/220244698/scat/88176adfdf246af5/ht/Benedict-dismisses-speculation-about-his-resignation| archive-date=27 February 2014| title=Benedict dismisses speculation about his resignation| publisher=Europe News.Net| date=26 February 2014| access-date=27 February 2014}} In an interview on 28 February 2021, Benedict again repeated the legitimacy of his resignation.{{Cite web|date=20 April 2021|title=Pope Benedict XVI defends resignation to 'fanatic' doubters|url=https://apnews.com/article/pope-benedict-xvi-resignation-fanatics-850c42299aa3a350190ecf41221255d7|access-date=6 August 2021|website=AP NEWS|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=1 March 2021|title=Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI: 'There are not two Popes' – Vatican News|url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-03/pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-renunciation.html|access-date=6 August 2021|website=vaticannews.va|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Pope Benedict's 'Conscience Is Clear' Regarding His 2013 Resignation|url=https://www.ncregister.com/news/pope-benedict-s-conscience-is-clear-regarding-his-2013-resignation|access-date=6 August 2021|website=NCR|date=March 2021 |language=en}}

On the morning of 28 February 2013, Benedict met with the full College of Cardinals and in the early afternoon flew by helicopter to the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo. He stayed there until refurbishment was completed on his retirement home, the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican Gardens near St. Peter's, former home of twelve nuns, where he moved on 2 May 2013.{{cite web | url=http://www.ilmessaggero.it/primopiano/vaticano/papa_monastero_mater_ecclesiae_ratzinger/notizie/250887.shtml | title=Dopo le dimissioni il Papa si ritirerà presso il monastero Mater Ecclesiae fondato nel '94 per volontà di Wojtyla | publisher=Il Messagero | date=11 February 2013 | access-date=12 February 2013 | language=it | archive-date=13 February 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130213200131/http://www.ilmessaggero.it/primopiano/vaticano/papa_monastero_mater_ecclesiae_ratzinger/notizie/250887.shtml }}{{cite web|url = http://www.vanityfair.it/news/italia/13/02/11/papa-lascia-dimora-benedetto|title = Il Papa? Andrà nel monastero fatto costruire da Giovanni Paolo II|work= Vanity Fair (Italian)|author = Francesco Oggiano|date = 11 February 2013|access-date = 14 February 2013|language=it}}

File:5 luglio 2013 - incontro tra Papa Francesco e Papa Benedetto XVI - inaugurazione statua San Michele Arcangelo -.jpg (left) in the Vatican Gardens, July 2013]]

After his resignation, Benedict retained his papal name rather than reverting to his birth name.{{cite web|title=Benedict XVI will be 'Pope emeritus'|url=http://www.news.va/en/news/benedict-xvi-will-be-pope-emeritus|publisher=The Vatican Today|access-date=28 February 2013|quote=Benedict XVI will be "Pontiff emeritus" or "Pope emeritus", as Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., director of the Holy See Press Office, reported in a press conference on the final days of the current pontificate. He will keep the name of "His Holiness, Benedict XVI" and will dress in a simple white cassock without the mozzetta (elbow-length cape).|archive-date=1 March 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130301002737/http://www.news.va/en/news/benedict-xvi-will-be-pope-emeritus}} He continued to wear the white cassock but without the pellegrina or the fascia. He ceased wearing red papal shoes.Vatican Press Office: Father Federico Lombardi – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9S-O104E4o{{cite web |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/26579/nun-describes-simplicity-of-popes-retirement-monastery |title=Nun describes simplicity of Pope's retirement monastery|agency=Catholic News Agency |access-date=17 February 2013}} Benedict returned his official Fisherman's Ring, which was rendered unusable by two large cuts across its face.{{cite web |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1301028.htm |archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20130312175100/http%3A//www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1301028.htm |archive-date=12 March 2013 |title=CNS Story: Ring of retired Pope Benedict no longer can be used as seal |publisher=Catholicnews.com |access-date=19 August 2013 }}

According to a Vatican spokesman, Benedict spent his first day as Pope emeritus with Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Prefect of the Papal Household.{{cite web |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/26691/benedict-xvis-first-night-as-pope-emeritus |title=David Uebbing, "Benedict XVI's first night as Pope emeritus" Catholic News Agency, March 1, 2013 |publisher=Catholicnewsagency.com |date=1 March 2013 |access-date=23 June 2013}} In the monastery, the pope emeritus did not live a cloistered life, but studied and wrote. He joined Pope Francis several months later at the unveiling of a new statue of Saint Michael the Archangel. The inscription on the statue, according to Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, has the coat of arms of the two popes to symbolize the fact that the statue was commissioned by Benedict and consecrated by Francis.{{cite news|url=http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/07/09/pope-francis-consecrates-vatican-city-with-benedict-xvi-by-his-side/|title=Pope Francis consecrates Vatican City with Benedict XVI by his side|newspaper=Catholic Herald|date=9 July 2013|access-date=22 April 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422213130/http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/07/09/pope-francis-consecrates-vatican-city-with-benedict-xvi-by-his-side/|archive-date=22 April 2017}}

In 2013 it was reported that Benedict had multiple health problems including high blood pressure and had fallen out of bed more than once, but the Holy See denied any specific illnesses.{{cite web|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/04/12/vatican-denies-pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-rumours-ill-health_n_3068212.html |title=Vatican Denies Rumours That Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Is in Serious Ill Health |date=12 April 2013 |work=HuffPost |access-date=23 June 2013}} The former pope made his first public appearance after his resignation at St. Peter's Basilica on 22 February 2014 to attend the first papal consistory of his successor Francis. Benedict entered the basilica through a discreet entrance and was seated in a row with several other cardinals. He doffed his zucchetto when Francis came down the nave of St. Peter's Basilica to greet him.{{cite news|last=Tornielli|first=Andrea|title=The "hidden" Pope's first step towards normality|url=http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/concsitoro-2014-32277/|access-date=24 February 2014|newspaper=Vatican Insider|date=24 February 2014|archive-date=20 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140620031734/http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/concsitoro-2014-32277/}} He then made an appearance at the canonization mass of Popes John{{nbsp}}XXIII and John Paul{{nbsp}}II, greeting the cardinals and Francis.

File:Pope emeritus Benedict XVI.JPG

In August 2014, Benedict celebrated Mass at the Vatican and met with his former doctoral students, an annual tradition he had kept since the 1970s.{{cite web |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1403581.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140903105859/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1403581.htm |archive-date=3 September 2014 |title=CNS Story: Retired Pope Benedict XVI celebrates Mass with former doctoral students |access-date=30 August 2014 }} He attended the beatification of Pope Paul VI in October 2014.{{Cite web|url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en.html|title=News from the Vatican – News about the Church |website=vaticannews.va}} Weeks before this, he joined Francis in Saint Peter's Square for an audience with grandparents to honour their importance in society.{{cite web|url=http://www.foxnews.com/world/pope-hails-benedict-other-elderly-at-vatican-fest|title=Pope hails Benedict, other elderly at Vatican fest|date=28 September 2014|publisher=Fox News|access-date=22 April 2017}}

Benedict wrote the text of a speech, delivered by Archbishop Georg Gänswein, on the occasion of the dedication of the Aula Magna at the Pontifical Urbaniana University to the pope emeritus, "a gesture of gratitude for what he has done for the Church as a conciliar expert, with his teaching as professor, as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and, finally, the Magisterium." The ceremony took place on Tuesday, 21 October 2014, during the opening of the academic year.{{cite news | url=http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/benedict-xvi-truth-is-not-given-up-in-the-name-of-a-desire-for-peace | title=Benedict XVI: Truth is Not Given Up in the Name of a Desire for Peace | date=23 October 2014 | agency=ZENIT | access-date=19 January 2015 | location=Vatican City}}

Benedict attended the consistory for new cardinals in February 2015, greeting Francis at the beginning of the celebration.{{cite web|url=http://www.romereports.com/2015/02/14/benedict-xvi-attends-consistory-in-st-peter-s-basilica|title=Benedict XVI attends Consistory in St. Peter's Basilica|date=14 February 2015|publisher=Rome Reports|access-date=22 April 2017}} In the summer of 2015, Benedict spent two weeks at Castel Gandolfo, at the invitation of Pope Francis. While at Castel Gandolfo, Benedict participated in two public events. He received two honorary doctorates given to him by Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, Pope John Paul{{nbsp}}II's longtime aide, from the Pontifical University of John Paul II and the Kraków Academy of Music.{{cite web |title=Receiving awards, Benedict XVI credits witness of John Paul II |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/32267/receiving-awards-benedict-xvi-credits-witness-of-john-paul-ii |author=Harris, Elise |date=4 July 2015 |access-date=26 September 2015 |agency=Catholic News Agency}} In his reception address, Benedict paid homage to his predecessor, John Paul{{nbsp}}II.

