I first met Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1994 when I was researching my book “Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church.” I was getting ready to leave Rome and he was one of the last and most important interviews for the book. Because of illness, he had to cancel our first Read more
In the history of the papacy, Benedict XVI marks a caesura or a break, something quite ironic, given the fact that many traditionalist Catholics identify his pontificate with the “hermeneutics of continuity”. This caesura is not only tied to his decision in 2013 to voluntarily resign the papal office but even more so to the Read more
Retired Pope Benedict XVI’s lack of a personal apology or admission of guilt immediately riled sex abuse survivors. They said his response reflected the Catholic hierarchy’s “permanent” refusal to accept responsibility for the rape and sodomy of children by priests. Benedict’s letter received a lukewarm reception from bishops in Germany, while victims’ organisations expressed disappointment, Read more
SNAP Aotearoa New Zealand is calling for Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI to be prosecuted if evidence proves he obstructed clerical child abuse complaints when he was Archbishop of Munich and Freising. Christopher Longhurst, who coordinates Aotearoa New Zealand’s Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) was commenting on the likelihood of Benedict’s knowledge of Read more
Archbishop Georg Gänswein has said that both he and Benedict XVI have received three COVID-19 vaccine doses “out of conviction.” The pope emeritus’ private secretary made the remark in a nine-page interview in the December edition of the German publication Vatican-magazin. The Vatican began administering doses of the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine in January and confirmed in Read more
Pope Francis is a patient pastor. Until he isn’t. His new apostolic letter, Traditionis Custodes, in which Francis communicates “the firm decision to abrogate all the norms, instructions, permissions and customs that precede the present [document] and declare that the liturgical books promulgated by the saintly Pontiffs Paul VI and John Paul II … constitute Read more
Thumping the armrest of his chair, Emeritis Pope, Benedict XVI smacked down conservative Catholics who failed to accept the legitimacy of Pope Francis. Benedict called the conservative Catholics “fanatics”. Some hardline conservatives Catholics are unhappy with Pope Francis and have often voiced doubts about whether Benedict stepped down willingly. “Some of my more fanatical friends Read more
“Pastorally dangerous” and “unhelpful” is how South African ethicist Anthony Egan SJ is labelling the Archdiocese of New Orleans claim the Johnson & Johnson Covid Vaccine is “morally compromised”. He made the claims in America Magazine. Egan’s irritation is that just one day before the US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorisation to a Read more
Emeritus Pope Benedict’s papal biographer, Peter Seewald says the former pope as “extremely frail”. Seewald’s comments are reported in the Monday edition of the German Passauer Neue Presse. He visited the former pope in Rome on Saturday to present him with his biography. Benedict, 93, reportedly became ill after visiting his sick brother in Germany Read more
Retired Pope Benedict XVI followed the funeral of his brother, Georg Ratzinger, via livestreaming, reported the German Catholic news agency KNA. Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg said Pope Benedict, 93, was connected to the Mass taking place for his older brother July 8 in the Regensburg Cathedral. Msgr. Georg Ratzinger died on July 1 at Read more