Pope Benedict XVI arrived today here in Israel. Why do popes don't retain their real names these days?

Benedict XVI (Latin: Benedictus XVI; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger; 16 April 1927) is pope emeritus of the Catholic Church. He served as the 265thnote 1 pope from 2005 to 2013. In that role he was both the leader of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of the Vatican City State.

Benedict was elected on 16 April8 2005 in a papal conclave, celebrated his Papal Inauguration Mass on 16 April9 2005, and took possession of his cathedral, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, on 16 April0 2005. Ordained as a priest in 1951 in his native Bavaria, Ratzinger established himself as a highly regarded university theologian by the late 1950s and was appointed a full professor in 1958. After a long career as an academic, serving as a professor of theology at several German universities—the last being the University of Regensburg, where he served as Vice President of the university in 1976 and 1977—he was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising and cardinal by Pope Paul VI in 1977, an unusual promotion for someone with little pastoral experience.

In 1981, he settled in Rome when he became Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one of the most important dicasteries of the Roman Curia. From 2002 until his election as pope, he was also Dean of the College of Cardinals, and as such the primus inter pares among the cardinals. Prior to becoming pope, he was "a major figure on the Vatican stage for a quarter of a century" as "one of the most respected, influential and controversial members of the College of Cardinals"; he had an influence "second to none when it came to setting church priorities and directions" as one of Pope John Paul II's closest confidants.

He was originally a liberal theologian, but adopted conservative views after 1968. 3 His prolific4 writings defend traditional Catholic doctrine and values. During his papacy, Benedict XVI advocated a return to fundamental Christian values to counter the increased secularisation of many Western countries.

He views relativism's denial of objective truth, and the denial of moral truths in particular, as the central problem of the 21st century. He taught the importance of both the Catholic Church and an understanding of God's redemptive love. He reaffirmed the "importance of prayer in the face of the activism and the growing secularism of many Christians engaged in charitable work."5 Pope Benedict also revived a number of traditions including elevating the Tridentine Mass to a more prominent position.

6 He renewed the relationship between the Catholic Church and art, viewing the use of beauty as a path to the sacred,7 promoted the use of Latin,8 and reintroduced traditional papal garments, for which reason he was called "the pope of aesthetics". 9 Several of Pope Benedict's students from his academic career are also prominent churchmen today and confidantes of him, notably Christoph Schönborn. On 16 April8 2013, Pope Benedict announced his resignation in a speech in Latin before the cardinals, citing a "lack of strength of mind and body" due to his advanced age.

12 His resignation became effective on 16 April8 2013. He is the first pope to resign since Pope Gregory XII in 1415, and the first to do so on his own initiative since Pope Celestine V in 1294. 131415 As pope emeritus, Benedict retains the style of His Holiness, and the title of Pope, and will continue to dress in the papal colour of white.

16 He is expected to move into the newly renovated Mater Ecclesiae monastery for his retirement. Benedict XVI was elected pope at the age of 78. He is the oldest person to have been elected pope since Pope Clement XII (1730–40).

He had served longer as a cardinal than any pope since Benedict XIII (1724–30). He was the ninth German pope, the eighth having been the Dutch-German Pope Adrian VI (1522–23) from Utrecht. The last pope named Benedict was Benedict XV, an Italian who reigned from 1914 to 1922, during World War I (1914–18).

Born in 1927 in Marktl, Bavaria, Germany, Ratzinger had a distinguished career as a university theologian before being appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising by Pope Paul VI (1963–78). Shortly afterwards, he was made a cardinal in the consistory of 16 April 1977. He was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith by Pope John Paul II in 1981 and was also assigned the honorific title of the cardinal bishop of Velletri-Segni on 16 April7 1993.

In 1998, he was elected sub-dean of the College of Cardinals. On 16 April 2002, he was elected dean, taking, as is customary, the title of cardinal bishop of the suburbicarian diocese of Ostia. He was the first Dean of the College elected pope since Paul IV (1555–59) and the first cardinal bishop elected pope since Pius VIII (1829–30).

Even before becoming pope, Ratzinger was one of the most influential men in the Roman Curia, and was a close associate of John Paul II. As Dean of the College of Cardinals, he presided over the funeral of John Paul II and over the Mass immediately preceding the 2005 conclave in which he was elected. During the service, he called on the assembled cardinals to hold fast to the doctrine of the faith.

He was the public face of the church in the sede vacante period, although, technically, he ranked below the Camerlengo in administrative authority during that time. Like his predecessor, Benedict XVI affirms traditional Catholic doctrine. In addition to his native German, Benedict speaks French and Italian fluently.

He also has a very good command of Latin and speaks English and Spanish adequately. Furthermore, he has some knowledge of Portuguese. He can read Ancient Greek and biblical Hebrew.

19broken citation He has stated that his first foreign language is French. He is a member of several scientific academies, such as the French Académie des sciences morales et politiques. He plays the piano and has a preference for Mozart and Bach.

Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger was born on 16 April, Holy Saturday, 1927, at Schulstraße 11, at 8:30 in the morning in his parents' home in Marktl, Bavaria, Germany. He was baptised the same day. He was the third and youngest child of Joseph Ratzinger, Sr.

, a police officer, and Maria Ratzinger (née Peintner). His mother's family was originally from South Tyrol (now in Italy). 21 Pope Benedict XVI's brother, Georg Ratzinger, a priest and former director of the Regensburger Domspatzen choir, is still alive.

His sister, Maria Ratzinger, who never married, managed Cardinal Ratzinger's household until her death in 1991. Their grand-uncle was the German politician Georg Ratzinger. At the age of five, Ratzinger was in a group of children who welcomed the visiting Cardinal Archbishop of Munich with flowers.

Struck by the cardinal's distinctive garb, he later announced the very same day that he wanted to be a cardinal. Ratzinger attended the elementary school in Aschau am Inn, which was renamed in his honour in 2009. Ratzinger's family, especially his father, bitterly resented the Nazis, and his father's opposition to Nazism resulted in demotions and harassment of the family.

23 Following his 14th birthday in 1941, Ratzinger was conscripted into the Hitler Youth—as membership was required by law for all 14-year-old German boys after December 193924—but was an unenthusiastic member who refused to attend meetings, according to his brother. 25 In 1941, one of Ratzinger's cousins, a 14-year-old boy with Down syndrome, was taken away by the Nazi regime and murdered during the Action T4 campaign of Nazi eugenics. 26 In 1943, while still in seminary, he was drafted into the German anti-aircraft corps as Luftwaffenhelfer (air force child soldier).