The Joseph Ratzinger–Benedict XVI Roman Library at the Pontifical Teutonic College was announced in April 2015 and was scheduled to open to scholars in November 2015.{{cite web |title=Benedict XVI celebrates Mass with former students |url=http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/09/01/benedict-xvi-celebrates-mass-with-former-students/ |date=1 September 2015 |access-date=26 September 2015 |work=Catholic Herald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150927142334/http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/09/01/benedict-xvi-celebrates-mass-with-former-students/ |archive-date=27 September 2015 }} The library section dedicated to his life and thought is being catalogued. It includes books by or about him and his studies, many donated by Benedict himself.{{Cite news |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/32167/benedict-xvis-summer-plans-%E2%80%93-rare-public-events-and-a-visit-to-castel-gandolfo |title=Benedict XVI's summer plans – rare public events and a visit to Castel Gandolfo |last1=Holdren |first1=Alan |date=16 June 2015 |agency=Catholic News Agency}}{{cite web|url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/32248/francis-wishes-benedict-xvi-a-good-summer-in-castel-gandolfo|title=Francis wishes Benedict XVI a good summer in Castel Gandolfo|agency=Catholic News Agency |date=30 June 2015 |first1=Elise |last1=Harris}}

Benedict, in August 2015, submitted a handwritten card to act as a testimony to the cause of canonization of Pope John Paul I.{{Cite web |first1=Franca |last1=Giansoldati |url=https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ilmessaggero.it%2FPRIMOPIANO%2FVATICANO%2Fpapa_luciani_beato_ratzinger_miracoli%2Fnotizie%2F1535347.shtml&edit-text=&act=url |title=Rome: Pope Luciani soon beatified, also Ratzinger has testified in his favour, but he lacks miracles |work=Messagiero |date=27 August 2015}}{{Cite news |url=https://www.telebelluno.it/wp/16noni_082615a3albino/ |title=Benedetto XVI testimone per la beatificazione di Albino Luciani |language=it |trans-title=Benedict XVI to witness the beatification of Albino Luciani |work=Telebelluno |date=26 August 2015 |access-date=28 December 2022 |archive-date=28 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221228173036/https://www.telebelluno.it/wp/16noni_082615a3albino/ |url-status=dead }}

In March 2016, Benedict gave an interview expressing his views on mercy and endorsing Francis's stress on mercy in his pastoral practice.{{cite web|url=http://insidethevatican.com/news/newsflash/letter-16-2016-emeritus-pope-benedict-grants-an-interview|title=Letter No. 16, 2016: Emeritus Pope Benedict Grants an Interview – Inside The Vatican|date=17 March 2016}} Also that month, a Vatican spokesman stated that Benedict was "slowly, serenely fading" in his physical health, although his mental capacity remained "perfectly lucid".{{cite news|last1=Arocho Esteves|first1=Junno|title=Benedict XVI is frail but 'perfectly lucid', says Vatican spokesman|url=http://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/03/25/benedict-xvi-is-frail-but-perfectly-lucid-says-vatican-spokesman/|access-date=26 March 2016|work=Catholic Herald|date=25 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160328000353/http://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2016/03/25/benedict-xvi-is-frail-but-perfectly-lucid-says-vatican-spokesman/|archive-date=28 March 2016}}

The pope emeritus was honoured by the Roman Curia and Francis in 2016 at a special audience, honouring the 65th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. That November, he did not attend the consistory for new cardinals, rather meeting with them and Francis at his residence afterward.{{cite web|url=http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2016/11/19/pope,_new_cardinals_visit_pope_emeritus_benedict_xvi/1273450|title=Pope, new Cardinals visit Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI|date=19 November 2016|access-date=22 April 2017|publisher=Vatican Radio}} Following the death of Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns in December 2016, Benedict became the last living person appointed cardinal by Pope Paul{{nbsp}}VI.{{cite web |title=Last cardinal named by Paul VI, Brazil's Paulo Evaristo Arns, dies at age 95 |url=https://www.romereports.com/en/2016/12/15/last-cardinal-named-by-paul-vi-brazil-s-paulo-evaristo-arns-dies-at-age-95/ |website=romereports.co |date=15 December 2016 |publisher=Rome Reports |access-date=23 August 2021}}

File:Meeting with Benedict XVI on 10 August 2019 (cropped).jpg

In June 2017, Benedict received newly created cardinals in his chapel and spoke with each of them in their native language.{{Cite web|url=https://www.romereports.com/2017/06/28/benedict-xvi-receives-the-new-cardinals-and-speaks-with-them-in-various-languages|title=Benedict XVI receives the new cardinals, and speaks with them in various languages|website=romereports.com|date=28 June 2017 }} In July 2017, he sent a message through his private secretary for the funeral of Cardinal Joachim Meisner, who had suddenly died while on vacation in Germany.{{cite news|url=http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/07/16/benedict-xvi-cardinal-meisner-was-a-passionate-shepherd-who-found-it-difficult-to-leave-his-post/|title=Benedict XVI: Cardinal Meisner was a 'passionate shepherd' who found it 'difficult to leave his post'|date=16 July 2017|newspaper=Catholic Herald|access-date=26 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926144007/http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2017/07/16/benedict-xvi-cardinal-meisner-was-a-passionate-shepherd-who-found-it-difficult-to-leave-his-post/|archive-date=26 September 2017}}

In November 2017, images emerged on the Facebook page of the Bishop of Passau, Stefan Oster, of Benedict with a black eye; the bishop and author Peter Seewald visited the former pope on 26 October since the pair were presenting Benedict with the new book Benedict XVI – The German Pope which the Passau diocese created. The former pope suffered the hematoma earlier after having slipped.{{cite news|newspaper=La Stampa|author=Andrea Tornielli|access-date=10 November 2017|date=27 October 2017|title=The photo with Ratzinger's "black eye"|url=http://www.lastampa.it/2017/10/27/vaticaninsider/eng/news/the-photo-with-ratzingers-black-eye-457tHsBGDuYyCqrkleZiPN/pagina.html}}

Benedict was portrayed by Anthony Hopkins in the biographical film The Two Popes, which came out in 2019.{{cite news |url=https://catholicherald.co.uk/magazine/you-couldnt-help-but-be-moved-spiritually-anthony-hopkins-and-jonathan-pryce-interviewed/ |title='You couldn't help but be moved spiritually': Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce interviewed |first=Gabrielle |last=Donnelly |date=19 December 2019 |access-date=9 February 2020 |newspaper=Catholic Herald}} In late 2019, Benedict collaborated on a book expressing that the Catholic Church must maintain its discipline of clerical celibacy, in light of ongoing debate on the issue, though later requested his name to be removed from the book as co-author.{{cite news |last1=Neuman |first1=Scott |title=In New Book, Retired Pope Benedict Breaks Silence To Speak Out On Priestly Celibacy |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/01/13/795826955/in-new-book-retired-pope-benedict-breaks-silence-to-speak-out-on-priestly-celiba |website=npr.org |date=13 January 2020 |publisher=National Public Radio (NPR) |access-date=26 January 2020}}{{Cite news|author=Cindy Wooden|title=Publisher won't remove Benedict XVI as co-author of book on priestly celibacy|url=https://www.catholicregister.org/faith/item/30974-benedict-xvi-cardinal-sarah-write-book-defending-priestly-celibacy|access-date=6 August 2021|website=Catholic Register |language=en-gb}}{{Cite web|date=14 January 2020|title=Request made to remove Benedict's name from controversial book – Gänswein |url=http://www.ansa.it/english/news/2020/01/14/request-made-to-remove-benedicts-name-from-book-gaenswein_4af86c90-f488-414c-aa28-62297f2d9797.html|access-date=6 August 2021|website=ANSA|language=en}}

