Benedict XVI, Pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013
Credit: © Philip Chidell, Shutterstock

On Saturday, December 31st, former Pope Benedict XVI passed away at the age of 95. Many people worldwide will gather and tune in to watch his funeral on Thursday, January 5th, at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Nearly 40,000 people visited the Basilica to pay respects to the late pope on Monday. Benedict was pope of the Roman Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013, when he resigned. Benedict succeeded Pope John Paul II. Benedict, a German, was only the second non-Italian pope since Adrian VI of the Netherlands, who held the office from 1522 to 1523. John Paul II of Poland was the first non-Italian pope since Adrian.

Benedict XVI was born Joseph Alois Ratzinger on April 16, 1927, in Marktl am Inn in the German state of Bavaria. He began his religious life at the age of 12 by entering St. Michael’s Seminary in the Bavarian city of Traunstein. During World War II (1939-1945), he was drafted into the German army, serving from 1943 until he deserted in the spring of 1945. He was held for a short time by American forces as a prisoner of war. He began preparing for the priesthood in November 1945.

Ratzinger was ordained a priest in 1951. He earned a Ph.D. in theology at Ludwig-Maximilian University of Munich in 1953. As a young theologian, Ratzinger contributed to the work of Vatican Council II (1962-1965). He taught for several years at the universities of Bonn, Munster, and Tubingen, before serving as professor of dogmatic theology and the history of dogma at the University of Regensburg from 1969 to 1977. In March 1977, he became archbishop of Munich and Freising, and three months later, Pope Paul VI appointed him a cardinal.

The daily life of the pope includes meeting with groups of Roman Catholics who visit Rome. In this picture, Benedict XVI greets a gathering of people in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.
Credit: © Patrick Hertzog, AFP/Getty Images

Ratzinger resigned as archbishop in 1982 after John Paul II appointed him prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith in 1981. In this position, the cardinal was responsible for reinforcing Catholic orthodoxy—that is, upholding accepted beliefs. In 2002, Ratzinger was elected dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals.

By choosing the name Benedict, the pope placed his pontificate under the inspiration of Saint Benedict of Nursia, the founder of the Benedictine Order. The Benedictines played a major role in the religious and cultural revival of Europe after the West Roman Empire ended in the late 400′s.

Benedict wrote numerous books on theology. They include Introduction to Christianity (1968, new edition 2000), In the Beginning (1990), Called to Communion (1996), Many Religions, One Covenant (1999), The Spirit of the Liturgy (2000), and Values in Times of Upheaval (2005). He discussed his views on the church and related topics in two volumes of interviews, The Ratzinger Report (1985) and Salt of the Earth (1997). He also wrote an autobiography, Milestones: Memoirs 1927-1977 (1998).

Benedict resigned as pope in 2013, stating that because of his age, he no longer had the strength to fulfill his duties. He was the first pope to resign in nearly 600 years. He kept the name Benedict XVI and became pope emeritus.

December 6, 2019

Yesterday, December 5, the annual Festival of Lights (Fête des Lumières) began in the central French city of Lyon. The four-day festival, which dates back to 1852, is famous for the many light installations that illuminate the city. Houses in Lyon display candles in their windows during the festival, and public buildings and structures glow with elaborate and colorful light patterns. Traditionally, the festival marks the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8), an important event on the Roman Catholic calendar.

Waterfront buildings glow during the Festival of Lights in Lyon, France. Credit: © Nicotrex/Shutterstock

The festival’s roots date back to the 1600′s, when the city was spared from an outbreak of the plague. In thanks, city officials began an annual tribute to the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. In 1852, after a period of social unrest and recurring floods, a statue of Mary was unveiled on December 8 on Lyon’s Fourvière Hill. Poor weather delayed the ceremony until nightfall, and the people of Lyon lit candles to illuminate the event, honor the Virgin Mary, and show a spirit of solidarity. The lighting of candles on December 8 became the Festival of Lights, then, which expanded with the advent of electric light in the late 1800′s.

By the 1960′s, the Fête des Lumières had grown to include shop window lighting competitions marking the start of the Christmas season. In 1989, Lyon adopted an artistic lighting policy (the Plan Lumière) throughout the city, with particular attention paid to the city’s historical buildings and landmarks. Nearly all Lyon’s lovely parks and squares were soon aglow during the festival, as were the city’s bridges and banks along the Rhône and Saône rivers. Today, more than 2 million people attend the festival every year.