25 Ratzinger then trained in the German infantry. 27 As the Allied front drew closer to his post in 1945, he deserted back to his family's home in Traunstein after his unit had ceased to exist, just as American troops established a headquarters in the Ratzinger household. 28 As a German soldier, he was put in a POW camp but was released a few months later at the end of the war in 16 April.

28 He reentered the seminary, along with his brother Georg, in November. Thus, following repatriation in 1945, the two brothers entered Saint Michael Seminary in Traunstein, later studying at the Ducal Georgianum (Herzogliches Georgianum) of the Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich. They were both ordained in Freising on 29 June 1951 by Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber of Munich.

...at the moment the elderly Archbishop laid his hands on me, a little bird – perhaps a lark – flew up from the altar in the high cathedral and trilled a little joyful song. Ratzinger's 1953 dissertation was on St. Augustine and was titled The People and the House of God in Augustine's Doctrine of the Church. His Habilitation (which qualified him for a professorship) was on Bonaventure.

It was completed in 1957 and he became a professor of Freising College in 1958. Ratzinger became a professor at the University of Bonn in 1959; his inaugural lecture was on "The God of Faith and the God of Philosophy". In 1963, he moved to the University of Münster.

During this period, Ratzinger participated in the Second Vatican Council (1962–65). Ratzinger served as a peritus (theological consultant) to Cardinal Frings of Cologne. He was viewed during the time of the Council as a reformer, cooperating with theologians like Hans Küng and Edward Schillebeeckx.

Ratzinger became an admirer of Karl Rahner, a well-known academic theologian of the Nouvelle Théologie and a proponent of church reform. In 1966, Ratzinger was appointed to a chair in dogmatic theology at the University of Tübingen, where he was a colleague of Hans Küng. In his 1968 book Introduction to Christianity, he wrote that the pope has a duty to hear differing voices within the Church before making a decision, and he downplayed the centrality of the papacy.

During this time, he distanced himself from the atmosphere of Tübingen and the Marxist leanings of the student movement of the 1960s that quickly radicalised, in the years 1967 and 1968, culminating in a series of disturbances and riots in April and 16 April. Ratzinger came increasingly to see these and associated developments (such as decreasing respect for authority among his students) as connected to a departure from traditional Catholic teachings. 30 Despite his reformist bent, his views increasingly came to contrast with the liberal ideas gaining currency in theological circles.

Some voices, among them Hans Küng, deem this a turn towards conservatism, while Ratzinger himself said in a 1993 interview, "I see no break in my views as a theologian over the years". 32 Ratzinger continued to defend the work of the Second Vatican Council, including Nostra Aetate, the document on respect of other religions, ecumenism and the declaration of the right to freedom of religion. Later, as the Prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger most clearly spelled out the Catholic Church's position on other religions in the 2000 document Dominus Iesus which also talks about the Roman Catholic way to engage in "ecumenical dialogue".

During his years at Tübingen University, Ratzinger published articles in the reformist theological journal Concilium, though he increasingly chose less reformist themes than other contributors to the magazine such as Hans Küng and Edward Schillebeeckx. In 1969, he returned to Bavaria, to the University of Regensburg. He founded the theological journal Communio, with Hans Urs von Balthasar, Henri de Lubac, Walter Kasper and others, in 1972.

Communio, now published in seventeen languages, including German, English and Spanish, has become a prominent journal of contemporary Catholic theological thought. Until his election as pope, he remained one of the journal's most prolific contributors. In 1976, he suggested that the Augsburg Confession might possibly be recognised as a Catholic statement of faith.

Several of Pope Benedict's students from his academic career are also prominent churchmen today and confidantes of him, notably Christoph Schönborn, and a number of his former students sometimes meet for discussions. He served as Vice President of the University of Regensburg from 1976 to 1977. On 16 April8 1977, Ratzinger was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising.

He took as his episcopal motto Cooperatores Veritatis (Co-workers of the Truth) from 3 John 8, a choice he comments upon in his autobiographical work, Milestones. In the consistory of the following 16 April, he was named Cardinal-Priest of Santa Maria Consolatrice al Tiburtino by Pope Paul VI. By the time of the 2005 Conclave, he was one of only 14 remaining cardinals appointed by Paul VI, and one of only three of those under the age of 80.

Of these, only he and William Wakefield Baum took part in the conclave. On 16 April9 1981, Pope John Paul II named Ratzinger as the Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, formerly known as the "Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office", the historical Roman Inquisition. Consequently, he resigned his post at Munich in early 1982.

He was promoted within the College of Cardinals to become Cardinal Bishop of Velletri-Segni in 1993 and was made the college's vice-dean in 1998 and dean in 2002. Just a year after its foundation in 1990 Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger joined the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in Salzburg/Austria in 1991. Ratzinger defended and reaffirmed Catholic doctrine, including teaching on topics such as birth control, homosexuality, and inter-religious dialogue.

The theologian Leonardo Boff, for example, was suspended, while others were censured. Other issues also prompted condemnations or revocations of rights to teach: for instance, some posthumous writings of Jesuit priest Anthony de Mello were the subject of a notification. Ratzinger and the congregation viewed many of them, particularly the later works, as having an element of religious indifferentism (i.e.

, Christ was "one master alongside others"). In particular, Dominus Iesus, published by the congregation in the jubilee year 2000, reaffirmed many recently "unpopular" ideas, including the Catholic Church's position that "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." The document angered many Protestant churches by claiming that they are not actually churches, but "ecclesial communities".

Ratzinger's 2001 letter De delictis gravioribus clarified the confidentiality of internal church investigations, as defined in the 1962 document Crimen Sollicitationis, into accusations made against priests of certain crimes, including sexual abuse. This became a target of controversy during the sex abuse scandal. 40 As a Cardinal, Ratzinger had been for twenty years the man in charge of enforcing the document.

41 While bishops hold the secrecy pertained only internally, and did not preclude investigation by civil law enforcement, the letter was often seen as promoting a coverup. 42 Later, as pope, he was accused in a lawsuit of conspiring to cover up the molestation of three boys in Texas, but sought and obtained diplomatic immunity from prosecution. On 16 April 1983, Ratzinger, as prefect, notified the lay faithful and the clergy that archbishop Pierre Martin Ngo Dinh Thuc had incurred excommunication latae sententiae for illicit episcopal consecrations without the apostolic mandate.