In June 2020, Benedict visited his dying brother Georg in Germany for the last time.{{cite news |title=Ex-pope Benedict XVI goes home to Bavaria to visit ailing brother |url=https://www.dw.com/en/ex-pope-benedict-xvi-goes-home-to-bavaria-to-visit-ailing-brother/a-53864052 |publisher=Deutsche Welle |date=18 June 2020}}{{cite news |last1=AP |title=Former pope Benedict in Germany to visit ailing brother |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20200618-former-pope-benedict-in-germany-to-visit-ailing-brother |work=France24 |date=18 June 2020}} Georg died on 1 July, aged 96.{{Cite web|title=Georg Ratzinger ist gestorben|url=https://www.katholisch.de/artikel/26029-georg-ratzinger-ist-gestorben|access-date=1 July 2020|website=katholisch.de|language=de}}

On 3 August 2020, Benedict's aides disclosed that he had an inflammation of the trigeminal nerve.{{cite news |author=Elise Ann Allen |url=https://thetablet.org/vatican-confirms-pope-benedict-is-ill-but-says-condition-not-serious/ |title=Vatican Confirms Pope Benedict Is Ill, But Says Condition 'Not Serious' |newspaper=The Tablet |date=4 August 2020 |access-date=25 December 2020}} On 2 December of the same year, Maltese cardinal Mario Grech announced to Vatican News that Benedict had difficulty speaking and that he had told the new cardinals after the consistory that "the Lord has taken away my speech in order to let me appreciate silence".{{cite web |url=https://www.ansa.it/english/news/2020/12/02/benedict-xvi-having-trouble-speaking-new-cardinal_c0076aaf-ef39-4b07-b0ab-75dc954d9dc1.html |title=Benedict XVI 'having trouble speaking' – new cardinal |publisher=ANSA |date=2 December 2020 |access-date=25 December 2020}}

Benedict became the longest-lived pope whose age can be verified on 4 September 2020, at 93 years, 141 days, surpassing the age of Pope Leo XIII.{{cite web |last1=Hattrup |first1=Kathleen N. |title=Benedict XVI passes Leo XIII in age|url=https://aleteia.org/2020/09/04/benedict-xvi-now-the-oldest-pope-in-history/|website=aleteia.org |date=4 September 2020 |publisher=Aleteia|access-date=4 September 2020}}{{cite web |title=Benedict XVI becomes oldest pope in history |date=4 September 2020 |url=https://www.france24.com/en/20200904-benedict-xvi-becomes-oldest-pope-in-history |publisher=France 24 |access-date=14 January 2021}} There are two popes who are claimed to have lived longer than Benedict: Pope St Agatho (574–681), who died aged 107;{{Cite web |date=16 December 2021 |title=A look at the oldest popes of history, including Francis |url=https://aleteia.org/2021/12/16/a-look-at-the-oldest-popes-of-history-including-francis/ |access-date=31 March 2024 |website=Aleteia — Catholic Spirituality, Lifestyle, World News, and Culture |language=en}} and Pope Gregory IX (1145–1241), who died aged 96.{{CathEncy|wstitle= Pope Gregory IX |volume= 6 |last= Ott |first= Michael |author-link= |short= 1}} However, although there is some contemporary documentation attesting to their ages, there is not sufficient evidence for them to be verified with complete certainty.

In January 2021, Benedict and Francis each received doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.{{Cite web|date=14 January 2021|title=Pope Francis and the Pope emeritus receive Covid-19 vaccine – Vatican News|url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2021-01/pope-francis-benedict-xvi-covid-19-vaccine.html|access-date=5 February 2021|website=vaticannews.va|language=en}} On 29 June 2021, the pope emeritus celebrated his platinum jubilee (70th anniversary) as a priest.{{cite web |last1=Allen |first1=Elise Ann |title=Benedict XVI to mark 70 years as priest with brother's choir |url=https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2021/06/benedict-xvi-to-mark-70-years-as-priest-with-brothers-choir/ |website=cruxnow.com |date=28 June 2021 |publisher=Crux Catholic Media Inc. |access-date=25 July 2021}}

Following the consistory of 27 August 2022, Francis and the newly created cardinals paid a brief visit to Benedict at Mater Ecclesiae Monastery.{{cite news |date= 27 August 2022 |title= Pope Francis and new cardinals visit Benedict XVI |url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-08/pope-francis-and-new-cardinals-visit-benedict-xvi.html |work=Vatican News}}

{{Main|Death and funeral of Pope Benedict XVI}}

File:Mattarella Benedetto XVI 2023.jpg paying respects to the body of Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI at St. Peter's Basilica]]

On 28 December 2022, Pope Francis said at the end of his audience that Benedict XVI was "very sick" and asked God to "comfort him and support him in this testimony of love for the Church until the end".{{Cite web |last1=Giuffrida|first1=Angela|date=28 December 2022 |title=Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI 'very sick', says Pope Francis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/28/pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-very-sick-says-pope-francis |access-date=28 December 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} The same day, Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, stated that "in the last few hours there has been an aggravation of Benedict's health due to advancing age" and that he was under medical care. Bruni also stated that Francis visited Benedict at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery after the audience.{{Cite web |last=Brockhaus |first=Hannah |date=28 December 2022 |title=Vatican: Benedict XVI under medical care as health takes sudden turn |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253165/vatican-benedict-xvi-under-medical-care-as-health-takes-sudden-turn |access-date=28 December 2022 |agency=Catholic News Agency |language=en}}{{Cite web |last1=Bordoni|first1=Linda|date=28 December 2022 |title=Pope Francis asks for prayers for Benedict XVI |url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-12/pope-francis-benedict-xvi-prayers.html |access-date=28 December 2022 |website=Vatican News |language=en}}

Pope Benedict XVI died on 31 December 2022 at 9:34{{nbsp}}am Central European Time at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, aged 95, due to cardiogenic shock, resulting from respiratory failure that evolved from a parenchymal insufficiency.{{Cite web |title=ACTA APOSTOLICAE SEDIS |url=https://www.vatican.va/archive/aas/documents/2023/acta-supplementum2023.pdf}} His long-time secretary, Georg Gänswein, reported that his last words were {{langnf|links=no|it|"Signore ti amo"|italic=unset|Lord, I love you}}.{{Cite web |date=31 December 2022 |title=Farewell to Benedict XVI: 'Humble worker in vineyard of the Lord'|url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-12/pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-dies-aged-95.html |access-date=31 December 2022 |website=Vatican News |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=31 December 2022 |title=Former Pope Benedict XVI dies at 95 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-64107731 |access-date=31 December 2022 |publisher=BBC |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=D'Emilio |first=Frances |title='Lord, I love you': Pope Benedict XVI's last words recounted by aide |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2023/01/01/pope-benedict-xvis-last-words-recounted-aide/10978112002/ |access-date=1 January 2023 |website=USA Today |language=en-US}}

