Angela Merkel: Pope Benedict one of the most important religious thinkers of our time

Many in Germany haven’t always had an easy relationship with the conservative-minded Pope Benedict XVI, but most on Monday praised their countryman’s courage in deciding to step down from his position amid failing health.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, a Protestant, said that the 85-year-old pope’s decision that he was no longer fit enough to continue in the job “earns my very highest respect.”

“In our time of ever-lengthening life, many people will be able to understand how the pope as well has to deal with the burdens of aging,” she told reporters in Berlin. Continue reading

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