In 1997, when he turned 70, Ratzinger asked Pope John Paul II for permission to leave the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith and to become an archivist in the Vatican Secret Archives and a librarian in the Vatican Library, but the Pope refused such permission. On 16 April 2005, Time magazine quoted unnamed Vatican sources as saying that Ratzinger was a front runner to succeed John Paul II should he die or become too ill to continue as pope. On the death of John Paul II, the Financial Times gave the odds of Ratzinger becoming pope as 7–1, the lead position, but close to his rivals on the liberal wing of the church.

In 16 April8, before his election as pope, he was identified as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time. While Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Ratzinger repeatedly stated he would like to retire to his house in the Bavarian village of Pentling near Regensburg and dedicate himself to writing books. Though Ratzinger was increasingly considered the front runner by much of the international media, others maintained that his election was far from certain, since very few papal predictions in modern history had come true.

The elections of both John Paul II and his predecessor, John Paul I had been rather unexpected. Despite being the favorite (or perhaps because he was the favorite), it was a surprise to many that he was actually elected, as traditionally the frontrunners are passed over by the conclave for someone else. On 16 April8 2005, Ratzinger was elected as the successor to Pope John Paul II on the second day of the papal conclave after four ballots.

Ratzinger had hoped to retire peacefully and said that "At a certain point, I prayed to God 'please don't do this to me'...Evidently, this time He didn't listen to me."46 Coincidentally, 16 April8 is the feast of St. Leo IX, the most important German pope of the Middle Ages, known for instituting major reforms during his pontificate. Before his first appearance at the balcony of Saint Peter's Basilica after becoming pope, he was announced by Jorge Medina Estévez, Cardinal Protodeacon of the Holy Roman Church. Cardinal Medina Estévez first addressed the massive crowd as "dear(est) brothers and sisters" in Italian, Spanish, French, German and English, with each language receiving cheers from the international crowd, before continuing with the traditional Habemus Papam announcement in Latin.

On 16 April9, he celebrated the Papal Inauguration Mass in St. Peter's Square, during which he was invested with the Pallium and the Ring of the Fisherman. Then, on 16 April0, he took possession of his cathedral church, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran. Ratzinger chose the pontifical name Benedict, which comes from the Latin word meaning "the blessed", in honour of both Pope Benedict XV and Saint Benedict of Nursia.

Pope Benedict XV was pope during the First World War, during which time he passionately pursued peace between the warring nations. St. Benedict of Nursia was the founder of the Benedictine monasteries (most monasteries of the Middle Ages were of the Benedictine order) and the author of the Rule of Saint Benedict, which is still the most influential writing regarding the monastic life of Western Christianity. During his inaugural Mass, the previous custom of every cardinal submitting to the Pope was replaced by having twelve people, including cardinals, clergy, religious, a married couple and their child, and newly confirmed people, greet him.

(The cardinals had formally sworn their obedience upon his election.) He began using an open-topped papal car, saying that he wanted to be closer to the people. Pope Benedict continued the tradition of his predecessor John Paul II and baptised several infants in the Sistine Chapel at the beginning of each year, in his pastoral role as Bishop of Rome. On 16 April 2005, Benedict XVI began the beatification process for his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

Normally, five years must pass after a person's death before the beatification process can begin. However, in an audience with Pope Benedict, Camillo Ruini, Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome and the official responsible for promoting the cause for canonization of any person who dies within that diocese, cited "exceptional circumstances" which suggested that the waiting period could be waived. This happened before, when Pope Paul VI waived the five-year rule and announced beatification processes for his predecessors, Pope Pius XII and Pope John XXIII.

Benedict XVI followed this precedent when he waived the five-year rule for John Paul II. 49 The decision was announced on 16 April 2005, the Feast of Our Lady of Fátima and the 24th anniversary of the attempt on John Paul II's life. 50 John Paul II often credited Our Lady of Fátima for preserving him on that day.

Cardinal Ruini inaugurated the diocesan phase of the cause for beatification in the Lateran Basilica on 16 April 2005. The first beatification under the new pope was celebrated on 16 April 2005, by José Cardinal Saraiva Martins, Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. The new Blesseds were Mother Marianne Cope and Mother Ascensión Nicol Goñi.

Cardinal Clemens August Graf von Galen was beatified on 16 April 2016 April7iano de la Mata was beatified in 16 April and Rosa Eluvathingal was beatified 16 April8 of that year, and Fr. Basil Moreau was beatified 16 April. 52 In 16 April the following beatifications took place: Celestine of the Mother of God, Giuseppina Nicoli, Hendrina Stenmanns, Maria Rosa Flesch, Marta Anna Wiecka, Michael Sopocko, Petrus Kibe Kasui and 187 Companions, Susana Paz-Castillo Ramírez, Maria Isbael Salvat Romero, and John Henry Newman.

Unlike his predecessor, Benedict XVI delegated the beatification liturgical service to a Cardinal. On 16 April9 2005, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints issued a communiqué announcing that henceforth beatifications would be celebrated by a representative of the pope, usually the prefect of that Congregation. Pope Benedict XVI celebrated his first canonizations on 16 April 2005 in St. Peter's Square when he canonized Josef Bilczewski, Alberto Hurtado SJ, Zygmunt Gorazdowski, Gaetano Catanoso, and Felice da Nicosia.

The canonizations were part of a Mass that marked the conclusion of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops and the Year of the Eucharist. 54 Pope Benedict XVI canonized Bishop Rafael Guizar y Valencia, Mother Theodore Guerin, Filippo Smaldone, and Rosa Venerini on 16 April 2006. During his visit to Brazil in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI presided over the canonization of Frei Galvão on 16 April, while George Preca, founder of the Malta based M.U.S.E.U.M., Szymon of Lipnica, Charles of Mount Argus, and Marie-Eugénie de Jésus were canonized in a ceremony held at the Vatican on 16 April 2007.

55 Preca is the first Maltese saint since the country's conversion to Christianity in 60 A.D. when St. Paul converted the inhabitants. 56 In 16 April the following canonizations took place: Saint Alphonsa of India,57 Gaetano Errico, Narcisa de Jesus Martillo Moran, Maria Bernarda Bütler. In 16 April he canonized Arcangelo Tadini, Bernardo Tolomei, Nuno Álvares Pereira, Geltrude Comensoli, Caterina Volpicelli.

58 In October of the same year he canonized Jeanne Jugan, Jozef Damian de Veuster, Zygmunt Szcz? Sny Feli? Ski, Francisco Coll Guitart and Rafael Arnáiz Barón.

