Pope Benedict XVI: The man who gave everything up
After a scandal-plagued pontificate, the brilliant theologian and staunch conservative values advocate Benedict XVI made history by resigning as pope, making history as the first pope to do so since the Middle Ages.
After leading the Catholic Church for nearly eight years, German Joseph Ratzinger resigned in February 2013 due to deteriorating physical and mental health.
He kept his white cassock as pope emeritus but lived a life of study and prayer for the remainder of his life, breaking his vow to live “hidden from the world” by offering his opinions on contentious issues.
As the scandal of child sex abuse plagued his pontificate, accusations in his latter years as archbishop of Munich cast a shadow over his own inability to put an end to the abuse of four clerics.
While the Vatican vigorously defended Benedict’s record of confronting abuse, Benedict adamantly denied being involved in any cover-up.
– The Guillotine
In April 2005, Benedict took over as pope after the 78-year-old John Paul II.
A lonely man who loved walks by himself and cats, he likened becoming pope to the guillotine.
Those who knew him spoke of his quiet but kind demeanor and dry sense of humor, despite the fact that he lacked the vibrancy of his predecessor John Paul II and the warmth of his successor Pope Francis.
He was the first to acknowledge this.
His attempts to address the largest canaries in the Church’s wardrobe, child sex abuse and the Vatican’s shady finances, were met with fierce resistance, and many think the pressure got to him.
Having previously held the position of chief doctrinal enforcer for the Church, Ratzinger gained the nickname “God’s Rottweiler” and a reputation as a generally conservative theologian.
He was ultimately in charge of looking into allegations of child sex abuse by priests since he was the head of the Vatican’s doctrinal congregation.
He met with victims in person and expressed “deep remorse,” becoming the first pope to apologize for the scandals that surfaced globally.
Critics countered that he was not upholding the law.
Benedict also seemed to have lost control of his household and was unable to establish his authority over the Church’s governing body, the Curia.
Paolo Gabriele, his butler, gave media access to confidential documents in 2012. A money-laundering scandal involving a Vatican bank also revealed discord among his closest allies.
At the beginning of his pontificate, Benedict reportedly begged for the courage to stay put rather than run away from the “wolves” who were out to get him, according to his trusted and long-time aide Georg Gaenswein.
But by September 2012, he was announcing his resignation to his closest allies.
Benedict informed the cardinals in Latin five months later of his intention to retire, making him the first pope to do so since 1415.
Benedict, who was 85 at the time, stated, “My body and mental strength have deteriorated to the point where I have to acknowledge my inability to adequately fulfill the ministry.”
His dream was to go back to his home state of Bavaria.
Rather, Benedict studied, prayed, and played the piano for as long as his health permitted during the first papal retirement in six centuries, which took place in a former monastery inside the Vatican.
He insisted that his entire library be moved in with him, giving up his signature ruby red shoes but not his books.
