Pope Benedict XVI - a life in pictures

Thousands of Catholics have paid their respects to former Pope Benedict XVI, who died aged 95

Pope Benedict XVI waves from a balcony after he was elected by the conclave of cardinals on 19 April 2005
Pope Benedict XVI after his election in 2005
(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

Tens of thousands of Catholics from across the globe converged on St Peter’s Square in the Vatican to pay their final respects to former Pope Benedict XVI.

Benedict, who passed away on Saturday at the age of 95, was the first pope to resign in nearly 600 years, citing declining health. His resignation in 2013 sparked debate and discussion about the role and responsibilities of the papacy, as well as the circumstances under which a pope may choose to step down.

Leading the Catholic Church since his election in 2005, Benedict made the unusual decision to be called Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI after his abdication, instead of reverting to his given name of Joseph Ratzinger. He also “continued to live in the Vatican” and “wear a white cassock”, said The Guardian.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Just as Benedict “made history during his life” he “will do so in death”, said Sky News. Today’s funeral was the first time a current pope, Pope Francis, had presided over the funeral of a former pope in more than two centuries.

An estimated 195,000 people filed past Benedict’s body as he lay in state for three days in the Vatican before the funeral.

However, the BBC noted that the funeral was “not on the same scale” as the last papal funeral, that of Pope John Paul II in 2005. Then, more than three million people descended on Rome, with half a million people attending the ceremony and hundreds of thousands more watching on screens around the city.

Benedict was not a sitting pope when he died, which may account for the lower attendance, but he was also “not viewed with the same affection” as his close friend John Paul. While Benedict is often regarded as a scholar and admired for his writings, he is thought to have lacked the charisma and “rock star appeal” of his predecessor, said the BBC.

Ratzinger as a young German Air Force assistant in 1943

Ratzinger as a young German air force assistant in 1943
(Image credit: German Catholic News Agency KNA via Getty Images)

Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger was born in 1927 in Marktl am Inn, Bavaria. Born to “pious” parents, Ratzinger was baptised just hours after his birth, said The Times.

His childhood was “deeply affected” by the rise of Nazism, said the paper. After moving to Austria in 1929, Ratzinger’s father spoke out against the Nazi party throughout the 1930s and was ostracised by the local community as a result. In 1939, Ratzinger was required to join the Hitler Youth while he was a seminarian, later a source of controversy during the early years of his papacy.

A newly ordained priest, Ratzinger prays during an open-air mass in Ruhpolding, Germany, in 1952

A newly ordained priest, Ratzinger prays during an open-air mass in Ruhpolding, Germany, in 1952

His experiences during the Second World War “strengthened his conviction that the Catholic Church held the answers to life’s deepest questions”, said The Times. In 1951 he was ordained alongside his brother, Georg.

Ratzinger was appointed by the Vatican as a cardinal in 1977

Ratzinger, left, was appointed a cardinal in 1977
(Image credit: Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Ratzinger was appointed by the Vatican as a cardinal three months after becoming archbishop of Munich in 1977, said The Times.

Pope Benedict XVI waves from a balcony after he was elected by the conclave of cardinals on 19 April 2005

Benedict after his election as pope in April 2005
(Image credit: Mario Tama/Getty Images)

After the death of his long-time friend and predecessor Pope John Paul II in 2005, Ratzinger was elected to the papacy after just two days of voting and against the predicitions of most experts. At 78, he was the “oldest incoming pope since Clement XII in 1730 and only the second non-Italian in almost half a millennium”, said The Guardian.

Popemobile

Benedict in the popemobile in 2006
(Image credit: Eric Vandeville/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

Pope Benedict sitting in what has become known colloquially as the “popemobile”, designed to ensure he is visible to crowds wherever he goes. During his trips outside the Vatican, he is surrounded by members of his security dressed in civilian clothes, among which are the famed Swiss Guards, who were established in 1506.

Pope Benedict XVI on a state visit to the UK in 2010

(Image credit: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The invitation from Prime Minister Gordon Brown for Pope Benedict XVI to make a state visit to the UK in 2010 sparked significant controversy. The visit took place amid widespread discontent with the Catholic Church’s handling of clerical abuse allegations, with some members of the British public calling for his visit to be cancelled.

Despite these challenges, Pope Benedict went on to meet the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, making it the first state visit by a pope to the UK. Pope John Paul II made a pastoral visit in 1982.

The funeral mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in St Peter’s Square

Bishops and cardinals attend the funeral mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in St Peter’s Square
(Image credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Pope Benedict’s funeral, which took place today, was attended by vast crowds of mourners, as well as European royals, thousands of cardinals, priests and bishops, and official delegations from Italy and Benedict’s native Germany.

The former pope lies in state at St Peter’s Basilica

The former pope lies in state at St Peter’s Basilica
(Image credit: Stefano Spaziani/Europa Press via Getty Images)

Hundreds of thousands of mourners viewed the mortal remains of the former pope, which lay in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

 Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.