File:Tomba Benedetto XVI 2023.jpg

From 2 to 4 January 2023, Pope Benedict XVI's body lay in state in St. Peter's Basilica, during which around 195,000 people paid their respects.{{Cite news |last=Nanu |first=Maighna |date=5 January 2023 |title=Thousands of mourners gather for Pope Benedict's funeral |language=en-GB |work=The Telegraph |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/01/05/pope-benedict-funeral-vatican-watch-live-pope-francis/ |access-date=5 January 2023 |issn=0307-1235 |archive-date=5 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230105090738/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/01/05/pope-benedict-funeral-vatican-watch-live-pope-francis/ |url-status=live }} His funeral took place on 5 January 2023 in St. Peter's Square at 9:30{{nbsp}}am, presided over by Pope Francis and celebrated by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.{{Cite web |date=31 December 2022 |title=Pope Benedict latest: PM Sunak leads tributes to 'great theologian' former pontiff |url=https://news.sky.com/story/pope-benedict-live-former-pontiff-dies-at-95-after-pope-francis-revealed-he-was-very-sick-12775583 |access-date=31 December 2022 |work=sky news |language=en}} This was the first time since 1802 that a pope had attended a funeral for his predecessor.{{Cite web |last=Tornielli |first=Andrea |date=4 January 2023 |title=The last time a Pope celebrated the funeral of his predecessor was in 1802 |url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-01/pope-celebrates-funeral-predecessor-1802-pius-vii.html |access-date=4 January 2023 |website=Vatican News |language=en |archive-date=4 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230104125003/https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2023-01/pope-celebrates-funeral-predecessor-1802-pius-vii.html |url-status=live }} The funeral was attended by an estimated 50,000 people.{{Cite web |date=5 January 2023 |title=Benedict XVI funeral draws estimated 100,000 Catholics to St Peter's Square |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jan/05/pope-benedict-xvi-funeral-expected-to-draw-big-crowds-to-st-peters-square-vatican |access-date=5 January 2023 |website=The Guardian |language=en}} Some attendees held signs reading or shouted "Santo subito", calling for his quick elevation to sainthood, a cry heard previously at the funeral of John Paul II.{{Cite news|date=5 January 2023|title="Santo Subito": Pilgrims weep at Benedict XVI's funeral|url=https://newsbook.com.mt/en/santo-subito-pilgrims-weep-at-benedict-xvis-funeral/|work=Newsbook|publisher=Beacon Media Group|access-date=24 January 2023}} Benedict was interred in the crypt beneath St. Peter's Basilica, in the same tomb originally occupied by John Paul{{nbsp}}II and John{{nbsp}}XXIII. The tomb was opened to the public on 8 January 2023.{{Cite web |date=8 January 2023 |title=Public now can see Benedict's tomb at St. Peter's Basilica |url=https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-religion-vatican-city-9e77ccb8c66b4566666e6f0172cff249 |access-date=9 January 2023 |website=AP NEWS |language=en}}

As Pope, Benedict's rarely used full title was:

His Holiness Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman Province, Sovereign of the Vatican City State, Servant of the servants of God.Annuario Pontificio, published annually by Libreria Editrice Vaticana, {{p.|23}}. {{ISBN|978-8820987220}} (2012)

Before 1 March 2006, the list of titles also used to contain that of a "Patriarch of the West", which traditionally appeared in that list of titles before "Primate of Italy". The title of "Patriarch of the West" was removed in the 2006 edition of Annuario Pontificio. According to Achille Silvestrini, Benedict chose to remove the title at a time as a "sign of ecumenical sensitivity" on the issue of papal primacy.{{cite web|last=Wooden|first=Cindy|title=Vatican removes title 'patriarch of the West' after pope's name|url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0601225.htm|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20060308013147/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0601225.htm|archive-date=8 March 2006|work=Catholic News Service|publisher=U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops|access-date=29 March 2013}}

After his resignation, the official style of the former pope in English was His Holiness Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI, Supreme Pontiff emeritus or Pope emeritus.Annuario Pontificio 2013, {{p.|1}}, cited in [http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350523?eng=y Vatican Diary / The identity cards of the last two popes] Less formally he was referred to as emeritus pope or Roman pontifex emeritus.{{cite news |url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/26/world/europe/vatican-benedict-title/index.html|title= Vatican reveals Pope Benedict's new title |publisher=CNN|date=22 February 2013}} Moreover, according to the 1983 Code of Canon Law, he was also bishop emeritus of Rome, retaining the sacred character received at his ordination as a bishop and receiving the title of emeritus of his diocese; although he did not use this style.[https://catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2017/10/07/theres-nothing-wrong-with-calling-benedict-xvi-pope-emeritus/ There's nothing wrong with calling Benedict XVI 'Pope Emeritus'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191105091444/https://catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2017/10/07/theres-nothing-wrong-with-calling-benedict-xvi-pope-emeritus/ |date=5 November 2019 }} – website of the newspaper Catholic Herald The pope emeritus had personally preferred to be simply known as "Father Benedict".[https://www.tektonministries.org/tekton-ministries-catholic-the-request-of-a-retired-pope-simply-call-me-father-benedict/ Ratzinger's Request: Simply call me 'Father Benedict'], TektonMinistries.org. Retrieved 4 August 2015

In 2005, the Pope listed several ways to combat the spread of HIV, including chastity, fidelity in marriage, and anti-poverty efforts; he also rejected the use of condoms.{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4081276.stm|title=Pope rejects condoms for Africa|date=10 June 2005|publisher=BBC}} The alleged Vatican investigation of whether there are any cases when married persons may use condoms to protect against the spread of infections surprised many Catholics in the wake of John Paul{{nbsp}}II's consistent refusal to consider condom use in response to AIDS.{{cite web |url=http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0%2C2144%2C1979145%2C00.html |title=Catholic Church to Ease Ban on Condom Use |publisher=Deutsche Welle |date=24 April 2006 |access-date=28 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110819073016/http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1979145,00.html |archive-date=19 August 2011}} However, the Vatican has since stated that no such change in the Church's teaching can occur.{{cite news |author=Israely, Jeff 30 April 2006 |url=http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/article/0,13005,901060508-1189193,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060528191933/http://www.time.com/time/europe/magazine/article/0,13005,901060508-1189193,00.html |archive-date=28 May 2006 |title=Condom Fight: The Vatican Strikes Back |magazine=Time |date=30 April 2006 |access-date=2 February 2010}} TIME also reported in its edition of 30 April 2006 that the Vatican's position remains what it always has been with Vatican officials "flatly dismiss[ing] reports that the Vatican is about to release a document that will condone any condom use."

In March 2009, the Pope stated:

I would say that this problem of AIDS cannot be overcome merely with money, necessary though it is. If there is no human dimension, if Africans do not help, the problem cannot be overcome by the distribution of prophylactics: on the contrary, they increase it. The solution must have two elements: firstly, bringing out the human dimension of sexuality, that is to say a spiritual and human renewal that would bring with it a new way of behaving towards others, and secondly, true friendship offered above all to those who are suffering, a willingness to make sacrifices and to practise self-denial, to be alongside the suffering.{{cite web|title=Interview of the Holy Father Benedict XVI during the flight to Africa |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2009/march/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20090317_africa-interview_en.html |date=17 March 2009 |access-date=7 October 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011221301/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2009/march/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20090317_africa-interview_en.html |archive-date=11 October 2011 }}

In November 2010, in a book-length interview, Benedict, using the example of male prostitutes, stated that the use of condoms, with the intention of reducing the risk of HIV infection, may be an indication that the prostitute is intending to reduce the evil connected with his immoral activity.Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20101221_luce-del-mondo_en.html "Note on the banalization of sexuality Regarding certain interpretations of 'Light of the World'"] [https://web.archive.org/web/20111009174236/https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20101221_luce-del-mondo_en.html WebCitation archive] In the same interview, the Pope also reiterated the traditional teaching of the Church that condoms are not seen as a "real or moral solution" to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Further, in December 2010, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith explained that Benedict's statement did not constitute a legitimization of either contraception or prostitution, which remains gravely immoral.

{{See also|Catholic Church and homosexuality}}

During his time as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Cardinal Ratzinger addressed the issue of homosexuality. In 1986 the CDF sent a letter to all bishops entitled: On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons. The letter condemned a liberal interpretation of the earlier CDF document Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics, which had led to a "benign" attitude "to the homosexual condition itself". On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons clarified that the Church's position on homosexuality was that "although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder."Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith [http://www.vatican.edu/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19861001_homosexual-persons_en.html "Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons"] 1 October 1986. Retrieved 28 September 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20111006042232/http://www.vatican.edu/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19861001_homosexual-persons_en.html WebCitation archive] However, the document also condemned homophobic attacks and violence, stating that "It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action. Such treatment deserves condemnation from the Church's pastors wherever it occurs."