On 16 April 2010, Pope Benedict XVI formally declared sainthood for Saint André Bessette, a French-Canadian; Stanislaw Soltys, a 15th-century Polish priest; Italian nuns Giulia Salzano and Camilla Battista da Varano; Spanish nun Candida Maria de Jesus Cipitria y Barriola and the first Australian saint, Mother Mary MacKillop. On 16 April 2011, Pope Benedict XVI canonized three saints: a Spanish nun Bonifacia Rodriguez y Castro, Italian archbishop Guido Maria Conforti, and Italian priest Luigi Guanella. In 16 April, Pope Benedict formally recognized the validity of the miracles necessary to proceed with the canonizations of Kateri Tekakwitha, who would be the first Native American saint, Marianne Cope, a nun working with lepers in what is now the state of Hawaii, Giovanni Battista Piamarta, an Italian priest, Jacques Berthieu a French Jesuit priest and African martyr, Carmen Salles y Barangueras, a Spanish nun and founder of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, Peter Calungsod, a lay catechist and martyr from the Philippines, and Anna Schaffer whose desire to be a missionary was unfulfilled on account of her illness.

63 They were canonized on 16 April8 2012. On 16 April9 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named Hildegard of Bingen and John of Avila Doctors of the Church, the 34th and 35th individuals so recognised in the history of Christianity. Pope Benedict began downsizing the Roman Curia when he merged four existing pontifical councils into two in 16 April.

The Pontifical Council for Migrants was merged with the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace headed by Cardinal Martino. Likewise, Cardinal Poupard, who headed the Pontifical Council for Culture, now also oversees the operations of what had been the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, though both Councils maintained separate officials and staffs while their status and competencies continued unchanged. In 16 April it was decided that Interreligious Dialogue would again become a separate body under a different President.

In 16 April Benedict created the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation. He appointed Archbishop Salvatore Fisichella as its first president. As pope, one of Benedict XVI's main roles was to teach about the Catholic faith and the solutions to the problems of discerning and living the faith,66 a role that he could play well as a former head of the Church's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The main points of emphasis of his teachings are stated in more detail in Theology of Pope Benedict XVI. At the conclusion of his first homily as pope, Benedict referred to both Jesus Christ and John Paul II. Citing John Paul II's well-known words, "Do not be afraid!

"Friendship with Jesus Christ" is a frequent theme of his preaching. 6869 He stressed that on this intimate friendship, "everything d "We are all called to open ourselves to this friendship with God... speaking to him as to a friend, the only One who can make the world both good and happy... That is all we have to do is put ourselves at his disposal...is an extremely important message. It is a message that helps to overcome what can be considered the great temptation of our time: the claim, that after the Big Bang, God withdrew from history."71 Thus, in his book Jesus of Nazareth, his main purpose was "to help foster in the reader the growth of a living relationship" with Jesus Christ.

He took up this theme in his first encyclical Deus Caritas Est. In his personal explanation and summary of the encyclical, he stated: "If friendship with God becomes for us something ever more important and decisive, then we will begin to love those whom God loves and who are in need of us. He said that "a dictatorship of relativism"75 was the core challenge facing the church and humanity.

At the root of this problem, he said, is Kant's "self-limitation of reason". This, he said, is contradictory to the modern acclamation of science whose excellence is based on the power of reason to know the truth. He said that this self-amputation of reason leads to pathologies of religion such as terrorism and pathologies of science such as ecological disasters.

76 Benedict traced the failed revolutions and violent ideologies of the 20th century to a conversion of partial points of view into absolute guides. In the discussion with secularism and rationalism, one of Benedict's basic ideas can be found in his address on the "Crisis of Culture" in the West, a day before Pope John Paul II died, when he referred to Christianity as the Religion of the Logos (the Greek for "word", "reason", "meaning", or "intelligence"). Pope Benedict wrote three encyclicals: Deus Caritas Est (Latin for "God is Love"), Spe Salvi ("Saved by Hope"), and Caritas in Veritate ("Love in Truth").

In his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, he said that a human being, created in the image of God who is love, is able to practice love: to give himself to God and others (agape), by receiving and experiencing God's love in contemplation. This life of love, according to him, is the life of the saints such as Teresa of Calcutta and the Blessed Virgin Mary, and is the direction Christians take when they believe that God loves them in Jesus Christ. The encyclical contains almost 16,000 words in 42 paragraphs.

The first half is said to have been written by Benedict in German, his mother tongue, in the summer of 2005; the second half is derived from uncompleted writings left by his predecessor, Pope John Paul II. 81 The document was signed by Pope Benedict on Christmas Day, 16 April 2005. 82 The encyclical was promulgated a month later in Latin and was translated into English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish.

It is the first encyclical to be published since the Vatican decided to assert copyright in the official writings of the pope. Pope Benedict's second encyclical titled Spe Salvi ("Saved by Hope"), about the virtue of hope, was released on 16 April 2007. Benedict's third encyclical titled Caritas in Veritate ("Love in Truth" or "Charity in Truth"), was signed on 29 June 2009 (the Feast of Sts.

Peter and Paul) and released on 16 April 2009. 86 In it, the Pope continued the Church's teachings on social justice. He condemned the prevalent economic system "where the pernicious effects of sin are evident," and called on people to rediscover ethics in business and economic relations.

Sacramentum Caritatis (The Sacrament of Charity) signed 16 April 2007, released in Latin, Italian, English, French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Polish. It was made available in various languages 16 April 2007 in Rome. The English edition from Libera Editrice Vaticana is 158 pages.

This apostolic exhortation "seeks to take up the richness and variety of the reflections and proposals which emerged from the Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops..." which was held in 2006. On 16 April 2007, Benedict XVI issued the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, declaring that upon "the request of the faithful", celebration of Mass according to the Missal of 1962 (commonly known as the Tridentine Mass), was to be more easily permitted. Stable groups who previously had to petition their bishop to have a Tridentine Mass may now merely request permission from their local priest.

88 While Summorum Pontificum directs that pastors should provide the Tridentine Mass upon the requests of the faithful, it also allows for any qualified priest to offer private celebrations of the Tridentine Mass, to which the faithful may be admitted if they wish. 89 For regularly scheduled public celebrations of the Tridentine Mass, the permission of the priest in charge of the church is required. In an accompanying letter, the Pope outlined his position concerning questions about the new guidelines.

89 As there were fears that the move would entail a reversal of the Second Vatican Council,91 Benedict emphasised that the Tridentine Mass would not detract from the Council, and that the Mass of Paul VI would still be the norm and priests were not permitted to refuse to say the Mass in that form. He pointed out that use of Tridentine Mass "was never juridically abrogated and, consequently, in principle, was always permitted."89 The letter also decried "deformations of the liturgy ... because in many places celebrations were not faithful to the prescriptions of the new Missal" as the Second Vatican Council was wrongly seen "as authorising or even requiring creativity", mentioning his own experience. The Pope considered that allowing the Tridentine Mass to those who request it was a means to prevent or heal schism, stating that, on occasions in history, "not enough was done by the Church’s leaders to maintain or regain reconciliation and unity" and that this "imposes an obligation on us today: to make every effort to enable for all those who truly desire unity to remain in that unity or to attain it anew."89 Many feel the decree aimed at ending the schism between the Holy See and traditionalist groups such as the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX).

Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, the president of the Pontifical Commission established for the purpose of facilitating full ecclesial communion of those associated with that Society,92 stated that the decree "opened the door for their return". Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the SSPX, expressed "deep gratitude to the Sovereign Pontiff for this great spiritual benefit". Benedict XVI condemned excessive consumerism, especially among youth.

In 16 April, he blamed outsourcing for greater availability of consumer goods which lead to downsizing of social security systems. Speaking at his weekly audience in St Peter's Square on 16 April 2006, Pope Benedict asserted that Jesus himself had entrusted the leadership of the Church to his apostle Peter. "Peter's responsibility thus consists of guaranteeing the communion with Christ," said Pope Benedict.

Also in 2006, Benedict met with Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury and spiritual head of the Anglican Communion. In their Common Declaration, they highlighted the previous 40 years of dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans while also acknowledging "serious obstacles to our ecumenical progress". Benedict also acknowledged the Lutheran church, saying that he has had friends in that organisation.

Pope Benedict was open to dialogue with other religious groups, and sought to improve relations with them throughout his pontificate. 9798 He, however, generated certain controversies in doing so. When Benedict ascended to the Papacy his election was welcomed by the Anti-Defamation League who noted "his great sensitivity to Jewish history and the Holocaust".

Critics have accused Benedict's papacy of insensitivity towards Judaism. The two most prominent instances were the expansion of the use of the Tridentine Mass and the lifting of the excommunication on four bishops from the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). In the Good Friday service, the traditional Mass rubrics include a prayer that asks God to lift the veil so they Jews may be delivered from their darkness.

This prayer has historically been contentious in Judaic-Catholic relations and several groups saw the restoration of the Tridentine Mass as problematic. 101102103104105 Among those whose excommunications were lifted was Bishop Richard Williamson, an outspoken historical revisionist sometimes interpreted as a Holocaust denier. 106107108109 The lifting of his excommunication led critics to charge that the Pope was condoning his historical revisionist views.

Pope Benedict's relations with Islam were strained at times. On 16 April 2006 Pope Benedict XVI delivered a lecture which touched on Islam at the University of Regensburg in Germany. The Pope had previously served as professor of theology at the university, and his lecture was entitled "Faith, Reason and the University—Memories and Reflections".

The lecture received much attention from political and religious authorities. Many Islamic politicians and religious leaders registered their protest against what they said was an insulting mischaracterisation of Islam, although his focus was aimed towards the rationality of religious violence, and its effect on the religion. The passage originally appeared in the Dialogue Held with a Certain Persian, the Worthy Mouterizes, in Anakara of Galatia113114 written in 1391 as an expression of the views of the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus, one of the last Christian rulers before the Fall of Constantinople to the Muslim Ottoman Empire, on such issues as forced conversion, holy war, and the relationship between faith and reason.

According to the German text, the Pope's original comment was that the emperor "addresses his interlocutor in an astoundingly harsh—to us surprisingly harsh—way" (wendet er sich in erstaunlich schroffer, uns überraschend schroffer Form). 115 Pope Benedict apologised for any offence he had caused and made a point of visiting Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country, and praying in its Blue Mosque. Pope Benedict XVI planned on 16 April 2008, to meet with Muslim scholars and religious leaders autumn 2008 at a Catholic-Muslim seminar in Rome.

116 That meeting, the "First Meeting of the Catholic-Muslim Forum," was held from 4–16 April 2008. On 16 April 2009 H.H. Pope Benedict XVI visited the King Hussein Mosque, Amman, Jordan where he was addressed by H.R.H. Prince Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal. The Dalai Lama congratulated Pope Benedict XVI upon his election,118 and visited him in 16 April8 in the Vatican City.

In 2007 China was accused of using its political influence to stop a meeting between the Pope and the Dalai Lama. While visiting the United States on 16 April 2008, Benedict met with International Society for Krishna Consciousness representative Radhika Ramana Dasa;122 a notable Hindu scholar123 and disciple of Hanumatpreshaka Swami. 124 On behalf of the Hindu American community, Radhika Ramana Dasa presented a gift of an Om symbol to Benedict.

As pontiff, Benedict XVI carried out numerous Apostolic activities including journeys across the world and in the Vatican. Benedict travelled extensively during the first three years of his papacy. In addition to his travels within Italy, Pope Benedict XVI made two visits to his homeland, Germany, one for World Youth Day and another to visit the towns of his childhood.

He also visited Poland and Spain, where he was enthusiastically received. 127 His visit to Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, was initially overshadowed by the controversy about a lecture he had given at Regensburg. His visit was met by nationalist and Islamic protesters128 and was placed under unprecedented security measures.

129 However, the trip went ahead and Benedict made a joint declaration with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in an attempt to begin to heal the rift between the Catholic and Orthodox churches. In 2007, Pope Benedict visited Brazil in order to address the Bishops' Conference there and canonize Friar Antônio Galvão, an 18th century Franciscan. In 16 April, Benedict made a personal pilgrimage and pastoral visit to Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis.

In September, Benedict undertook a three-day visit to Austria,130 during which he joined Vienna's Chief Rabbi, Paul Chaim Eisenberg, in a memorial to the 65,000 Viennese Jews who perished in Nazi death camps. 131 During his stay in Austria, he also celebrated Mass at the Marian shrine Mariazell and visited Heiligenkreuz Abbey. In 16 April, Pope Benedict XVI made his first visit to the United States since becoming pope.

133 He arrived in Washington, DC where he was formally received at the White House and met privately with U.S. President George W. 134 While in Washington, the pope addressed representatives of US Catholic universities, met with leaders of other world religions, and celebrated Mass at the Washington Nationals' baseball stadium with 47,000 people. 135 The Pope also met privately with victims of sexual abuse by priests.

The Pope travelled to New York where he addressed the United Nations General Assembly. 136 Also while in New York, the Pope celebrated Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, met with disabled children and their families, and attended an event for Catholic youth, where he addressed some 25,000 young people in attendance. 137 On the final day of the Pope's visit, he visited the World Trade Center site and later celebrated Mass at Yankee Stadium.

