Vatican City, Jun 14, 2016 / 11:13 am
On June 29 Benedict XVI will celebrate the 65th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood – a milestone he will commemorate in a special ceremony with Pope Francis inside the Vatican's apostolic palace.
Announced by the Ratzinger Foundation, the ceremony will take place at the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace June 28, the eve of the anniversary. Both Pope Francis and Benedict XVI, who rarely appears outside of the monastery where he lives inside Vatican City, will be present.
Benedict, the Pope Emeritus, will be given a book on the priesthood created specifically for the occasion of the anniversary of his priestly ordination.
Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, now known as Benedict XVI, was ordained a priest June 29, 1951 – the feast of Saints Peter and Paul – in the cathedral of Freising by the then-Cardinal Archbishop of Munich, Michael von Faulhaber. His older brother Georg, who is still alive today, was ordained with him.