Birthday in the Vatican for Ratzinger: he turns 94 today, he is the longest-lived among the Popes

Von der Leyen in the Vatican: with the Pope he talks about the war in Ukraine, the food crisis and the future of the EU

The Pope emeritus Benedict XVI turns 94 today. Joseph Ratzinger is the longest-lived among the Popes of the Church. To hold this record before him was Leo XIII who died at 93 years. Today for Pope Ratzinger will be a day of prayer and rest in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, where he lives. This is the first birthday for the Pope Emeritus without his beloved brother Georg, who passed away on July 1, 2020 at the age of 97. In reality, the two had not been able to spend this day of celebration together last year, as they usually did: Monsignor Georg Ratzinger was in fact already in poor health and in any case it was impossible to move due to the Coronavirus pandemic. And this year too is a pandemic birthday for Ratzinger.

Ratzinger is no longer Pope since 2013 after his resignation – German born in 1927, considered one of the most illustrious intellectuals and theologians of the last century, Ratzinger was Pope for almost eight years until 2013, when he decided to abdicate the papal throne. As Pope Emeritus, Ratzinger has decided to retire within the walls of the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, in the Vatican City, where he spends his days dedicating himself to prayer and to his writings. The Pope Emeritus participated in the conclaves that elected Pope Luciani and Pope Wojtyla in 1978, then he was elected to the papal throne on April 19, 2005, on the second day of the conclave, becoming the 265th Pontiff of Rome. Joseph Ratzinger remained in office until 11 February 2013, when he began a period of “vacancy”, for reasons related to age and the decline in physical strength. His successor will be Pope Francis.