In 16 April, the Pope travelled to Australia to attend World Youth Day 2008 in Sydney. On 16 April, in St. Mary's Cathedral, he made an apology for child sex abuse perpetrated by the clergy in Australia. 139140 On 16 April 2008, at an outdoor Paris Mass attended by 250,000 people, Pope Benedict XVI condemned the modern materialism – the world's love of power, possessions and money as a modern-day plague, comparing it to paganism.

In 2009, he visited Africa (Cameroon and Angola) for the first time as pope. During his visit, he suggested that altering sexual behavior was the answer to Africa's AIDS crisis, and urged Catholics to reach out and convert believers in sorcery. He visited the Middle East (Jordan, Israel and Palestine) in 16 April.

Pope Benedict's main arena for pastoral activity was the Vatican itself, his Christmas and Easter homilies and Urbi et Orbi are delivered from St Peter's Basilica. The Vatican is also the only regular place where Benedict XVI traveled via motor without the protective bulletproof case common to most popemobiles. Despite the more secure setting Pope Benedict was victim to security risks several times inside Vatican City. On Wednesday, 16 April 2007 during his General Audience a man leapt across a barrier, evaded guards and nearly mounted the Pope's vehicle, although he was stopped and Benedict seemed to be unaware of the event.

On Thursday, 16 April 2009, while Pope Benedict was proceeding to the altar to celebrate Christmas Eve Mass at St Peter's Basilica, a woman later identified as 25-year-old Susanna Maiolo, who holds Italian and Swiss citizenships, jumped the barrier and grabbed the Pope by his vestments and pulled him to the ground. The 82-year-old fell but was assisted to his feet and he continued to proceed towards the altar to celebrate Mass. Roger Etchegaray, 87, the vice-dean of the College of Cardinals, fell also and suffered a hip fracture.

Italian police reported that the woman had previously attempted to accost the Pope at the previous Christmas Eve Mass, but was prevented from doing so. In his homily, Pope Benedict forgave Susanna Maiolo145 and urged the world to "wake up" from selfishness and petty affairs, and find time for God and spiritual matters. Between 17 and 16 April, Pope Benedict made an Apostolic Journey to the Republic of Malta.

Following meetings with various dignitaries on his first day on the island, 50,000 people gathered in a drizzle for Papal Mass on the granaries in Floriana. The Pope also met with the Maltese youth at the Valletta Waterfront, where an estimated 10,000 young people turned up to greet him. 146 During his visit the Pope was moved to tears while expressing his shame at cases of abuse on the island during a 20-minute meeting with victims.

Prior to 2001, the primary responsibility for investigating allegations of sexual abuse and disciplining perpetrators rested with the individual dioceses. In 2001, Ratzinger convinced John Paul II to put the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in charge of all investigations and policies surrounding sexual abuse in order to combat such abuse more efficiently. 148149 According to John L.

Allen, Jr., Ratzinger in the following years "acquired a familiarity with the contours of the problem that virtually no other figure in the Catholic Church can claim" and "driven by that encounter with what he would later refer to as 'filth' in the Church, Ratzinger seems to have undergone something of a 'conversion experience' throughout 2003–04. From that point forward, he and his staff seemed driven by a convert's zeal to clean up the mess". 150 In his role as Head of the CDF, he "led important changes made in Church law: the inclusion in canon law of internet offences against children, the extension of child abuse offences to include the sexual abuse of all under 18, the case by case waiving of the statute of limitation and the establishment of a fast-track dismissal from the clerical state for offenders."151 As the Head of the CDF, Ratzinger developed a reputation for handling these cases.

According to Charles J. Scicluna, a former prosecutor handling sexual abuse cases, "Cardinal Ratzinger displayed great wisdom and firmness in handling those cases, also demonstrating great courage in facing some of the most difficult and thorny cases, sine acceptione personarum (without exceptions)". One of the cases Ratzinger pursued involved Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, a Mexican priest and founder of the Legion of Christ, who had been accused repeatedly of sexual abuse.

Biographer Andrea Tornielli suggested that Cardinal Ratzinger had wanted to take action against Marcial Maciel Degollado, but that John Paul II and other high-ranking officials, including several cardinals and notably the Pope's influential secretary Stanis? Aw Dziwisz, prevented him from doing so. 149153 According to Jason Berry, Angelo Sodano "pressured" Cardinal Ratzinger, who was "operating on the assumption that the charges were not justified", to halt the proceedings against Maciel in 1999154 When Maciel was honored by the Pope in 2004, new accusers came forward154 and Cardinal Ratzinger "took it on himself to authorize an investigation of Maciel"149 After Ratzinger became pope he began proceedings against Maciel and the Legion of Christ that forced Maciel out of active service in the Church.

148 On 16 April 2010 the Vatican issued a statement denouncing Maciel's "very serious and objectively immoral acts", which were "confirmed by incontrovertible testimonies" and represent "true crimes and manifest a life without scruples or authentic religious sentiment." Pope Benedict also said he would appoint a special commission to examine the Legionaries’ constitution and open an investigation into its lay affiliate Regnum Christi. 155 Cardinal Christoph Schönborn explained that Ratzinger "made entirely clear efforts not to cover things up but to tackle and investigate them.

This was not always met with approval in the Vatican". 148156 According to Schönborn, Cardinal Ratzinger had pressed John Paul II to investigate Hans Hermann Groër, an Austrian cardinal and friend of John Paul accused of sexual abuse, resulting in Groër's resignation. In 16 April, the Pope sent a Pastoral Letter to the Catholic Church in Ireland addressing cases of sexual abuse by Catholic priests to minors, expressing sorrow, and promising changes in the way accusations of abuse are dealt with.

157 Victim groups claim the letter failed to clarify if secular law enforcement has priority over canon law confidentiality pertaining to internal investigation of abuse allegations. 158159160161 The Pope then promised to introduce measures that would 'safeguard young people in the future' and 'bring to justice' priests who were responsible for abuse. 147 In April, the Vatican issued guidelines on how existing Church law should be implemented.

The guideline dictates that "Civil law concerning reporting of crimes... should always be followed."162 The guideline was intended to follow the norms established by U.S. bishops, but it does not require the reporting of "allegations" or crimes where reporting is not required by law. Pope Benedict XVI re-introduced several papal garments which had previously fallen into disuse. Pope Benedict XVI resumed the use of the traditional red papal shoes, which had been used since Roman times by popes but which had fallen into disuse during the pontificate of Pope John Paul II.