Lyon was founded in 43 B.C. by Roman soldiers. The town, then known as Lugdunum, served as an important administrative center of the Roman Empire until the middle of the A.D. 200′s. Lyon became part of the kingdom of France in the early 1300′s. During the 1400′s, the city became a prosperous trading and banking center and home to many book printers. The introduction of silk manufacturing from Italy in the 1500′s brought greater, and long-lasting, prosperity. Lyon was a center of French resistance to German occupation forces during World War II (1939-1945).

June 14, 2019

This weekend, June 15 and 16, one of Bolivia’s biggest celebrations takes over the streets of the city of La Paz: the Fiesta del Gran Poder (Festival of the Great Power). The dramatic festival celebrates El Señor del Gran Poder—The Man of Great Power, or Jesus Christ—but it also incorporates local culture and traditions of the area’s Aymara indigenous people. Tens of thousands of people take part in the festival’s main parade, which features colorful costumes, boisterous music and dancing, and spectators enjoying local food and drink.

A parade dancer is decked out in vibrant colors and a traditional mask during the Fiesta del Gran Poder in La Paz, Bolivia. Credit: © Niar Krad, Shutterstock

The origins of the Fiesta del Gran Poder stem from an anonymous religious painting donated to the city of La Paz in the 1600′s. The painting includes a representation of Jesus Christ with mestizo features. In this case, a mestizo is a person of mixed Spanish and American Indian descent. The painting gained a reputation for granting blessings and miracles, and it was eventually housed in a La Paz chapel. In the 1930′s, candlelit processions celebrating the painting’s Señor del Gran Poder evolved into a local festival. By the 1950′s, the festival had grown to include bands, dance troupes, and enormous crowds of people.

Costumed dancers take part in the Fiesta del Gran Poder parade in La Paz, Bolivia. Credit: © Niar Krad, Shutterstock

Today, thousands of dancers and musicians representing La Paz’s neighborhoods and folkloric groups parade through the streets. Parade costumes feature vibrant dresses, hats strewn with ribbons, and elaborate masks, all displaying the rich and diverse cultures of Bolivia. The handmade costumes are expensive and can take months to make. Popular dances during the parade include the Diablada (Devil’s Dance), the Morenada (Dance of the Slave), and the Waca Takhoris (Dancing Bulls).

In the days leading up to the festival, prestigious people known as prestes sponsor neighborhood parties, and Roman Catholic Masses, music, and feasts honor El Señor del Gran Poder. At the same time, the Aymara Ch’alla ritual thanks Pachamama (mother earth) for providing bountiful crops and fruits throughout the year. Because the Fiesta del Gran Poder follows a liturgical (religious) calendar, the dates of the festival differ from year to year. In 2020, it will take place June 5 and 6.

September 28, 2018

A recently rediscovered letter from Italian  astronomer  Galileo (1564-1642) shows his careful wording to try to avoid persecution during the Inquisition, an effort by the Roman Catholic Church to seek out and punish heretics—that is, people who held beliefs that differed from the accepted beliefs of the church. In the letter—found in a London library where the letter was misplaced decades ago—Galileo states his arguments against the church’s mistaken doctrine that the Sun orbits Earth.

A rediscovered letter by the famous Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo shows he tempered his comments to try to avoid persecution by the Roman Catholic Church. Credit: Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy (Art Resource)

The seven-page letter, written to a friend in 1613 and signed G.G. in Galileo’s own hand, helps solve a mystery that has surrounded the astronomer ever since the Roman Catholic Church condemned him for heresy in 1633. The letter shows that Galileo knew he may have dangerously provoked powerful enemies in the church and that he worked to contain the potential fallout.

Galileo Galilei is one of the most significant figures in the history of western scientific thought. In 1609, Galileo built his first telescope. Turning it to the sky, he saw clear evidence that many ideas about the heavens, established since the time of ancient Greece and Rome, were false. He was convinced of the truth of the theory, proposed by the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus in 1543, that all planets, including Earth, revolve around the sun. However, this theory contradicted official doctrine in the Roman Catholic Church.

Historians had known that in December 1613, Galileo wrote a letter to his friend Benedetto Castelli, a mathematician at the University of Pisa. In this letter, he discussed how the Copernican theory compared with official church doctrine concerning astronomy. Galileo wrote thousands of letters in his lifetime and many included important scientific discoveries, so people often made copies that were widely circulated. In 1615, one of Galileo’s enemies sent a copy of the 1613 letter to church inquisitors in Rome. The inquisitors sought out and severely punished heretics. In early 1616, Galileo was summoned to Rome to face the inquisitors and discuss whether the Copernican theory conflicted with the Roman Catholic faith.