In 1992, Ratzinger again approved CDF documents declaring that homosexual "inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder" and extended this principle to civil law. "Sexual orientation", the document said, was not equivalent to race or ethnicity, and it declared that it was "not unjust discrimination to take sexual orientation into account."{{cite news|first=William |last=Saletan |author-link=William Saletan |title=Gland Inquisitor: Pope Benedict's antigay tendencies |url=http://www.slate.com/id/2131019/ |work=Slate |date=29 November 2005 |access-date=30 December 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812182629/http://www.slate.com/id/2131019/ |archive-date=12 August 2011}}

On 22 December 2008, Benedict gave an end-of-year message to the Roman Curia in which he talked about gender and the important distinction between men and women. He said that the Church viewed the distinction as central to human nature, and "asks that this order of creation be respected". In his words, the Church must "protect man from self-destruction". He said "something like a human ecology" was needed, and added: "Rain forests deserve indeed to be protected, but no less so does man." He attacked "gender theories", which he described as "man's attempt at self-emancipation from creation and the Creator."{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2008/december/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20081222_curia-romana_en.html |title=Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the Members of the Roman Curia for the Traditional Exchange of Christmas Greetings |publisher=Vatican.va |date=22 December 2008 |access-date=23 June 2013}}{{cite news |first=Tom |last=Kington |author2=Riazat Butt |title=Pope angers campaigners with speech seen as attack on homosexuality |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/dec/24/pope-speech-gender-gay-sexuality |work=The Guardian |location=London |date= 24 December 2008|access-date=30 December 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016161618/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/24/pope-speech-gender-gay-sexuality |archive-date=16 October 2011}}{{cite news |first=Rachel |last=Donadio |title=The Vatican: In Speech, Pope Calls Homosexual Behavior a Violation |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/world/europe/23briefs-INSPEECHPOPE_BRF.html |work=The New York Times |date=22 December 2008 |access-date=28 December 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090417195601/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/world/europe/23briefs-INSPEECHPOPE_BRF.html |archive-date=17 April 2009}}

LGBT groups, such as the Italian Arcigay and German LSVD, announced that they found Benedict's comments homophobic.{{cite web |url=http://www.lsvd.de/611+M5e34e9a2777.0.html |title=LSVD:Warum hetzt der Papst immer wieder gegen Homosexuelle? |publisher=Lsvd.de |date=22 June 2008 |access-date=2 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100117155132/http://www.lsvd.de/611%2BM5e34e9a2777.0.html |archive-date=17 January 2010}} Aurelio Mancuso, head of Arcigay, said "A divine programme for men and women is out of line with nature, where the roles are not so clear." Canadian author Daniel Gawthrop, in a critical biography, The Trial of Pope Benedict, said that the Pope blamed homosexuality "for a problem the church had willingly enabled for hundreds of years".The Trial of Pope Benedict: Joseph Ratzinger and the Vatican's Assault on Reason, Compassion, and Human Dignity (2013, Arsenal Pulp Press)

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi claimed the Pope had not wished specifically to attack people with homosexual inclinations, and had not mentioned gays or lesbians in his text. Lombardi insisted that there had been an overreaction to the pope's remarks, saying: "He was speaking more generally about gender theories which overlook the fundamental difference in creation between men and women and focus instead on cultural conditioning." Nevertheless, the remarks were interpreted as a call to save mankind from homosexuals and transsexuals.

In an address to a conference of the Diocese of Rome held at the basilica of St. John Lateran 6 June 2005, Benedict remarked on the issues of same-sex marriage and abortion:{{Cite web |date=6 June 2005 |title=Pope Slams Gay 'Pseudo-Matrimony' |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-slams-gay-pseudo-matrimony/ |access-date=8 February 2021 |publisher=CBS News |language=en-US}}

{{blockquote

| The various forms of the dissolution of matrimony today, like free unions, trial marriages and going up to pseudo-matrimonies by people of the same sex, are rather expressions of an anarchic freedom that wrongly passes for true freedom of man ... from here it becomes all the more clear how contrary it is to human love, to the profound vocation of man and woman, to systematically close their union to the gift of life, and even worse to suppress or tamper with the life that is born.

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During a 2012 Christmas speech,{{Cite web |author=Benedict XVI |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2012/december/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20121221_auguri-curia_en.html |title=Address of his Holiness Benedict XVI on the occasion of Christmas greetings |publisher=Vatican |date=21 December 2012 |access-date=26 December 2012}} Benedict made remarks about the present-day interpretation of the notion of gender. He stated that a new philosophy of sexuality, which he rejects, suggests that "sex is no longer a given element of nature, that man has to accept and personally make sense of: it is a social role that we choose for ourselves", and "The words of the creation account: 'male and female he created them' (Gen 1:27) no longer apply". Although he did not mention the topic, his words were interpreted by news media as denunciations of same-sex marriage,{{Cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-denounces-gay-marriage-as-people-manipulating-their-godgiven-gender-to-suit-sexual-choices-8428862.html |title=Pope denounces gay marriage as 'people manipulating their God-given gender to suit sexual choices' |first1=Jerome |last1=Taylor |newspaper=The Independent |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221170419/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-denounces-gay-marriage-as-people-manipulating-their-godgiven-gender-to-suit-sexual-choices-8428862.html |archive-date=21 December 2012 |date=21 December 2012 |access-date=21 December 2012}} with some outlets adding that Benedict would have called it a threat to world peace similar to abortion and euthanasia.{{Cite news |url=http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/pope-makes-new-anti-gay-marriage-stance/story-fn3dxix6-1226542140170 |title=Pope makes new anti-gay marriage stance |newspaper=The Australian |agency=Australian Associated Press (AAP) |access-date=21 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121221130951/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/pope-makes-new-anti-gay-marriage-stance/story-fn3dxix6-1226542140170 |archive-date=21 December 2012}} In March 2012, he stated that heterosexual marriages should be defended from "every possible misrepresentation of their true nature".{{Cite web |url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2012/03/09/pope-straight-marriage-must-be-defended-from-misrepresentation/ |title=Pope: Straight marriage must be 'defended from misrepresentation' |first1=Stephen |last1=Gray |website=Pink News |date=9 March 2012 |access-date=21 December 2012}}

{{Main|Foreign relations of the Holy See}}

In a message released 14 November 2006, during a Vatican press conference for the 2007 annual observance of World Day for Migrants and Refugees, the Pope urged the ratification of international conventions and policies that defend all migrants, including refugees, exiles, evacuees and internally displaced persons. "The church encourages the ratification of the international legal instruments that aim to defend the rights of migrants, refugees and their families," the Pope said. "Much is already being done for the integration of the families of immigrants, although much still remains to be done."{{cite web |url=http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=22001 |title=Pope Benedict XVI message for 93rd World Day of Migrants and Refugees |publisher=Catholic Online |date=14 November 2006 |access-date=2 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021221338/http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=22001&page=2 |archive-date=21 October 2012 }}and

Benedict also promoted various UN events, such as World Refugee Day, on which he offered up special prayers for refugees and called for the international community to do more to secure refugees' human rights. He also called on Catholic communities and organizations to offer them concrete help.Wooden, Cindy {{cite web |url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0603503.htm |title=Pope offers prayers to refugees for United Nations' World Refugee Day |publisher=Catholicnews.com |access-date=2 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629173344/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0603503.htm |archive-date=29 June 2011 }}

In 2015, it was reported that Benedict was "praying for migrants and refugees" from Syria.{{cite web |url=http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2015/09/07/the_pope_emeritus_is_praying_for_migrants_and_refugees/1170080 |title=The Pope Emeritus is praying for migrants and refugees |publisher=Vatican Radio |date=7 September 2015 |access-date=22 September 2015}}

{{Main|China–Holy See relations}}

In 2007, Benedict sent a letter at Easter to Catholics in China that could have wide-ranging implications for the Church's relationship with China's leadership. The letter provides long-requested guidance to Chinese bishops on how to respond to illicitly ordained bishops, as well as how to strengthen ties with the Patriotic Association and the Communist government.{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20070527_china_en.html |title=Letter of Pope Benedict XVI to Chinese Catholics, 27 May 2007 |publisher=Vatican.va |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110906022747/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20070527_china_en.html |archive-date=6 September 2011 }} Benedict wrote that despite the two Catholic communities in China (i.e. the "Patriotic" Church and the "Underground" Church) there is no schism between them. Benedict stated that sacraments performed by the priests not in unity with the Vatican were valid but also illicit. He stated that the Catholic Church accepts the legitimacy of the civil authorities in secular matters and that the Pope has authority in ecclesial matters, and therefore the involvement of the Catholic Patriotic Association in the appointment of bishops (and its bishops conference) violated Catholic doctrine. The letter also removed the permission granted by the Vatican in 1978 to the Underground church to appoint bishops without Vatican approval.{{Cite book |last=Moody |first=Peter |title=The Taiwan Question in Xi Jinping's Era: Beijing's Evolving Taiwan Policy and Taiwan's Internal and External Dynamics |publisher=Routledge |year=2024 |isbn=9781032861661 |editor-last=Zhao |editor-first=Suisheng |editor-link=Suisheng Zhao |location=London and New York |chapter=The Vatican and Taiwan: An Anomalous Diplomatic Relationship}}{{Rp|page=185}}

