Pope Benedict XVI dies: Resignation of ‘God’s Rottweiler’ shocked the world – and he continued to be controversial
The death of Pope Emeritus Benedict marks an unfamiliar junction for modern Catholics.
He is the first pope since the Middle Ages to die after retiring from office.
His death will trigger public mourning but not the election of a successor which many are used to.
Former pontiff dies after Pope Francis revealed he was ‘very sick’ – follow latest updates
Pope Benedict on a balcony of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican
Pope Francis, elected in 2013 after Benedict stepped down, will continue in his role as the head of the Catholic Church.
As the world remembers the 265th Pope, it will also reflect on his time as one of the most powerful religious leaders on earth.
Members of the clergy familiar with Benedict say he was known as the intellectual pope.
“Benedict was a shy person. He loved books. He loved his desk, writing, reflecting. Bringing in beautiful German, and then also in other languages, his thought. But a lonely person. He was even telling people: ‘My true friends are the books’,” said Professor Felix Koerner SJ, theologian at Humboldt University in Berlin.
In 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Benedict XVI, the first German to be elected Pope in a thousand years.
Read more:
Pope Benedict’s rise to the top and the controversies surrounding his reign
Queen Elizabeth II and Pope Benedict at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in 2010
An uncompromising theological conservative, cardinals chose him as a “safe pair of hands” and while a hero to many traditionalists, his time in office was marked by several scandals.
The son of a policeman, born in 1927, as a child he lived through Nazi rule.
As a teenager he served in the Hitler Youth during the Second World War when membership was compulsory.
While his family opposed Adolf Hitler’s regime and he didn’t join the Nazi party, many in the Jewish community were concerned when he was first elected.
On a trip to Auschwitz death camp, he confronted Germany’s dark past.
“This is an historic trip as important as that of his predecessor Pope John Paul II,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center at the time. “The fact that a German pope raised in Nazi Germany and who once wore the uniform of the Hitler Youth kneels in prayer at the site of the world’s greatest atrocity and condemns hatred is a repudiation of antisemitism.”
Pope Benedict with fellow priests, his brother Georg Ratzinger and friend Rupert Berger, on the day they were ordained in June 1951
This wasn’t the only flash point.
In 2006, Benedict sparked outrage in the Muslim world when during a speech in Germany he quoted a 14th Century emperor saying that Islam brought evil to the world spread by the sword.
Protest followed as fury spread.
A nun was shot in Somalia.
He later had to issue an apology, saying he was “deeply sorry” for the reactions his address had prompted.
In 2009, the rehabilitation of a Holocaust denier outraged Jews, as well as many Catholics.
Later that year, he sparked further anger when he told reporters on his first trip to Africa that condoms exacerbated the AIDS and HIV problem.
Despite these missteps, among many conservative Catholics, Benedict was popular.
Pope John Paul II (L) , with Pope Benedict – who was then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger – in 1979
As a cardinal charged with enforcing doctrinal purity, Benedict was given the nickname “God’s Rottweiler” for his uncompromising conservative views.
As Pope, he was respected for his deep faith and his work as a theologian, producing 60 books between 1963 and 2013.
“His strength was clearly how to express the Christian faith in a way understandable to modern human beings. That’s his message. That’s what he leaves us,” said Professor Koerner.
Child abuse scandals marred his time as Pope and continued to haunt him into retirement.
While his supporters pointed out that he removed hundreds of priests from the priesthood for abuse, others felt he could have done more.
“The number one challenge for Pope Benedict was the abuse crisis, which was just gaining in speed and spreading all over the world during his pontificate. And he did take several steps to begin to respond to that. But his critics say that he didn’t do enough in the time that he was the Pope,” said Luke Coppen, senior correspondent at the Catholic website The Pillar.
The Sunday Easter mass benediction in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican in 2012
In 2022, Benedict admitted errors had been made and asked for forgiveness after an independent report in Germany alleged he had failed to act in four cases of sexual abuse when he was Archbishop of Munich between 1977 and 1982.
His lawyers argued he was not directly to blame.
In 2012, scandal darkened Pope Benedict’s door again, when his butler was found to be the source leaking documents alleging corruption and feuding in the Vatican.
“Pope Benedict’s pontificate was undoubtedly marked by great corruption and dysfunction within the Vatican itself. And he struggled throughout his pontificate to deal with that.
“And many people think that, in fact, his pontificate went off course, because of all the issues in the Vatican that prevented him from focussing on his key strengths of preaching and teaching,” said Mr Coppen.
No doubt exhausted by the “Vatileaks” scandal and ongoing ill health, the following year, Pope Benedict sparked controversy again, this time becoming the first pope in 600 years to resign.
Pope Francis and Pope Benedict in August 2022
In his final address to the faithful he acknowledged the weight of the office and the Church’s problems.
Then, in an extraordinary chapter for the Catholic church he said goodbye to cardinals before retiring to a monastery in Vatican City.
“That was a remarkable step he made. And there hasn’t been a pope since the Middle Ages who stepped down. So he, as a fairly conservative person, was also opening a door to a world of today where people need not stay in office until they die, but where they can realise themselves ‘I’m too weak now to lead, so I need to step down,’ even as a Pope,” explained Professor Koerner.
Pope Benedict will be remembered ‘as a Pope of reflection and thinking’
After retirement, Benedict chose to keep wearing white, give interviews and not to revert to his old name; decisions critics claimed threatened unity in the church.
But the two Popes’ personal relationship was strong, with Francis referring to his predecessor as a grandfather figure and asking people to pray for his friend as his health deteriorated.
“He is very sick,” Pope Francis told worshippers in December 2022, asking the Lord to comfort him to the very end.
