Elected Pope in 2005, Benedict XVI renounced the Chair of Peter in 2013 and passed away December 31, 2022, at the age of 95.
Joseph Ratzinger was born in Marktl, a small village in Bavaria near the Austrian border.
A renowned theologian who took part in the Second Vatican Council and became Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under the pontificate of John Paul II, he succeeded the Polish pope for nearly eight years from 2005 to 2013 before surprising everyone by choosing to resign.
To commemorate his birth, the Vatican Foundation that bears his name and works to preserve and promote his legacy announced April 14 the launch of an “International Committee for the Centenary Celebrations.”
There will be events linked to Joseph Ratzinger over the coming months in Austria, France, Italy, Spain, Hungary, India, Colombia, the United States and Kenya. His country of birth, Germany, is not so far included in the list.
Is life a gift?
On his birthday in 2012, this homily by Benedict XVI reflected on the question: "Is human life itself a gift," saying that cannot be taken for granted.
Here is part of the homily:
... The same day on which I was born, thanks to my parent’s concern, I was also reborn through water and the Holy Spirit, as we have just heard in the Gospel. First, there is the gift of life that my parents gave me in very difficult times, and for which I thank them.
But it cannot be taken for granted that human life in itself is a gift. Can it really be a beautiful gift? Do we know what will befall man in the dark days ahead — or in the brighter days that could come? Can we foresee to what troubles, what terrible events he might be exposed? Is it right to simply give life like this? Is it responsible or too uncertain?
It is a problematic gift, if it is left to itself. Biological life is in itself a gift, but it is surrounded by a great question. It becomes a true gift only if, along with it, we are given a promise that is stronger than any evil that could threaten us, if it is immersed in a power that ensures that it is good to be human, that there will be good for this person no matter what the future brings. Thus, with birth is associated rebirth, the certitude that, truly, it is good to be alive, because the promise is stronger than evil. This is the meaning of rebirth by water and the Holy Spirit: to be immersed in the promise that only God can make — it is good that you exist, and you can be certain of that whatever comes. With this assurance I was able to live, reborn by water and the Holy Spirit. Nicodemus asks the Lord: “How can an old man possibly be reborn?” Now, rebirth is given to us in Baptism, but we must continually grow in it, we must always let ourselves be immersed by God in his promise, in order to be truly reborn in the great, new family of God which is stronger than every weakness and than any negative power that threatens us. Therefore, this is a day of great thanksgiving.