MADRID — Pope Benedict XVI’s older brother explained that the Holy Father’s decision to step down from the chair of Peter is for the good of the body of Christ because he had become too weak to carry out his ministry.
“It is a beneficial decision for the Church,” said 89-year-old Msgr. Georg Ratzinger in a published interview with the Spanish daily newspaper ABC, published on Feb. 17.
“He no longer has strength,” Msgr. Ratzinger observed. “He is going through the natural process of aging, like I am as well.”
He said that the Holy Father had cited his advanced age in informing him that he planned to resign.
“My brother wants more peace for his old age,” he explained. “As you get older, your strength begins to fade.”
“In addition, he has had to confront difficult tasks, which he has done as much as he can,” the Pope’s brother said. “It was simply a decision that was made. It’s the natural course of life, and nobody escapes from it.”
Asked how he thinks the Holy Father will be remembered, Msgr. Ratzinger said he hopes his brother will be seen “as a Pope who strove to deepen and spread the faith of the Church with all of his strength,” as well as someone who provided “an example of a life of belief guided by the faith.”
He added that Catholics should “thank God for having entrusted the last few years to a good Pope, and pray that he will send us another good leader of the Church.”
In an impromptu press conference shortly after the Pope announced his resignation on Feb. 11, Msgr. Ratzinger said that his brother “is not to be a full-time retiree.”
Once he steps down at the end of the month and moves into a former monastery on the Vatican grounds, Pope Benedict is “not going to sit around waiting for the day to end,” he explained.
He added that he hopes to have more one-on-one time with his brother in the future, hopefully at Benedict XVI’s new residence.
“They’ll probably have a room there for me,” he said, discounting any possibility of the Pope returning to Germany in the near future.
Jimmy Akin: Was James, not Peter, the head of the Church after Jesus?
Benjamin Wiker: Benedict XVI: Doctor of the Church
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The comments by the Pope’s brother is a confirmation that he said himself a week ago when he first made his announcement to the Cardinals. Yet despite this and the remarks he made at the Ash Weds Audience many people in the blog world continue to either hint or suggest that he is either dying or being forced out because of blackmail the sex abuse crisis and even the Vatileaks scandal a year ago. One of the main writers of this paper is still along with CHIESA is demanding the Pope stay in office (like JPII’s personal secretary) that he is “coming down off he cross” John Paul himself seriously was preparing to abdicate but did not and as a result put the whole Catholic world through a great ordeal in addition he left the running of the Church to his closest friends. How selfish this is. Benedict unlike John Paul is putting the good of the Church first unlike “Blessed” John Paul and we know its true.I find this kind of “the Pope Must die” or change his mind hypocritical and lacking in Common sense. We must respect his decision.Even if we don’t agree with it, because it is act of fidelity.Let us not forget Canon Law is allowing him to do this.
I will pray the god Lord allow these two holy brothers to spend their final years together in peace, in unity and in prayer for the Church and for us the world over.
I’m reading the book “My Brother the Pope “by George Ratzinger. at my churches adoration chapel.
Very interesting.
I wish Pope Benedict’s and the Church’s detractors would drop to their knees and offer thanks for his wise decision to resign. He knows full well that governing 1.2 billion Roman Catholics is too much for an aged and failing person to handle. How could anybody his age effectively minister to a body so vast, the largest single grouping in the world? We ought to be pleased that he put his decision to prayer to the Holy Spirit, then acted in faith, hope and charity to the wisdom – one of the beautiful gifts of the Spirit – offered in the sacrament of Confirmation and a constant by-word of his life. Benedict’s decision ought to be an example for us. When we need counsel, who better to seek that the Lord Himself through prayer? The Lord does answer prayer, sometimes not as we wish. I trust, though, that this holy man heard the Lord say, “It is time. Well done, good and faithful servant. Now go in peace to love and serve Me and others in the time I will give you.”
How can any of us not respect and admire the Holy Father for his decision. Look at what he himself said when he announced his renunciation: he had repeatedly examined his conscience; he intends to lead a life of prayer in the time—let’s pray that it will be many years—remaining to him; he is worn out and no longer able to be as active as a modern Pope needs to be. Who can gainsay this?
STOP!!! LOOK AT THE SITUATION FROM OUR HOLY FATHER’S POSITION. HE ASSISTED BL JOHN PAUL II THROUGH HIS DIFFICULT DAYS AND WITHOUT THAT HELP, JPII WOULD NOT HAVE “FUNCTIONED” AS WELL AS HE DID. POPE BENEDICT REALIZED THE GOOD IS SHOWING US HOW TO SUFFER, BUT HE ALSO REALIZED THE CHURCH WAS AT A STANDSTILL DURING THAT TIME. THESE DAYS ARE PERILOUS AND WE CAN NOT AND “MUST NOT” HAVE THE CHURCH AT A STANDSTILL.
IF YOU WANT THE “GOOD OF THE CHURCH” DIVERT THAT ENERGY TO SOMETHING MEANINGFUL. CARDINAL MAHONEY ATTENDING THE CONCLAVE IS NOT FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH. IT WILL GIVE THE ENEMY MORE FUEL FOR THE FIRE.
each Pope has something to teach us about humility, love , steadfastness, and Faith (If we listen). it isnt either/or it’s all that Christ has to give us.
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