On 13 November 2006, Benedict said that the dispute over the North Korea nuclear weapons program should be resolved through negotiations, in his first public comment on the security issue, a news report said. "The Holy See encourages bilateral or multilateral negotiations, convinced that the solution must be sought through peaceful means and in respect for agreements taken by all sides to obtain the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula." Benedict was talking to the new Japanese ambassador to the Vatican.[http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-154356074.html "Pope urges talks to make Korean Peninsula nuclear free"]{{dead link|date=July 2019}}{{cbignore}} YON – Yonhap News Agency of Korea 14 November 2006. Retrieved 26 January 2011

{{Main|Holy See–Turkey relations}}

In a 2004 Le Figaro interview, Ratzinger said that Turkey, which is demographically Muslim but governmentally secular by virtue of its state constitution, should seek its future in an association of Muslim nations rather than the European Union, which Ratzinger stated has Christian roots. He said Turkey had always been "in permanent contrast to Europe and that linking it to Europe would be a mistake".{{Cite web|url=https://www.catholicculture.org/news/features/index.cfm?recnum=31436|title=News Features|website=catholicculture.org}}

Later visiting the country to "reiterate the solidarity between the cultures," it was reported that Benedict made a counter-statement backing Turkey's bid to join the EU. Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said that the Pope told him in their meeting that while the Vatican seeks to stay out of politics, it desires Turkey's membership in the EU.Krause-Jackson, Flavia and Mark Bentley {{cite news |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=a0hofLY1v5.U&refer=europe |title=Pope Benedict Backs Turkey's European Union Bid |publisher=Bloomberg L.P. |date=28 November 2006 |access-date=2 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626182256/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=a0hofLY1v5.U&refer=europe |archive-date=26 June 2009}}{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6192770.stm |title=Pope calls for religious exchange |work=BBC News |date=28 November 2006 |access-date=2 February 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111025023949/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6192770.stm |archive-date=25 October 2011 }} However, the Common Declaration of Pope Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI and Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople implied that support for Turkey's membership in the European Union would be contingent on the establishment of religious freedom in Turkey:Donohue, William [http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idcategory=34&idSub=160&idArticle=6852 "Pope did not change stance on Turkey and EU"], Spero News, 30 November 2006 [https://web.archive.org/web/20120121121309/http://www.speroforum.com/site/article.asp?idcategory=34&idSub=160&idArticle=6852 WebCitation archive] "In every step towards unification, minorities must be protected, with their cultural traditions and the distinguishing features of their religion."{{cite web |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/november/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20061130_dichiarazione-comune_en.html |title=Common Declaration by His Holiness Benedict XVI and Patriarch Bartholomew I |publisher=Vatican.va |date=30 November 2006|access-date=17 February 2013}}

{{Main|Holy See–Israel relations}}

In May 2009, Benedict visited Israel.{{cite news |last=Cashman |first=Greer Fay |title=Grapevine: The eyes have it |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=12 May 2009 |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1242029511750&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter |access-date=14 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624084725/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1242029511750&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter |archive-date=24 June 2013 }}{{cite news|title=David D'Or and Dudu Fisher Sing for the Pope |publisher=Consulate General of Israel in New York |year=2009 |url=http://www.israelfm.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=165&Itemid=146 |access-date=14 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100622005506/http://www.israelfm.org/index.php?option=com_content |archive-date=22 June 2010 }} This was the third Papal visit to Israel, the previous ones being made by Paul{{nbsp}}VI in 1964 and John Paul{{nbsp}}II in 2000.

{{Main|Holy See–Vietnam relations}}

Vietnamese prime minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng met with Benedict at the Vatican on 25 January 2007 in a "new and important step towards establishing diplomatic ties".{{Cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6297141.stm|title=Vietnamese leader meets pontiff|date=25 January 2007|publisher=BBC}} The Pope met with Vietnamese president Nguyễn Minh Triết on 11 December 2009. Vatican officials called the meeting "a significant stage in the progress of bilateral relations with Vietnam."{{cite web |url=https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/18032/relations-progress-as-vietnamese-president-meets-with-pope |title=Relations progress as Vietnamese president meets with Pope |publisher=Catholicnewsagency.com |date=11 December 2009 |access-date=17 February 2013}}

In July 2009, Benedict published his third encyclical, Caritas in veritate{{cite web

|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html

|title=Caritas in Veritate 'Charity in Truth'

|publisher=Vatican Publishing House

|author=Benedict XVI

|date=7 July 2009 |access-date=7 July 2009 |url-status=live

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902070515/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/encyclicals/documents/hf_ben-xvi_enc_20090629_caritas-in-veritate_en.html

|archive-date=2 September 2011

}} (Charity in truth), setting out the philosophical and moral foundations for human development, individually and collectively, in striving for the common good. This was the last encyclical of Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI's papacy.

Caritas in veritate makes a case for the charitable distribution of wealth in considerable detail and discusses the environment, migration, terrorism, sexual tourism, bioethics, energy and population. The Financial Times reported that Benedict's advocacy for a fairer redistribution of wealth helped set the agenda for the 2009 July G8 summit.{{Cite news

| url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/cc9150d0-6af4-11de-861d-00144feabdc0.html

| title = Pope condemns capitalism's 'failures'

|work=Financial Times

| author=Dinmore, Guy

| date = 7 July 2009

| access-date =7 July 2009}}{{Cite news

|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6657155.ece

|title=Pope Benedict XVI calls for new economic system based on love in G8 message

|work=The Times

|author=Gledhill, Ruth

|date=7 July 2009 |access-date=7 July 2009 |location=London

|url-status=dead

|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220622045839/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6657155.ece?token=null&offset=12&page=2

|archive-date=22 June 2022

}}and

Also included in Charity in Truth is advocacy for tax choice:

One possible approach to development aid would be to apply effectively what is known as fiscal subsidiarity, allowing citizens to decide how to allocate a portion of the taxes they pay to the State. Provided it does not degenerate into the promotion of special interests, this can help to stimulate forms of welfare solidarity from below, with obvious benefits in the area of solidarity for development as well.

Benedict supported the peaceful use of nuclear energy as a tool for development and the fight against poverty. In his message for the 50th anniversary of the founding of the International Atomic Energy Agency, he confirmed: "The Holy See, fully approving of the IAEA's goal, has been a member from the organisation's foundation and continues to support its activity."{{cite web|url=http://news.karpasha.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=273:pope-calls-for-disarmament-backs-nuke-energy&Itemid=66 |title=Pope calls for disarmament, backs nuke energy |work=karpasha.com |date=13 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713135315/http://news.karpasha.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=273%3Apope-calls-for-disarmament-backs-nuke-energy&Itemid=66 |archive-date=13 July 2011 |last1=Com |first1=www. Karpasha }}

File:Benoît XVI synode 2008.jpg in Rome, 2008]]

Benedict was known to be deeply interested in classical music,{{cite news |last=Willey |first=David |date=13 May 2005 |title=Pope Benedict's creature comforts |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4539613.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110324142503/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4539613.stm |archive-date=24 March 2011 |access-date=2 February 2010 |work=BBC News}} and was an accomplished pianist.{{cite web|url=http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0931189.html |title=Benedict XVI |publisher=Infoplease.com |access-date=14 June 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110820192202/http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0931189.html |archive-date=20 August 2011 }} His favourite composer was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, of whose music he said: "His music is by no means just entertainment; it contains the whole tragedy of human existence."{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_38_42/ai_n26705248 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20090628130953/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_38_42/ai_n26705248 |archive-date=28 June 2009 |title=Mozart: Catholic, Master Mason, favorite of the pope, National Catholic Reporter |via=Find Articles |access-date=6 May 2009 | first1=John L. | last1=Allen | year=2006}} Benedict also stated that Mozart's music affected him greatly as a young man and "deeply penetrated his soul". Benedict's favourite works of music were Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Clarinet Quintet.Freer, Mark [http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/arts/al0275.htm Pope Benedict XVI, Mozart and the Quest of Beauty], Catholic Education Research Center. Retrieved 19 October 2010. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110926225907/http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/arts/al0275.htm WebCitation archive] Benedict also enjoyed Bach, particularly Mass in B Minor and St Matthew Passion.Lafortune, Chantal [http://www.missiodeicatholic.org/p/the-pope-who-loved-mozart-in-memory.htm The Pope Who Loved Mozart: In Loving Memory of Pope Benedict XVI], Missio Dei. Retrieved 26 April 2025. [https://web.archive.org/web/20230109214217/https://www.missiodeicatholic.org/p/the-pope-who-loved-mozart-in-memory.htm WebCitation archive] He recorded an album of contemporary classical music in which he sings and recites prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary.{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna32234570|title=Pope rock: Benedict sings on album – World news – Europe – The Vatican |date=31 July 2009 |publisher=NBC News}} The album was set for release on 30 November 2009.

