Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVIserved as pope of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013. He was elected pope on 19 April 2005, was inaugurated on 24 April 2005 and resigned from the office on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election occurred in a papal conclave following the death of Pope John Paul II...
NationalityGerman
ProfessionReligious Leader
Date of Birth16 April 1927
CityMarktl, Germany
CountryGermany
hurt pain dark
It is when we attempt to avoid suffering by withdrawing from anything that might involve hurt, when we try to spare ourselves the effort and pain of pursuing truth, love, and goodness, that we drift into a life of emptiness, in which there may be almost no pain, but the dark sensation of meaninglessness and abandonment is all the greater.
pain suffering crosses
The cross reminds us that there is no true love without suffering, there is no gift of life without pain.
faith pain blessed
Before His gaze all falsehood melts away. This encounter with Him, as it burns us, transforms and frees us, allowing us to become truly ourselves... His gaze, the touch of His heart heals us through an undeniably painful transformation "as through fire". But it is a blessed pain, in which the holy power of His love sears through us like a flame, enabling us to become totally ourselves and thus totally of God.
pain idols our-world
Our world has grown weary of greed, exploitation and division, of the tedium of false idols and piecemeal responses, and the pain of false promises.
war issues diversity
Not all moral issues have the same moral weight as abortion and euthanasia. There may be legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty, but not... with regard to abortion and euthanasia.
faith inspiration world
God came into the world to reawaken the thirst for great things in us.
boundless gave god joy love loved
I would like everyone to feel loved by the God who gave his son for us and showed us his boundless love. I want everyone to feel the joy of being Christian.
brings citizen clearly dimension expression freedom human include individual religious understood
Human rights, of course, must include the right to religious freedom, understood as the expression of a dimension that is at once individual and communitarian - a vision that brings out the unity of the person while clearly distinguishing between the dimension of the citizen and that of the believer.
force god good great history light luminous passed survives truly wake
If we look to the saints, this great luminous wake with which God has passed through history, we truly see that here is a force for good that survives through millennia; here is truly light from light.
close god helped lord love next placed
The Lord has placed next to me many people, who, with generosity and love for God and the church, have helped me and been close to me.
life outpouring source
The outpouring of Christ's blood is the source of the church's life.
above consoles lord means work
The fact that the Lord can work and act even with insufficient means consoles me, and above all I entrust myself to your prayers.
assume entering freedom name relations responsibility
In the name of freedom, there has to be a correlation between rights and duties, by which every person is called to assume responsibility for his or her choices, made as a consequence of entering into relations with others.
against backdrop catholic council faith question reality
The reality of the Eucharistic sacrifice has always been at the heart of Catholic faith; called into question in the 16th century, it was solemnly reaffirmed at the Council of Trent against the backdrop of our justification in Christ.