2013
Feb. 28: Date of resignation.
Feb. 11: Announced resignation.
Fourth encyclical, on faith, was expected to be published this year.
2012
Dec. 12: Twitter debut @Pontifex.
Nov. 24: Consistory created Milwaukee native Archbishop James Harvey a cardinal and five other non-European cardinals.
Nov. 20: Releases third volume of Jesus of Nazareth.
Oct. 28 Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization held.
Oct. 21: Canonizes Americans Sts. Kateri Tekakwitha and Marianne Cope.
Oct. 11: Year of Faith begins; 20th anniversary of the publication of the Catechism of the Catholic Church; 50th anniversary of start of Vatican II.
Oct. 7: Declares two new doctors of the Church: St. Hildegard of Bingen and St. John of Avila.
September: Visited Lebanon; released post-synodal apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Medio Oriente on the “Church in the Middle East: Communion and Witness.”
Feb. 18: Appointed 22 new cardinals at fourth ordinary public consistory of his pontificate in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Jan. 1: Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter was officially erected in U.S. for former Anglicans.
2011
Nov. 27: New Mass translation goes into effect in U.S.
November: Trip to Africa; Released post-synodal apostolic exhortation Africae Munus on the “Church in Africa in Service to Reconciliation, Justice and Peace.”
Oct. 27: Hosted a third World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi, Italy, marking the 25th anniversary since John Paul II held the first gathering there.
Oct. 16: Started using wheeled platform at events.
Sept. 22-25: Trip to Germany.
Aug. 18-21: Madrid World Youth Day.
June: Trip to Croatia.
May 16: Vatican letter released on dealing with sexual abuse.
May 1: Beatified John Paul II, saying, “Blessed are you, John Paul, because you believed.”
Lent: Published Vol. 2 of Jesus of Nazareth.
2010:
November: Spain trip; one highlight was traveling to Santiago de Compostela as a pilgrim to venerate the remains of St. James the Greater.
October: Synod of Bishops on the Middle East; Oct. 12: Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization created.
September: Trip to Great Britain; publishes Verbum Domini, a post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the “Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church.”
July 15: Abuse norms revised; the revised rules, signed by the Holy Father May 21 and published in July, sent a clear signal that the Church is “very, very serious” about protecting children and punishing abusive priests.
June: Presides at first vespers in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles, officially marking the closure of the Year of St. Paul. Trip to Cyprus.
May: Trip to Portugal; established Courtyard of the Gentiles to reach out to agnostics and atheists.
April: Trip to Malta; celebrated fifth anniversary as Pope.
Year of Priests was celebrated in 2010.
2009
Nov. 4: Issues apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus authorizing the creation of ordinariates, which are similar to dioceses, for former Anglicans. It allows groups of Anglicans to come into the Catholic Church while retaining elements of the Anglican heritage and liturgical tradition.
November: Full diplomatic relations with Russia established.
October: Synod of Bishops on Africa is held.
September: Visits the Czech Republic.
June 29: Releases Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth) encyclical.
May: Makes a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
March: Announces the Year for Priests (June 19, 2009-June 11, 2010); makes an apostolic trip to Cameroon and Angola.
Jan. 23: Launches Vatican YouTube channel.
January: Lifts the excommunication of four Society of St. Pius X bishops ordained against papal orders in 1988 by the late French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
2008
September: Visited the Shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes, France, to celebrate its 150th anniversary.
July: Celebrated World Youth Day in Sydney.
April: Visited the U.S., traveling to Washington and New York, meeting with victims of clerical abuse and visiting Ground Zero.
2007
Nov. 30: Releases Spe Salvi (Saved in Hope) encyclical.
July 7, 2007: Releases Summorum Pontificum on the use of the Roman Liturgy according to the Missal of 1962, specifying that Masses celebrated in Latin according to this “extraordinary form” are part of the recognized liturgical practice of the Church.
April: Published Vol. 1 of Jesus of Nazareth.