Several copies of the 1613 letter exist today, although there are two different versions—one that was sent to Rome and another that is less provocative. Some historians suspect clergymen may have forged one version to anger the inquisitors, causing them to charge Galileo with heresy. Galileo sometimes complained to friends about such plots against him.

The rediscovered original letter shows that Galileo altered his words to make them less provocative. Many words and phrases are scratched out and rewritten with a softer tone that inquisitors would have found more agreeable. For example, Galileo referred to certain parts in the Bible as “false if one goes by the literal meaning of the words.” He crossed through the word false, and replaced it with the phrase, look different from the truth. Galileo’s ploy worked. In 1616, he was cleared of charges of heresy. But he was also ordered not to hold, teach, or defend the Copernican theory in any way.

In 1632, Galileo finished his most complete work on the structure of the heavens. It was a book called the Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems. In this work, the information presented clearly indicated the superiority of the Copernican system. Once again, Galileo was summoned to Rome. This time, he had to answer to the charge of willfully disobeying the order not to defend Copernicus’s theory. In 1633, the Inquisition found Galileo guilty of the charge. The church forced him to recant (publicly withdraw his statement) and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Because of Galileo’s advanced age and poor health, the church allowed him to serve his imprisonment under house arrest in a villa outside Florence. He died on Jan. 8, 1642.

September 5, 2018

On Sunday, August 26, Pope Francis concluded a weekend apostolic trip to Dublin, Ireland, where he attended the triennial World Meet of Families. Apostolic is another word for papal or having to do with the pope. Throughout the weekend, enthusiastic crowds turned out to welcome the pope, who is popular in traditionally Roman Catholic Ireland.

Pope Francis greets worshippers before delivering a Mass at Phoenix Park in Dublin, Ireland, on Aug. 26, 2018. Credit: © Stephen McCarthy, Getty Images

The World Meeting of Families brings together Catholics to celebrate the roles of marriage and the family “as the cornerstone of our lives, of society, and of the Church.” The first such meeting was hosted by Pope John Paul II in Rome in 1994. The meetings have since taken place every three years, and each has included the sitting pope. Pope Francis attended his first World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia in 2015. This year’s event in Dublin was themed “The Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World.”

On Saturday, August 25, Francis flew to Dublin, the Irish capital, and met with President Michael Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin, the official presidential residence. The pope then met with dignitaries at Dublin Castle, visited St. Mary’s Church, spoke with the poor at the Day Centre of the Capuchin Fathers, and delivered a speech for the Festival of Families at Croke Park Stadium.

On Sunday morning, Francis flew to the small town of Knock in northwest Ireland. He visited the Knock Shrine where, in 1879, some children claimed to have seen visions of the Virgin Mary. Knock has been a place of pilgrimage for Roman Catholics ever since. The pope returned to Dublin, then, where he delivered a Mass before some 200,000 people—far fewer than expected—at Phoenix Park. He then met with bishops at the Convent of the Dominican Sisters before boarding a plane and returning to the Vatican in Rome. 

Francis is from Argentina and has been leader of the church since 2013. He is the first pope from Latin America and the first Jesuit pope. Jesuits are members of a religious order called the Society of Jesus. Francis is known for his commitment to social justice, especially for the poor; his humble lifestyle; and his conservative religious beliefs. Francis visited Chile and Peru in January 2018, and he stopped briefly in Switzerland in June. He will visit the Baltic States of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia later in September. The only other papal visit to Ireland was made by John Paul II in 1979.

September 8, 2017

On Wednesday, September 6, Pope Francis (Papa Francisco in Spanish) arrived in Bogotá, Colombia, for a five-day apostolic journey to the South American nation. Apostolic is another word for papal or having to do with the pope. Hundreds of thousands of people turned out to welcome the pope, who is particularly popular in the mostly Roman Catholic nations of Latin America. Francis is from Argentina and has been leader of the Roman Catholic Church since 2013.

Pope Francis and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos talk during ceremonies at Casa de Nariño, the presidential palace in Bogotá, Colombia, on Sept.7, 2017. Credit: © Raul Arboleda, AFP/Getty Images

Yesterday, September 7, Francis met with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos at Casa de Nariño, the presidential palace in Bogotá, where he congratulated the Nobel Peace Prize winner on ending a decades-long civil war between the government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). The FARC formed in the mid-1960′s as a guerrilla group with Communist ideals. Santos oversaw a peace process that culminated in a historic treaty with the FARC in November 2016. A month later, Santos accepted an invitation from Francis and visited the pope at Vatican City. The pope then promised to go to Colombia in return.