Benedict was also known to be fond of cats. As Cardinal Ratzinger, he was known (according to former neighbours) to look after stray cats in his neighbourhood, Borgo. A book called Joseph and Chico: A Cat Recounts the Life of Pope Benedict XVI was published in 2007 which told the story of the Pope's life from the feline Chico's perspective. This story was inspired by an orange tabby Pentling cat, which belonged to the family next door.Simpson, Victor L. [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008052211_apaustraliapopebenedictandbella.html "Did the Aussies give the pope a cat for company?"]{{dead link|date=March 2024|bot=medic}}The Seattle Times 15 July 2008. Retrieved 28 August 2011 [https://web.archive.org/web/20121022002605/http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008052211_apaustraliapopebenedictandbella.html WebCitation archive] During his trip to Australia for World Youth Day in 2008, the media reported that festival organizers lent the Pope a grey cat called Bella{{cite web|url=http://www.angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=259135&highlight=&sid=09c92dc6a27d356734249399ec8488ea |title=Angelqueen.org :: View topic – Pope's smitten with a kitten |date=20 July 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720013027/http://www.angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=259135&highlight=&sid=09c92dc6a27d356734249399ec8488ea |archive-date=20 July 2011 }} to keep him company during his stay.{{cite web |url=http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iCVZy8nzclwYUHEVtFpVM7LOLY8w |title=Pope rests with piano and cat ahead of World Youth Day |work=Google News |date=13 July 2008 |access-date=6 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110426041329/http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iCVZy8nzclwYUHEVtFpVM7LOLY8w |archive-date=26 April 2011 }}

In December 2012, the Vatican announced that Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI had joined social networking website Twitter, under the handle @Pontifex.{{cite news| url= http://www.3news.co.nz/Pope-Benedict-XVI-joins-Twitter/tabid/412/articleID/279065/Default.aspx| work= 3 News NZ| title= Pope Benedict XVI joins Twitter| date= 4 December 2012| access-date= 3 December 2012| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130405130803/http://www.3news.co.nz/Pope-Benedict-XVI-joins-Twitter/tabid/412/articleID/279065/Default.aspx| archive-date= 5 April 2013| df= dmy-all}} His first tweet was made on 12 December and was "Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart."{{cite news |title=Pope tweets a blessing from his new personal account|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/12/12/pope-tweets-benedict-twitter/1762819/?csp=breakingnews|work=USA Today|access-date=12 December 2012|date=12 December 2012}} On 28 February 2013, the day he retired, the tweets were archived, and @Pontifex read "Sede Vacante".{{cite web|title=Pope Benedict XVI's final day: Live Report |url=http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/afp/pope-benedict-xvis-final-day-live-report/574646 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411224348/http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/afp/pope-benedict-xvis-final-day-live-report/574646 |archive-date=11 April 2013 |work=Jakarta Globe |access-date=28 February 2013 }} Pope Francis took control of the @Pontifex account upon his election.Ngak, Chenda. [http://www.cbsnews.com/news/vatican-sends-first-tweet-under-pope-francis/ Vatican sends first tweet under Pope Francis] CBS News. 13 March 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2016.

File:20130214 - Notre-Dame de Paris - Les nouvelles cloches - 007.jpg was named Benoît-Joseph after Benedict.]]

A variety of awards and honours were given to Benedict including the following:

• 1999 Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta{{cite web |title=Benedict XVI return to the Father's House |url=https://www.orderofmalta.int/news/benedict-xvi-return-fathers-house/ |publisher=Order of Malta |access-date=31 December 2022}}
• 2010 honorary citizen of Romano Canavese, Piedmont{{cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2010/march/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20100317_romano-canavese_en.html|title=Conferral of Honorary Citizenship of the Italian City of Romano Canavese |author=Benedict XVI |date=17 March 2010|publisher=The Vatican|access-date=8 March 2013}}
• 2010 honorary citizen of Lisbon, honouring his visit to the city on 11–12 May 2010{{cite web|title=Homily of His Holiness Benedict XVI, Terreiro do Paço of Lisbon Tuesday, 11 May 2010|url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2010/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20100511_terreiro-paco_en.html|author=Benedict XVI |publisher=Holy See|access-date=12 March 2014|quote=I warmly thank (...) the Mayor of Lisbon, who has been good enough to confer upon me the keys of the city.}}
• The asteroid 8661 Ratzinger was named in his honour for the role he played in supervising the opening of the Vatican Apostolic Archive in 1998 to researchers investigating judicial errors against Galileo and other scientists. The name was proposed by the asteroid's discoverers, L. D. Schmadel and F. Borngen at Tautenburg.{{cite web|title=8661 Ratzinger (1990 TA13) |work=NASA |url=http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=8661+Ratzinger |access-date=28 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150705164903/http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=8661+Ratzinger |archive-date=5 July 2015}}

{{Main|Coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI}}

{{Further|Papal coats of arms}}

{{Emblem table

| image = Coat of arms of Benedictus XVI.svg

| notes = The coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI was designed by then Archbishop Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo (who later was created a cardinal) soon after the papal election. Benedict's coat of arms omitted the papal tiara, which traditionally appears in the background to designate the pope's position as a worldly ruler such as a king, replacing it with a simple mitre, emphasising his spiritual authority.{{Cite web |last1=Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo |first1=Andrea |url=https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/elezione/stemma-benedict-xvi_en.html |title=Coat of Arms of His Holiness Benedict XVI |publisher=The Vatican |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110923152906/https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/elezione/stemma-benedict-xvi_en.html |archive-date=23 September 2011 }}

| adopted = 22 April 2005

| crest =

| torse =

| helm = 35px Bishop's miter

| escutcheon = Gules chapé ployé or, in base an escallop of the same, in dexter chief a Moor's head proper, crowned and collared of the field, and in sinister chief a bear trippant proper, carrying a pack gules belted sable.

| orders =

| other_elements = Keys of Peter behind HH's shield and papal mantling

| symbolism = {{it col|Moor of Freising}} The Moor's head is an heraldic charge associated with Freising, Germany.

:{{it col|Corbinian's bear}} A legend states that while travelling to Rome, Saint Corbinian's pack horse was killed by a bear. He commanded the bear to carry the load. Once he arrived, he released it from his service, and it returned to Bavaria. The implication is that "Christianity tamed and domesticated the ferocity of paganism and thus laid the foundations for a great civilisation in the Duchy of Bavaria." At the same time, Corbinian's bear, as God's beast of burden, symbolizes the weight of office that Benedict carried.

:{{it col|Scallop shell}} The symbolism of the scallop shell is multiple; one reference is to Saint Augustine. While a doctoral candidate in 1953, Ratzinger wrote his thesis The People and the House of God in St Augustine's Doctrine of the Church,{{Cite web |title=Joseph Ratzinger |url=http://www.fondazioneratzinger.va/content/fondazioneratzinger/en/joseph-ratzinger.html |publisher=Fondazione Ratzinger |access-date=28 December 2022}} and therefore has a personal connection with the thought of this Doctor of the Church.