Contrary to the initial speculation of the press that the shoes had been made by the Italian fashion house Prada, the Vatican announced that the shoes were provided by the Pope's personal shoemaker. On 16 April 2005, the Pope once only wore the camauro, the traditional red papal hat usually worn in the winter. It had not been seen since the pontificate of Pope John XXIII (1958–1963).

On 16 April 2006, the Pope began wearing the red cappello romano (also called a saturno), a wide-brimmed hat for outdoor use. Rarely used by John Paul II, it was more widely worn by his predecessors. Prior to his election as pope in 2005, Ratzinger had hoped to retire—on account of age-related health problems, a long-held desire to have free time to write, and the retirement age for bishops (75)—and submitted his resignation as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith three times, but continued at his post in obedience to the wishes of Pope John Paul II.

In 16 April, Ratzinger suffered a hemorrhagic stroke, which slightly impaired his eyesight temporarily but he recovered completely. 165 This was never officially made public—the official news was that Ratzinger had fallen and struck his head against a radiator—but was an open secret known to the conclave that elected him pope. Since his election in 16 April8 there were several rumors about the Pope's health, but none of them was confirmed.

Early in his pontificate Benedict XVI predicted a short reign, which led to concerns about his health. 167 In 16 April the Vatican announced that he had suffered another mild stroke. French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin said that since the first stroke Ratzinger had been suffering from an age-related heart condition, for which he was on medication.

In late 16 April Vatican insiders told the international press that the Pope had had a routine examination of the heart. 166 A few days later an unconfirmed rumor emerged that Pope Benedict had undergone an operation in preparation for an eventual bypass operation, but this rumor was only published by a small left-wing Italian newspaper and was never confirmed by any Vatican insider. On 116 April 2009 Benedict was hospitalized after falling and breaking his right wrist while on vacation in the Alps; his injuries were reported to be minor.

Following the announcement of his resignation, the Vatican revealed that Pope Benedict had been fitted with a pacemaker while he was still a cardinal, before his election as pope in 2005. The battery in the pacemaker had been replaced three months earlier, a routine procedure, but that did not influence the decision. On 16 April8 2013, the Vatican confirmed that Benedict XVI would resign the papacy on 16 April8 2013, as a result of his advanced age, becoming the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415.

171 The move was considered unexpected. 13 In modern times, all popes have stayed in office until death. Benedict is the first pope to have resigned without external pressure since Celestine V in 1294.

In a statement, Benedict cited his deteriorating strength and the physical and mental demands of the papacy;172 addressing his Cardinals in Latin, Benedict gave a brief statement announcing his resignation. He also declared that he would continue to serve the church "through a life dedicated to prayer". According to a statement from the Vatican, the timing of the resignation was not caused by any specific illness but was to "avoid that exhausting rush of Easter engagements".

On the appointed day and hour, and after two weeks of ceremonial farewells, the Pope left office and the time of sede vacante was declared. Paul Collins suggested174 that the elevation of the Pope's personal assistant, Georg Gänswein, to archbishop in early 16 April (he was ordained as bishop on 16 April6 2013) was an indication of the impending resignation of Benedict XVI. On the morning of 16 April, Pope Benedict met with the full college of cardinals, and in the early afternoon flew by helicopter to the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, where he waited for his resignation to take effect.

There he will stay until after the conclave to elect a successor completes its task. Afterwards he will return to the Vatican, where the monastery Mater Ecclesiae located in the Vatican Gardens175 will serve as a retirement home. After his resignation, Benedict XVI retains his papal name rather than reverting to usage of his birth name, Joseph Ratzinger.

He is known as His Holiness Benedict XVI, Pope emeritus. 176 Regarding clothing and apparel, Benedict XVI continues to wear white garments, but without the cape that covers the shoulders. He also ceased wearing red papal shoes.

Benedict XVI will also give up his Fisherman's Ring, which is usually destroyed by Vatican officials on the event of the death of a pope to prevent counterfeit documents. According to Vatican spokesman, he spent the first day as pope emeritus with Archbishop Georg Gänswein and, among other activities, watched the news in Italian. The official style of the former pope is His Holiness Benedict XVI, Pope Emeritus, in Latin, pontifex emeritus.

As pope, his rarely used full title was: His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman province, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God. Before 16 April7 2006, the list of titles also used to contain that of a "Patriarch of the West", which traditionally appeared in that list of titles before "Primate of Italy". The title of "Patriarch of the West" was first adopted in the year 642 by Pope Theodore I, but was rarely used since the East-West Schism of 1054.

From the Orthodox perspective, authority in the Church could be traced to the five patriarchates of Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem. However, some Catholic theologianswho? Have argued that the term "Patriarch of the West" has no clear historical or theological basis and was introduced into the papal court in 1870 at the time of the First Vatican Council.

Pope Benedict chose to remove the title at a time when discussions with the Orthodox churches have centered on the issue of papal primacy. In 2005, the Pope listed several ways to combat the spread of HIV, including chastity, fidelity in marriage and anti-poverty efforts; he also rejected the use of condoms. 178 The alleged Vatican investigation of whether there are any cases when married persons may use condoms to protect against the spread of infections surprised many Catholics in the wake of John Paul II's consistent refusal to consider condom use in response to AIDS.

179 However, the Vatican has since stated that no such change in the Church's teaching can occur. In 16 April, in a book-length interview, the Pope, using the example of male prostitutes, stated that the use of condoms, with the intention of reducing the risk of HIV infection, may be an indication that the prostitute is intending to reduce the evil connected with his or her immoral activity. 182 In the same interview, the Pope also reiterated the traditional teaching of the Church that condoms are not seen as a "real or moral solution" to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Further, in 16 April, the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith explained that the Pope's statement did not constitute a legitimization of either prostitution or contraception, both of which remain gravely immoral. During his time as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Benedict XVI made several efforts to tackle the issue of homosexuality within the Church and the wider world. In 1986 the CDF sent a letter to all bishops entitled: On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons.

The letter condemned a liberal interpretation of the earlier CDF document Declaration on Certain Questions Concerning Sexual Ethics, which had led to a "benign" attitude "to the homosexual condition itself". On the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons clarified that the Church's position on homosexuality was that "although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder."183 However the document also condemned homophobic attacks and violence, stating that "It is deplorable that homosexual persons have been and are the object of violent malice in speech or in action. In 1992 he again approved CDF documents declaring that homosexual "inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder" and extended this principle to civil law.

On 16 April8 2008, the Pope gave an end of year message to the Roman Curia in which he talked about gender and the important distinction between men and women. The Pope said that the church viewed the distinction as central to human nature, and "asks that this order, set down by creation, be respected". He characterised gender roles which deviated from his view of what gender roles should be as "a violation of the natural order".

