Pope Benedict XVI died Saturday (Dec. 31) in Rome. He was 95 years old. He was the first pope since the 1500s to step down.
Joseph Ratzinger was born in the German state of Bavaria on April 16, 1927. He grew up in Germany after World War I, when the Nazi regime was getting stronger. He went to school to study theology and become one. Ratzinger was chosen to be the next pope after Pope John Paul II died in 2005. He was in charge of making sure the Vatican followed the rules for 25 years. Since the 1100s, he was the first pope from Germany.
Outside of the Catholic Church, he is best known for his sudden resignation, which was the first papal abdication since 1415, and for being the first “pope emeritus” in hundreds of years.
Because his Roman Catholic family didn’t agree with the Nazi Party’s policies, they were harassed and punished. This made him want to give his life to the church.
As the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI was not rich. Instead, he was a spiritual leader. He lived a simple life focused on helping the Church and the people in it. The Vatican, which is a sovereign city-state in Rome and the center of the Catholic Church, paid the pope’s salary and other costs. The pope and the Church’s work is supported by the Vatican’s own budget and financial resources. Find out how much the retired Pope was worth when he died.
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What Was Pope Benedict’s Net Worth?
Pope Benedict XVI stepped down in 2013 because his health was getting worse and he was getting old. He was the first pope to do so since the 1500s. After he quit, he was eligible for a pension, which is common for many religious leaders and clergy.
According to some sources, Pope Benedict is worth about $2.5 million. In 2013, CNBC said that even after he stopped being head of the Catholic Church, he continued to get a pension of about $3,300 per month.
After he left office in 2013, Pope Benedict XVI did live in a monastery in Vatican City. The Mater Ecclesiae monastery is inside the walls of the Vatican. It was built for nuns in the past. After resigning, Pope Benedict XVI chose to live there so he could spend his time in prayer and thought. He stayed involved in the Church and met with visitors, but he didn’t go to public events or make public statements.
Archbishop Michael Von Faulhaber Of Munich Was The One Who Got Ratzinger Interested In Becoming A Priest
When he was young, Ratzinger was asked to bring flowers to Archbishop Michael von Faulhaber of Munich. This experience made him want to become a priest right away. At age five, Ratzinger decided he wanted to be a cardinal because of the priest’s regal appearance and red robes.
In an old interview with the New York Times, Benedict said that the cardinal’s “look, bearing, and the knickerbockers he was wearing” had made a lasting impression on him.
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Pope Benedict Was Previously Drafted Into The German Military
Pope Benedict XVI was born Joseph Ratzinger and led the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013. He was a theologian. As a young man in Germany, he was forced to join the Hitler Youth. Later, he was drafted into the army during World War II, but he ran away in April 1945 after seeing how terrible the war was. He was taken prisoner of war by American forces and held there for a while before he and his brother Georg went back to Germany and went back to school.
They were both ordained on the same day in 1951, and Ratzinger went on to have a successful career in the Church, becoming Archbishop of Munich and Freising in 1977 and a cardinal under Pope Paul VI the same year. People knew him for his knowledge, his writing, and the work he did to stop sexual abuse in the Church. Pope Benedict XVI stepped down in 2013 because his health was getting worse and he was getting old. He was the first pope to do so since the 1500s.