Pope Benedict XVI's elder brother said criticism of the pope should be expected as the sign of a good pontificate and that recent controversies showed papal leadership could not be "all peace, joy and pancakes.""I'm mainly concerned that the new situation will work well for my brother in relation to his faith, and I can witness that he's fulfilling what the good Lord expects of him and also being understood by many people," Msgr. Georg Ratzinger said in an Aug. 17 interview with Bavaria's Passauer Neuen Presse daily.
Msgr. Ratzinger said he had contacts "only with people who wish me and my brother well," adding that "negative voices" reached him "through detours, when they've already been purified and don't hurt me anymore."
He said he was aware of recent controversies, such as debate over the pope's July 7 document allowing wider use of the Tridentine Mass, the liturgy that predates the Second Vatican Council, and a July 10 Vatican declaration that the Catholic Church is the one, true church.
"These critical voices were to be expected – if everything went smoothly, it wouldn't be a good pontificate," Msgr. Ratzinger said.
"A person active in God's kingdom has to expect resistance – just like our Lord, who also encountered enemies time and again. It can't all be peace, joy and pancakes."
Asked about Pope Benedict's upcoming Sept. 7-9 trip to Austria, Msgr. Ratzinger said he and the pope were "Austria lovers," adding that he especially appreciated that Austria was "a foreign country with no language barriers" and the home of composers Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert and Anton Bruckner.
"I'm hoping for beautiful days of celebration, and that the devil which hides in the details, as we know, will remain hidden," said Msgr. Ratzinger.
He added that Austrians "are quite different than the northern Germans, who are very rational and hide the feelings, which they certainly have, under an externally frigid cover. This isn't the case with Austrians. They're friendly and nice – nicer than us Bavarians. We're a bit grumpy, and Austrians are friendlier."
He said he had given the pope a copy of his new book, Der Bruder des Papstes (The Pope's Brother), during a four-week stay at the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy.
He said the book was reasonably accurate in its depiction of his public and private life, as well as his theology and passion for music, and he told the paper he regretted that few parents gave their children a musical education.
"Unlike me, with my eye problem, my brother can read very fast," Msgr. Ratzinger said. "Joseph will certainly take time to read the book."
Meanwhile, Msgr. Ratzinger said that his "privacy has suffered a bit" since his brother was elected pope in 2005.
"I'm not accustomed to this great interest, and it isn't my nature to be in the limelight," he said.
"But it has its good and beautiful sides, too, and I'm coping with it well."
The 83-year-old retired monsignor said he led an "independent life," but remained in regular touch with the pope by telephone and routine visits to Rome.
"To see my life only from the perspective of the pope would naturally be one-sided," Msgr. Ratzinger told the newspaper. "But the fraternal closeness and togetherness haven't changed at all. We still have a family life."
Born at Pleiskirchen in 1924, Msgr. Ratzinger was an accomplished composer, playing piano and organ, by the time he entered the minor seminary in Traunstein in 1935.
He was wounded while serving in Italy with Germany's armed forces in 1942 and later was held as a prisoner of war by U.S. forces before enrolling in 1946 with his brother at the seminary of the Munich and Freising Archdiocese, where both were ordained priests in 1951.
He directed the Regensburg boys choir from 1964 to 1994, and conducted the choir at his brother's installation as archbishop of Munich and Freising, as well as during Pope John Paul II's Munich visit in 1980.
He retired in 1994 and now lives in Regensburg.
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