Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, the older brother of Pope-emeritus Benedict
XVI, celebrated his 90th birthday at the Vatican on January 15. After morning Mass at the Mater Ecclesiae residence, where the retired Pontiff now lives, Msgr. Ratzinger and his brother enjoyed a festive meal, with birthday greetings sung in the Bavarian fashion.
In the afternoon they attended a concert at a Vatican Radio facility in the Vatican gardens, with performances by friends of Msgr. Ratzinger—himself a musician of note, who for years was the music director at the cathedral in Regensburg, Germany.
Msgr. Ratzinger had been briefly hospitalized in Rome earlier in January, after he traveled from Germany to celebrate Christmas with his brother.
The Vatican did not disclose the nature of his illness.