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
support suffering church
The State which would provide everything, absorbing everything into itself, would ultimately become a mere bureaucracy incapable of guaranteeing the very thing which the suffering person—every person—needs: namely, loving personal concern. We do not need a State which regulates and controls everything, but a State which, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity, generously acknowledges and supports initiatives arising from the different social forces and combines spontaneity with closeness to those in need. The Church is one of those living forces.
children support abortion
The Catholic community must offer support to those women who may find it difficult to accept a child, above all when they are isolated from their family and friends. Likewise, the community should be open to welcome back all who repent of having participated in the grave sin of abortion, and should guide them with pastoral charity to accept the grace of forgiveness, the need for penance, and the joy of entering once more into the new life of Christ.
justice support church
I thank Missio, (Pontifical Mission Societies), the primary instruments for cooperation in the universal Church's universal mission in the world. Through their action, the proclamation of the Gospel bears witness to Christ and is lived out in service of our neighbour through justice for the poorest, education in isolated villages, medical care in remote areas, freedom from poverty, the reintegration of the marginalised, support for the development of peoples, the breaking down of ethnic divisions and respect for life in all its stages.
stress support community
The great tasks facing the ecclesial community in the modern world - and among the many I particularly stress evangelization and ecumenism - are centered on the Word of God and, at the same time, draw therefrom their justification and support.
prayer heart support
Thank you from the heart to all those who in various ways are near me or follow me spiritually with affection and prayers from afar. To each one of you, I ask you to continue to support me by praying to God to let me be his gentle and firm pastor of his church.
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.