The theme of Francis’s Colombian journey is Demos el primer paso (Take the first step), a reference to the peacemaking process in Colombia—which is not yet complete. Violent drug cartels still reign in pockets of the country, and a second revolutionary group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), is still conducting peace talks with the government.

Yesterday afternoon, Francis visited the Catedral Primada (Primary Cathedral) in Bogotá’s teeming Bolívar Square, and he delivered a blessing from the the Cardinal’s Palace next door. Francis then held an outdoor Mass before more than 1 million worshipers at the city’s Simon Bolívar Park. Today, September 8, Pope Francis is in the central city of Villavicencio for a Mass and the beatification of Jesús Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve and Pedro María Ramírez Ramos, priests who were both assassinated during times of violence in Colombia. Beatification is the declaration by papal decree that a dead person is among the blessed in heaven and deserves religious honor.

Tomorrow, Francis’s visit to the northwestern city of Medellín will include a Mass and a stop at the Hogar San José orphanage. Francis will wrap up the apostolic journey on Sunday in the Caribbean coast city of Cartagena, where events will include services at the church and plaza of San Pedro Claver. The church contains the preserved remains of San Pedro Claver (1581-1654), a priest who dedicated his life to helping enslaved peoples of Spanish America. He is the patron saint of slaves and also a patron saint of the nation of Colombia.

Francis is the first pope from Latin America and the first Jesuit pope. Jesuits are members of a religious order called the Society of Jesus. Francis is known for his commitment to social justice, especially for the poor; his humble lifestyle; and his conservative religious beliefs. This was his fifth visit to Latin America since becoming pope. His previous stops were in Brazil; Bolivia, Ecuador, and Paraguay; Cuba; and Mexico.

February 12, 2016

In 1054, a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, French Benedictine monk Humbert of Silva Candida, paid a visit to the city of Constantinople at the request of Pope Leo IX. Constantinople (now Istanbul) was at that time the center of the Byzantine Empire and the Eastern Orthodox Church. Humbert sought an interview with the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Patriarch Michael Cerularius.

Relations between the two branches of the Christian church had been deteriorating for years. The Eastern Church was Greek-speaking. The Roman Catholic Church used the Latin language, and its clergy spoke Romance languages in their everyday life. The two branches disagreed on who had the ultimate authority. Pope Leo felt that he had authority over the Eastern Orthodox Church and its patriarch. The patriarch disagreed. The Catholics used unleavened bread (bread without yeast or a rising agent) for Communion and had added the phrase “from the son” (filioque, in Latin) to the Nicene Creed (an expression of what Christians believe).

Relations had been strained for some time, but the feud escalated with Humbert’s visit. The Patriarch refused to see the cardinal, who waited in Constantinople for months. Finally, Humbert sent the Patriarch of Constantinople a letter of excommunication. This was a serious matter. People who were excommunicated could not receive any sacraments, such as Communion or penance (forgiveness). The faithful believed that if one died while excommunicated, it was impossible to go to heaven. In retaliation, the patriarch excommunicated Humbert and Pope Leo. (Leo had been dead for a few months by this time.)

Since 1054, there has been a schism (break) in relations between the two churches. Over the last few years, however, some work has been done to heal the breach in Christianity. In 2010, the Patriarch of Constantinople wrote an encyclical (letter) discussing the importance of  working toward unity among all Christians. In 2013, Pope Francis, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, invited the Patriarch of Constantinople to attend his installation, and the patriarch accepted. The Russian Orthodox Church, however, has largely stayed away from any ecumenical dialogue with Francis. Today, in Havana, Cuba, Francis met with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia. Church experts closely followed the meeting, hoping to gauge whether a 1,000-year-old feud may be nearly over. Francis was in the Western Hemisphere to start a six-day visit to Mexico. 

Other World Book article

• Western Church

March 13, 2013

After only two days of conclave, the College of Cardinals elected Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina as pope. He is the first non-European elected pope in more than 1,000 years and the first South American ever. Before his election, Bergoglio had been the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital and largest city. He is the 266th pope to serve the Roman Catholic Church and will take the name of Francis, the first Roman Catholic pope of that name.

