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 …

CNA Staff, May 15, 2020 / 03:00 am MT (CNA).- John Paul II was a “liberating restorer of the Church” in the turbulent years after the Second Vatican Council, Benedict XVI has said in a letter marking the 100th anniversary of the saint’s birth. In a message to Cardinal Stanisław …

By Hannah Brockhaus Angelo Ciappelloni heard those words while he stood in Rome’s Piazza del Popolo on April 8, 2005. With hundreds of thousands of people in the Eternal City, and millions more around the world, he was watching the Requiem Mass of Pope John Paul II. “‘Follow me’ – …

By Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Jan 14, 2020 / 05:58 am (CNA).- Archbishop Georg Ganswein, the private secretary of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, said Tuesday the former pontiff was not informed he would be presented as co-author of a new book on priestly celibacy and that Benedict has asked for …

By Hannah Brockhaus Vatican City, Jan 13, 2020 / 07:01 am (CNA).- A Vatican spokesman said Monday that Pope Francis’ position on priestly celibacy is “known,” quoting the pontiff’s remarks in a January 2019 press conference, in which he said he does not agree with making priestly celibacy “optional” in …

By Courtney Grogan Vatican City, Jul 1, 2019 / 04:00 am (CNA).- The Vatican announced Monday that Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman will be canonized on October 13 in Rome. During a consistory of cardinals July 1, Pope Francis decreed that Newman and four other blesseds will be canonized together …

Vatican City, Apr 10, 2019 /(CNA).- In an essay published Thursday at CNA, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI offered his thoughts about the sex abuse crisis facing the Church. Benedict reviewed the sexual revolution of the 1960s, and examined its effects on priestly formation and life, before suggesting the Church’s proper …

By Alan Holdren CNA/EWTN News Benedict XVI’s summer is set to be the most active since he stepped down from the pontificate in 2013, with plans for participation in at least two public events and a two-week stay at the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo. “Pope Francis invited Benedict …