The church, he said, "should protect man from the destruction of himself". He said a sort of ecology of man was needed, adding: "The tropical forests do deserve our protection; but man, as a creature, does not deserve any less." He attacked what he described as gender theories which "lead towards the self-emancipation of man from creation and the creator".

LGBT groups such as the Italian Arcigay and German LSVD have announced that they found the Pope's comments homophobic. Father Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, claimed the Pope had not wished specifically to attack homosexuality, and had not mentioned gays or lesbians in his text. Father Lombardi insisted, however, that there had been an overreaction to the Pope's remarks: "He was speaking more generally about gender theories which overlook the fundamental difference in creation between men and women and focus instead on cultural conditioning."

Nevertheless, the remarks were interpreted as a call to save mankind from homosexuals and transsexuals. During a 2012 Christmas speech,188 the Pope made remarks about the present-day interpretation of the notion of "gender". He stated that "sex is no longer a given element of nature, that man has to accept and personally make sense of: it is a social role that we choose for ourselves", and "The words of the creation account: “male and female he created them” (Gen 1:27) no longer apply".

Although he didn't mention the topic, his words were interpreted by news media as denunciations of same-sex marriage,189 with some sources adding that Benedict would have called it a threat to world peace similar to abortion and euthanasia. 190 In 16 April, he stated that heterosexual marriages should be defended from "every possible misrepresentation of their true nature". In a message released 16 April 2006, during a Vatican press conference for the 2007 annual observance of World Day for Migrants and Refugees, the Pope urged the ratification of international conventions and policies that defend all migrants, including refugees, exiles, evacuees, and internally displaced persons.

"The church encourages the ratification of the international legal instruments that aim to defend the rights of migrants, refugees and their families," the Pope said. Pope Benedict also promoted various UN events, such as World Refugee Day, on which he offered up special prayers for refugees and called for the international community to do more to secure refugees' human rights. He also called on Catholic communities and organizations to offer them concrete help.

In 2007 Benedict sent a letter at Easter to Catholics in China that could have wide-ranging implications for the church's relationship with China's leadership. The letter provides long-requested guidance to Chinese bishops on how to respond to illicitly ordained bishops, as well as how to strengthen ties with the Patriotic Association and the Communist government. On 16 April 2006, Benedict said that the dispute over the North Korea nuclear weapons program should be resolved through negotiations, in his first public comment on the security issue, a news report said.

"The Holy See encourages bilateral or multilateral negotiations, convinced that the solution must be sought through peaceful means and in respect for agreements taken by all sides to obtain the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula." Benedict was talking to the new Japanese ambassador to the Vatican. In a 2004 Le Figaro interview, Ratzinger said that Turkey, which is demographically Muslim but governmentally secular by virtue of its state constitution, should seek its future in an association of Muslim nations rather than the European Union, which Ratzinger stated has Christian roots.

He said Turkey had always been "in permanent contrast to Europe and that linking it to Europe would be a mistake". Later visiting the country to "reiterate the solidarity between the cultures," it was reported that he made a counter-statement backing Turkey's bid to join the EU. Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdo?

An, said that the Pope told him in their meeting that while the Vatican seeks to stay out of politics it desires Turkey's membership in the EU. 197198 However, the Common Declaration of Pope Benedict XVI and Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople implied that support for Turkey's membership in the European Union would be contingent on the establishment of religious freedom in Turkey:199 "In every step towards unification, minorities must be protected, with their cultural traditions and the distinguishing features of their religion."200 The Declaration also reiterates Pope Benedict XVI's call for Europe to preserve its Christian roots. In 16 April he visited Israel.

201202 This was the third Papal visit to the Holy Land, the previous ones being made by Pope Paul VI in 1964 and Pope John Paul II in 2000. Pope Benedict XVI and Prime Minister Nguy? N T?

N D? Ng met at the Vatican on 16 April 2007 in a "new and important step towards establishing diplomatic ties". 203 The Pope met with President Nguy?

N Minh Tri? T on 16 April 2009. In 2009, the Pope intervened in global economic and political affairs with his third encyclical, Charity in Truth (Latin Caritas in Veritate), which can be viewed on the Vatican's web site.

205 The document sets out the Pope's position on the case for worldwide redistribution of wealth in considerable detail and goes on to discuss the environment, migration, terrorism, sexual tourism, bioethics, energy and population issues. The Financial Times reported that Benedict XVI's advocacy for a fairer redistribution of wealth helped set the agenda for the 2016 April G8 summit. Pope Benedict XVI called for nuclear disarmament.

At the same time, he supported the peaceful use of nuclear energy as a tool for development and the fight against poverty. Benedict is known to be deeply interested in classical music,20 and is an accomplished pianist. 209 The Pontiff Emeritus' favorite composer is Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, of whose music the Pope said, "His music is by no means just entertainment; it contains the whole tragedy of human existence."210 Benedict also stated that Mozart's music affected him greatly as a young man and "deeply penetrated his soul".

210 Benedict's favorite works of music are Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Clarinet Quintet. Benedict recorded an album of contemporary classical music in which Benedict sings and recites prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary. 212 The album was set for release on 16 April 2009.

Benedict is also known to be fond of cats. 20 As Cardinal Ratzinger he was known (according to former neighbours) to look after stray cats in his neighbourhood. A book called Joseph and Chico: A Cat Recounts the Life of Pope Benedict XVI was published in 2007 which told the story of the Pope's life from the feline Chico's perspective.

This story was inspired by an orange tabby Pentling cat, which belonged to the family next door. 213 During his trip to Australia for World Youth Day in 2008 the media reported that festival organizers lent the Pope a grey cat called Bella214 in order to keep him company during his stay. In 16 April, the Vatican announced that Pope Benedict XVI had joined social networking website Twitter, under the handle @Pontifex.

216 His first tweet was made on 16 April and was "Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart."217 On 16 April8 2013, the day he retired, the tweets were deleted, and @Pontifex now reads "Sede Vacante".

As pope, Benedict was Grand Master of the following orders: Supreme Order of Christ, Order of the Golden Spur, Order of Pius IX, Equestrian Order of St. Gregory the Great and the Order of St. Sylvester. The asteroid 8661 Ratzinger was named in his honor for the role he played in supervising the opening of Vatican archives in 1998 to researchers investigating judicial errors against Galileo and other medieval scientists. The name was proposed by the asteroid's first discoverers, L.

Schmadel and F. Borngen at Tautenburg. Pope Benedict XVI wrote 66 books.

The following is a list of books written by Pope Benedict XVI arranged chronologically by English first edition. The original German first edition publication year is included in par.