Thousands of onlookers in the square outside St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City had cheered earlier when a puff of white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel on Wednesday. Cries of Habemus Papam, Latin for We Have a Pope, went up from the crowd as they waited in the rain for the newly chosen pontiff to appear on the balcony of the basilica. The event was broadcast to the crowd via huge televisions in St. Peter’s Square and streamed live via the Vatican’s website.

By selecting the 76-year-old Argentinian, the cardinals hoped to make a connection with the area of the world in which the majority of the world’s Catholics live, the Southern Hemisphere. Pope Francis is a Jesuit (a member of the Society of Jesus) and is considered to be a conservative and an intellectual. Experts reported that poverty is one of his greatest areas of concern.

February 11, 2013

Pope Benedict XVI summoned a meeting of cardinals in Vatican City and announced that he would step down from his role as leader of the Roman Catholic Church and its 1.2 billion members on February 28, 2013. The pontiff stated that his age and deteriorating strength no longer permitted him to perform his papal duties.  Vatican officials and Roman Catholics around the world were stunned by the news. Centuries have elapsed since a pope resigned from office. The last was Gregory XII, who left office under pressure in 1415 to end what is known as the Great Schism–a period of civil war within the church when three different men each claimed to be pope. The last voluntary resignation by a pope was even longer ago, when Celestine V abdicated in 1294.

After Benedict’s resignation takes effect, cardinals will gather at a conclave in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City.  Of the 118 cardinals currently eligible to vote, two-thirds of them must agree on a candidate for that man to become pope. Church officials hoped that a new pope could be chosen by Easter (March 31) of 2013.

Benedict XVI at his inaugural Mass in St. Peter's Square in 2005 (© Franco Origlia, Getty Images)

Benedict had served as pope for fewer than eight years. Born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany in 1927, he was appointed as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1977.

He was elected the 265th pope in 2005 and took the name of Benedict. At age 78, he was one of the oldest men elected to the papacy. Benedict held office during a difficult time in the history of the modern church. His papacy was dogged by controversy, particularly the sexual abuse of children by Roman Catholic clergy members. When he was a cardinal, Benedict had been head of the church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the office that oversees such priestly abuse. As pope, Benedict apologized for any harm done to children abused by Catholic clergy.

Additional World Book articles:

• Roman Catholic Church
• John Paul II 1920-2005 (a special report)

Another website of interest:

• Vatican: The Holy See

March 26, 2012

Pope Benedict XVI, head of the Roman Catholic Church, continued his visit of Latin America, leaving Mexico for Cuba. The 84-year-old pontiff, who was elected pope in 2005 after the death of Pope John Paul II, is visiting Spanish-speaking Latin America for the first time. (Pope Benedict visited Portuguese-speaking Brazil in 2007.) Mexico, in which more than 75 percent of the people are Roman Catholics, has the second-largest Catholic congregation in the world, after Brazil.

In March 2012, Pope Benedict XVI visited Mexico and Cuba, where he celebrated Mass before hundreds of thousands of Roman Catholics. (Courtesy of Franco Origlia, Getty Images)

Pope Benedict used his visit to Mexico both to address the faithful and to speak out on political issues several months before the July 1, 2012, presidential election. Upon his arrival on March 23 in Silao, in central Guanajuato state, the pope condemned the drug-related violence that has left some 50,000 people dead in northern Mexico over the past five years. He urged the people to renounce the “idolatry of money” that fuels the drug trade. On March 24, the pope had a private meeting with Mexican President Felipe Calderon, whose crackdown on the drug cartels has been central to his administration. The two leaders discussed such issues as climate change and organized crime.

On March 25, the pontiff led an open-air Mass beside the Christ the King monument at Bicentennial Park, near Silao. A crowd of some 500,000 people had gathered from across the nation, thousands of them camping out in the field at night, to see the pope.

In Cuba, the pope was scheduled to preside at two public Masses during his three-day visit. Pope Benedict’s plane landed in the southeastern city of Santiago de Cuba on the afternoon of March 26. He was scheduled to arrive in the capital, Havana, on March 27, where he was to celebrate Mass in Revolution Plaza. Although Communist Cuba was officially an atheist state until the 1990′s, an estimated 40 percent to 60 percent of the island nation’s people are Catholics. However, few Cuban Catholics practice openly.

Benedict’s visit was expected to boost tourism to Cuba, where President Raul Castro, who was elected in 2008, has enacted free market reforms allowing people to establish private businesses. The pope has urged Cuban leaders to abandon the country’s decades-old Marxist system, which he says “no longer corresponds to reality.”