Today, Benedict XVI is remembered “as a Pope of reflection and thinking” as millions of Catholics around the world pray for the man who led their church for almost a decade.
World
Ten explosions near international airport in India-administered part of Kashmir, officials say
Ten explosions have been heard near Srinagar International Airport in India-administered parts of Kashmir, officials have told Reuters news agency.
The blasts followed blackouts caused by multiple projectiles, which were seen in the sky above the city of Jammu earlier on Friday.
Explosions were also heard in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar, in the neighbouring Punjab state, according to Reuters.
An Indian military official told the agency that “drones have been sighted” and “they are being engaged”.
It comes as tensions between India and Pakistan across the line of control around the region of Kashmir have boiled over this week, leading to fears of a wider conflict.
On Wednesday morning, India carried out missile strikes in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered parts of the disputed region.
The retaliation came weeks after 26 people, mainly Indian tourists, were shot dead by gunmen in an India-administered part of Kashmir last month.
The government in India said it hit nine “terrorist infrastructure” sites, while Pakistan said it was not involved in the April attack and the sites were not militant bases.
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Explained: India-Pakistan conflict
Around 48 people have been killed since Wednesday, according to casualty estimates on both sides – which have not been independently verified.
India also suspended its top cricket tournament, the Indian Premier League, as a result of rising tensions, while the Pakistan Super League moved the remainder of its season to the United Arab Emirates.
Meanwhile, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a conference on Friday that the US is in constant contact with both India and Pakistan.
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Conclaves are famously unpredictable affairs – and once again the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the new pope caught many by surprise.
The newly elected Pope Leo XIV won the consensus of the 133 cardinal electors after only four ballots – a fast process for a diverse college of cardinals.
Though his name had circulated among some Vatican watchers, other cardinals had emerged as clear front-runners, including Pietro Parolin – the Vatican’s number two who would have been the first Italian in almost 50 years to become pontiff – or Luis Tagle, a Filipino cardinal looking to become the first Asian pope.
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What are the conclave’s secrecy measures?
Instead, it was the first North American to win the highly secretive process.
So, what went on behind the closed doors of the Sistine Chapel?
Until Thursday lunchtime, Cardinal Parolin was ahead, gathering between 45 and 55 votes, sources say.
A substantial number, but well short of the 89 votes he needed for a two-thirds majority.
At this point, Cardinal Prevost had between 34 and 44 votes.
But as the Italian struggled to grow his support during the first three rounds of voting, he stepped down from the race, endorsing Prevost instead, Sky News understands.
Read more:
Who is Pope Leo XIV?
List of demands in new pope’s in-tray
How does new pope compare to his predecessors?
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Who is Pope Leo?
An internal battle between Luis Tagle and Pablo Virgilio David – both cardinals hailing from Asia – cancelled out both of their chances.
And a contender from Africa – the most conservative sector of the church – was never likely for a conclave where the overwhelming majority of cardinals had been appointed by Francis, a progressive pontiff, sources say.
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Moment new pope emerges on balcony
An American pope has long been seen as highly improbable, given the geopolitical power of the US.
But Cardinal Prevost was able to draw from across the groups making up the electors: moderate US cardinals, South American cardinals and many European cardinals all coalesced around him.
Italian newspaper La Repubblica said Prevost “certainly attracted cross-party preferences, both ideologically and geographically”.
“In the conclave he was the least American of Americans: Born in Chicago, he lived 20 years in Peru,” the newspaper said.
It added: “As a man used to teamwork, Prevost appeared to many as the right man to make the papacy evolve into a more collegial form.”
Standing on Red Square, this was an intimidating sight, which felt much more like a celebration of war rather than peace.
I could feel the ground shake as the tanks rolled past, their caterpillar tracks on the ancient cobbles providing a deafening clatter.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up in fear as the phalanxes of troops roared “Hurrah” in response to their commander in chief.
And the sight of combat drones being paraded on their launchers was actually quite sickening. Weapons that have been at the forefront of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine were paraded in a show of pomp and patriotism.
Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin watch the procession. Pic: Reuters
Ukraine war latest: Putin welcomes Xi at Victory Day parade
For the rest of Europe, the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War has been a celebration of peace, but this felt much more like a celebration of war.
And it wasn’t just military hardware on display here, but the very identity of modern Russia.
Pic: Reuters
For this is a country that is now defined by its military and its memory. The glory and sacrifice of 1945 have been weaponised to give credence to Russia’s current course and to make people believe that victory is their right.
For Russians, it served as a rallying cry and there was applause when the troops who have fought against Ukraine marched past.
But for those watching in Kyiv and other European capitals, it was an overt warning that Moscow has no intention of backing down.
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Putin hails sacrifice of Russian troops
The parade was considerably larger in scale than in recent years, when units and hardware have been needed on the battlefield. I think it was a deliberate attempt to project an image of confidence, and so was Vladimir Putin‘s positioning of his guests.
China’s Xi Jinping was given a prime position on the Kremlin leader’s right-hand side. It was no surprise given the economic lifeline Beijing has provided, but it felt like a particularly pointed gesture to the West – that they were looking at a new world order.
Despite that appearance of confidence, there were signs of Moscow’s unease that the parade could be disrupted.
There were snipers on every rooftop. Security was extremely tight. And the mobile internet signal across the city centre was completely shut down for fear of Ukrainian drone attacks, meaning none of the international media that had gathered could broadcast any live transmissions.
After the parade finished, Putin saluted the crowds as they spontaneously erupted into rhythmic shouts of “Rus-si-ya” at the sight of him.
Another PR coup complete without interruption, he will have departed as a very happy man.
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