by Diego Lopez Marina Vatican City, Apr 9, 2021 / 15:29 pm America/Denver (CNA). A documentary being released on Benedict XVI’s 94th birthday state that his personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, tried to dissuade him from abdicating the papacy. “Benedict XVI, the Pope Emeritus”, directed by Andrés Garrigó, will be

Vatican City, Jan 12, 2021 / 03:30 am MT (CNA).- Pope emeritus Benedict XVI will receive the coronavirus vaccine as soon as it is available, his personal secretary said Tuesday. Archbishop Georg Gänswein told CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, Jan. 12 that the 93-year-old former pope would be vaccinated

CNA Staff, Oct 25, 2020 / 02:30 pm MT (CNA).- Benedict XVI has distanced himself from a Catholic community with which he had maintained close ties for decades. The German magazine “Herder Korrespondenz” reported Oct. 25 that the Pope Emeritus had taken the step regarding the Catholic Integrated Community. Referring

by Hannah Brockhaus Rome, Italy, Oct 3, 2020 / 04:00 am MT (CNA).- “I never thought he would be made pope,” said Mario Notari, speaking about Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. To Notari, the quiet and gentle Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was just another patron at the little Austrian restaurant he manages

CNA Staff, Sep 18, 2020 / 01:00 am MT (CNA).- Paschal Uche woke up early on the morning of Sept. 18, 2010, a day that would change his life. He needed to set off in good time in order to pass through security at the event he was attending in

by Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Aug 11, 2020 / 03:30 am MT (CNA).- Benedict XVI’s personal secretary Archbishop Georg Gänswein has said that the pope emeritus’ illness is “subsiding.” In an interview with the German newspaper Südkurier, Archbishop Gänswein is reported to have said that Benedict XVI’s “illness is subsiding”

by Hannah Brockhaus Rome Newsroom, Aug 3, 2020 / 03:21 am MT (CNA).- Pope emeritus Benedict XVI is sick with a bacterial infection and “very frail,” according to a German newspaper report. Citing Benedict biographer Peter Seewald, German newspaper Passauer Neue Presse (PNP) reported Aug. 3 that the 93-year-old pope

Vatican City, Jul 2, 2020 / 05:10 am MT (CNA).- Pope Francis offered his condolences to Benedict XVI Thursday following the death of his brother. In a letter to the pope emeritus dated July 2, the pope expressed his “heartfelt sympathy” after the death of Msgr. Georg Ratzinger July 1

by Courtney Mares Rome Newsroom, Jul 1, 2020 / 04:30 am MT (CNA).- Benedict XVI’s older brother Georg Ratzinger died Wednesday, just a little more than one week after the pope emeritus’ visit. Msgr. Georg Ratzinger died in Bavaria at the age of 96 on July 1. The pope emeritus

CNA Staff, Jun 19, 2020 / 02:32 am MT (CNA).- Pope emeritus Benedict XVI will celebrate Mass with his ailing brother on the feast of the Sacred Heart during his first full day in Germany Friday. A June 19 statement from the Diocese of Regensburg said that after Benedict XVI