}}

{{Main|Pope Benedict XVI bibliography}}

Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI wrote 66 books, three encyclicals, and four apostolic exhortations.{{cite web|url=https://en.as.com/latest_news/how-many-books-has-benedict-xvi-written-and-which-are-the-most-famous-n/ |title=How many books has Benedict XVI written and which are the most famous? |publisher=Diario AS |access-date=31 December 2022 |date=29 December 2022 }}

{{Expand section|date=January 2023}}

At his death, prior criticism of Benedict{{nbsp}}XVI received renewed attention, particularly that from public health officials, anti-AIDS activists, and victim's rights organizations over his handling of sexual abuse cases within the Catholic Church and position on the use of condoms in areas of high HIV transmission.{{cite news |last1=Burke|first1=Daniel|last2=Messia |first2=Hada |date=31 December 2022 |title='God's Rottweiler': Benedict shaped Catholic doctrine but faced criticism for handling of sexual abuse crisis |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/31/europe/joseph-ratzinger-pope-benedict-xvi-obituary-intl/index.html |access-date=31 December 2022 |publisher=CNN}}

Both Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow expressed their condolences at Benedict's death. Welby referred to the former pope as "one of the greatest theologians of his age", while Kirill praised conciliatory efforts undertaken between the Catholic and Russian Orthodox churches during Benedict's pontificate.{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/31/europe/pope-benedict-xvi-death-intl/index.html|title=Former Pope Benedict XVI dies in Vatican monastery aged 95|publisher=CNN|date=1 January 2023|access-date=2 January 2023|first1=Jack|last1=Guy|first2=Valentina|last2=Di Donato|first3=Sugam|last3=Pokharel|first4=Sharon|last4=Braithwaite|first5=James|last5=Frater|first6=Allegra|last6=Goodwin}}

Some Catholics have called for Benedict's recognition as a Doctor of the Church,{{Cite web|url=https://www.ncregister.com/cna/pope-benedict-xvi-doctor-of-the-church|title=Pope Benedict XVI: Doctor of the Church?|last=Bunson|first=Matthew|date=8 January 2023|work=National Catholic Register|publisher=EWTN News|access-date=29 January 2023}} with Cardinal Gerhard Müller describing him as a "true doctor of the Church for today."{{Cite web|url=https://www.ncregister.com/interview/cardinal-mueller-benedict-xvi-will-be-remembered-as-a-true-doctor-of-the-church-for-today|title=Cardinal Müller: Benedict XVI Will Be Remembered as a 'True Doctor of the Church for Today'|last=Pentin|first=Edward|date=31 December 2022|work=National Catholic Register|publisher=EWTN News|access-date=29 January 2023}}

• Cardinals created by Benedict XVI
• List of German universities affiliated with Pope Benedict XVI
• Papal regalia and insignia – papal attire
• Three Secrets of Fátima – document on the release of the Third Secret of Fátima

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• Allen, John L.: Cardinal Ratzinger: the Vatican's enforcer of the faith. – New York: Continuum, 2000.
• Cavadini, John C. Explorations in the Theology of Benedict XVI. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2012.
• Benedetti, Amedeo: Il linguaggio di Benedetto XVI, al secolo Joseph Ratzinger. – Genova, Erga, 2012
• Herrmann, Horst: Benedikt XVI. Der neue Papst aus Deutschland. – Berlin 2005
• Nichols OP, Aidan: The Theology of Joseph Ratzinger: An Introductory Study. – Edinburgh; T&T Clark, 1988
• Pater Prior Maximilian Heim: Joseph Ratzinger – Kirchliche Existenz und existenzielle Theologie unter dem Anspruch von Lumen gentium (diss.).
• Twomey, D. Vincent, S.V.D.: Pope Benedict XVI: The Conscience of Our Age (A Theological Portrait). – San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2007
• Wagner, Karl: Kardinal Ratzinger: der Erzbischof in München und Freising in Wort und Bild. – München: Pfeiffer, 1977

{{refend}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{citation|author=Pope Benedict XVI|author-link=Pope Benedict XVI|chapter=Origen of Alexandria: Life and Work|title=Church Fathers: From Clement of Rome to Augustine|date=25 April 2007|publisher=Libreria Editrice Vaticana|location=Vatican City|isbn=978-1-68149-472-2|pages=24–27|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D5azDAAAQBAJ&q=Origen+of+Alexandria+Church+Father&pg=PT24}}

{{refend}}

{{refbegin}}

• Peter Seewald: Benedict XVI: A Life, in two volumes: Volume One: Youth in Nazi Germany to the Second Vatican Council 1927–1965, Volume Two: Professor and Prefect to Pope and Pope Emeritus, 1966 – The Present, translated from the German by Dinah Livingstone, London: Bloomsbury, 2020.
• Joseph Ratzinger (= Benedikt XVI. – autobiographical): Aus meinem Leben. (1927–1977). Stuttgart 1998, {{ISBN|3-453-16509-8}}.

• Alexander Kissler: Papst im Widerspruch: Benedikt XVI. und seine Kirche 2005–2013. Pattloch 2013, {{ISBN|978-3629022158}}.
• Campbell, Paul-Henri: Pope Benedikt XVI. Audio Book. Monarda Publishing House, 2012, {{ISBN|3-939513-80-6}}.
• Pursell, Brennan, Benedict of Bavaria: An Intimate Portrait of the Pope and His Homeland (Circle Press, 2008). {{ISBN|1-933271-17-5}}.
• Allen, John L. The Rise of Benedict XVI: The Inside Story of How the Pope Was Elected and Where He Will Take the Catholic Church. NY: Doubleday, 2005. {{ISBN|0-385-51320-8}}.
• Allen, John L. Pope Benedict XVI: A Biography of Joseph Ratzinger. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005. {{ISBN|0-8264-1786-8}}. This is a reprint of Allen's 2000 book Cardinal Ratzinger: the Vatican's Enforcer of the Faith.
• Bardazzi, Marco. In the Vineyard of the Lord: The Life, Faith, and Teachings of Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI. New York: Rizzoli International, 2005. {{ISBN|0-8478-2801-8}}
• Tobin, Greg. Holy Father: Pope Benedict XVI: Pontiff for a New Era. Sterling, 2005. {{ISBN|1-4027-3172-8}}.
• Weigel, George. God's Choice: Pope Benedict XVI and the Future of the Catholic Church, HarperCollins, 2005. {{ISBN|0-06-621331-2}}.
• Jeanne Perego. Joseph e Chico: Un gatto racconta la vita di Papa Benedetto XVI {{in lang|it}}, EMP, 2007. {{ISBN|978-8825018820}}.
• {{Cite web |date=31 December 2022 |title=Death of Pope Emeritus Benedict: his official biography |url=https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2022-12/pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-official-biography.html |access-date=31 December 2022 |website=Vatican News |language=en}}

{{refend}}

• The Keys of the Kingdom, from John Paul II to Benedict XVI, produced by Vatican Television Center, distributed by HDH Communications, 2006.

• [https://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/index.htm Profile] at the Vatican website
• {{Catholic-hierarchy|bishop|bratz|Pope Benedict XVI}}
• [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/lcwa/html/papal/papal-overview.html Papal Transition 2005 Web Archive] from the US Library of Congress
• [https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2022/12/31/221231f.html Spiritual Testament of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, 31.12.2022], Vatican.va

{{s-start}}

{{s-rel|ca}}

{{s-bef|before=Julius Döpfner}}

{{s-ttl|title=Archbishop of Munich and Freising|years=24 March 1977 – 15 February 1982}}

{{s-aft|after=Friedrich Wetter}}

|-

{{s-bef|before=Jérôme Rakotomalala}}

{{s-ttl|title=Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria Consolatrice al Tiburtino|years=27 June 1977 – 5 April 1993}}

{{s-aft|after=Ricardo María Carles Gordó}}

|-

{{s-bef|before=Franjo Šeper}}

{{s-ttl|title=Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith|years=25 November 1981 – 2 April 2005}}

{{s-aft|after=William Levada}}

|-

{{s-bef|before=Sebastiano Baggio}}

{{s-ttl|title=Cardinal-Bishop of Velletri–Segni|years=5 April 1993 – 19 April 2005}}

{{s-aft|after=Francis Arinze}}

|-

{{s-bef|before=Agostino Casaroli}}

{{s-ttl|title=Vice-Dean of the College of Cardinals|years=9 June 1998 – 30 November 2002}}

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{{Pope Benedict XVI}}

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Category:1927 births

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Category:20th-century German cardinals

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Category:Anti-consumerists

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Ratzinger, Joseph

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Category:People from Altötting (district)

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Category:Ratzinger family

Category:Recipients of the Grand Decoration with Sash for Services to the Republic of Austria

Category:Roman Catholic archbishops of Munich and Freising

Category:German people of Italian descent