There are those who say that giving up on time is an art, something complex that can reflect the wisdom of a person. Doing so implies putting aside the ego and the privileges that holding a position gives. It must be difficult to make the decision when you occupy a position of power in the world.
Y Benedict XVIo Joseph Ratzinger as he was called until the Roman afternoon of April 19, 2005, he resigned in 2013 from being the highest hierarch of the Catholic Church, one of the most prestigious positions in the world. He was one of the most powerful men on earth.
It is true that he did so in the midst of an imminent pedophilia scandal, as priests abuse children who attended their parishes, but the fact that he resigned sent a powerful message of humility, a virtue that until then most of the world did not adjudicate him.
It is also true that, on some occasion, he said that he did not feel capable of dealing with the changes that the world was demanding of Catholicism, such as leaving his radical position against homosexuality. That’s why he resigned, and on February 28, 2013, he got on a plane and disappeared from public view.
He became the first pope emeritus, as the prelate begins to be called after he decides to resign, from the present day. The previous pontiff who had made that decision was Gregory XII in 1415. 598 years later, RatzingerBenedict XVI, emulated that decision.
Since he left the Vatican, his life became an enigma. That Benedict is about to die, that others that he has already passed away and the church is hiding him, was heard when his name was pronounced. But in the end, he was shown alive several times in the official Vatican media in recent years. The pope who resigned had not died.
But this Saturday the world woke up to the news that the state of health of Benedict XVI, or Ratzinger, had deteriorated and that he passed away.
But who is J.oseph Ratzingerthe man who became the 265th pope in the history of the Catholic Church?
A young Bavarian, and a Nazi?
He was born on April 26, 1927 in Bavaria, southern Germany. He was the second son of Joseph Ratzinger y Maria Rieger. He grew up moving around various places in Bavaria, until in 1932 his family moved to Aschau am Inn, the municipality where he was born. He finished school in the 1930s, when German National Socialism and his ideas were consolidating as the predominant ones in the Teutonic country.
Later he entered the minor seminary of St. Michael in Traunstein. The directives of the place stayed away from Nazism until 1939, when they could no longer withstand the pressure of the German government of Hitler. At that time Ratzinger was 14 years old. When he turned 16 he was called up to join the Hitler Youth.
However, according to an article written by the Spanish journalist Juan Gonzalez Bedoya, Ratzinger He never wore the Hitler Youth uniform, because in 1943 the group that had armed himself in his city dissolved because it was so small.
It is not known for sure what he did until 1945, when he finished the WWIIWhat is clear is that he studied Catholic Theology and Philosophy in Freising and at the University of Munich. He always had a reputation for being a studious guy. In that period he began to form one of the most brilliant minds of Catholicism during the 20th century. In 1951 he was ordained a priest.
a prestigious professor
They say in the documentary “Benedict XVI, the Pope Emeritus”, that his theology classes were very good. That the students filled the classrooms in which he taught. That he was one of the most prestigious academics that Catholicism had at the time.
But they also say, contrary to what most people think, that he was a progressive theologian, who wanted the church to adapt to what the world demanded of it in the middle of the 20th century. That although he was a continuist and defender of Catholic traditions, he was not a conservative.
That is why the Cardinal Joseph Frings called him to be his adviser in theology during the Second Vatican Council, which was held between 1962 and 1965, and whose objective was to restore the relationship of the Catholic Church with the world. She was there. He was part of that process. His name began to gain strength in Rome.
Priest, Archbishop, Cardinal
He divided himself between intellectual and priestly activities between 1951 and 1977. During that time, the reputation of a tough man that accompanies him to this day was formed and marked his pontificate. Ratzinger was appointed Archbishop of Munich on March 24, 1977. On June 27 of that same year, Paul XVI named him a cardinal of the Catholic Church.
In that position he participated in three conclaves. The one that took place in August 1978 in which John Paul I was elected, the one that took place in October of that year and in which they appointed John Paul II Pope, and in 2005, to which he came almost as the successor of what for many has been the most beloved pope in history and who came out as Benedict XVI.
Other facets of his life
Ratzinger was elected as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1981. He was appointed by John Paul II. From that position he was in charge of defining and defending the fundamental values of Catholicism. That was also what gave him a reputation as a conservative, a strong man, a bad class.
But they say that he was simple, self-absorbed, quiet, a good reader, humble to divine designs, with sufficient obedience that great priests should have, but with the intellectual authority that one should have who had to decide what was good and bad for the church. .
They say that in his time of splendor he spoke ten languages, of which he mastered six almost perfectly: German, Italian, French, Latin, English and Spanish. Also that he is a good pianist, that he really likes German food and that he is a fan of classical music. Much was never known about his private life. He only began to recognize it when he stopped being Ratzinger and became Benedict XVI.
Afterwards, everything around his life became an enigma again. They say that since he retired he dedicated his life to reading and doing prayer exercises that would allow him to prepare for his next step. The definitive encounter with God.
The man who had the courage to renounce and prepare for “the road to return to the father” in the tranquility of prayers, away from scandals and the noise of the world.