March 13: Released post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the Eucharist, Sacramentum Caritatis (The Sacrament of Charity).
Celebrated Year of St. Paul.
2006
Nov. 28-Dec. 1: Traveled to Turkey.
Sept. 9-14: Traveled to Germany; address at the University of Regensburg, where he quoted a Byzantine scholar who linked Islam with violence. Many Muslim leaders were offended and outraged.
July: Traveled to the Fifth World Meeting of Families in Spain.
May: Traveled to Poland.
February: Named 15 new cardinals.
2005
Dec. 25: Releases encyclical Deus Caritas Est (God Is Love).
October: Synod of Bishops on the Eucharist held.
August: First papal trip: World Youth Day in Cologne, Germany; also traveled to Poland, Spain and Turkey this year.
April 24: Pope Benedict XVI celebrated the Papal Inauguration Mass in St. Peter’s Square.
April 19, 2005: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger elected to the papacy and takes the name Benedict XVI.
Comments
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I will always be greatful for Pope Benedict.
To read his Apostolic Constitutions, Encyclicals, Motu Proprios, Apostolic Exhortations, Letters, etc. go to the Vatican web site.
http://www.vatican.va/phome_en.htm
and OHHHHH dont’ we already hear the secular press, never ceasing to bring up the sex scandal, and to pin it on the Catholic Church!!!.. I add:
The ignorance of many people here to blame ALL pedophilia on the Catholic Church shows how badly brainwashed the public is by the media. The fact is very very few Catholic priests ever abuse children and most are ultra kind, intelligent and generous,, we sure call on them when we’re dying!>.. and the fact is MOST pedophiles are on every corner in the streets of the entire world,, most are married men. THat is a fact… why blame priests?,, covering up for someone near you?.. and the fact is, pedophiles exist among all religions, atheists and all of humanity,, and you all know it…and the fact is, most of these Church cases are not about children but with adolescents… a gay cover-up or what?>.. and again!. nowadays , just say anything against ‘gay life’.. and you get stung.. but that’s what this largely was, bad behaviour by gay men hitting seminaries and the priesthood.. the facts also bear this out.. not a Catholic thing at all, ,, Catholic teaching condemn, officiallly, homosexual acts and pedophilia,, so get it straight!,, and look around your own neighborhoods.. if you look to priest ONLY, you just may miss uncle, or daddy, or pastor or rabbi so and so doing similar dirty tricks. .. and check your mind, how it is influenced by the media.. studies bear that out too, that NOrth Americans believe almost ALL of what they hear, the biases of the media and more. It’s time for ALL of us to give ourselves a head check.. don’t cop out and blame it ALL on Catholic priests.. .. you might want to check out the millions upon millions of dollars of services Catholic priests do every year, billions over the years…..be fair! be honest, people!,, it’ s not a Catholic Church thing!,, it is minutely and very minutely even a Cardinal Mahoney thing! ,, let’s see the big picture!
And no one publicly condemened it more than Pope John Paul and Pope Benedict!..they are great Pontiffs, and we love them!
I love and admire Pope Benedict very much! It will be a long, long time before we have another Pope with such great intellect and wisdom and yet possess humility and simple piety! I have prayed for him daily since his election, and will continue to do so. My prayer will include that God gives him earthly and eternal reward for his entire life of service and devotion to him!
Nemy
The very first thing I remember Pope Benedict having done, and the one thing for which I first began to respect him, as a man and as a leader, was when he allowed an investigation into Fr. Marcial Maciel, a man who had been protected from any investigation, by Pope John Paul II, and for years. Pope Benedict did the right thing to investigate the allegations.
His encyclical on Love was wonderful - it gave me some insight to him, personally. I also respect him now, for having the wisdom to step down at this time. No one is indispensible, Jesus is the Key, and the Head of the Church.
We are all the Body of Jesus, having roles in the church. I applaud Benedict, for knowing his role has changed. “The effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” It’s comforting that he will pray for us.
What about his two trips to Latin America? Don’t those merit the highlights?
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