Denver, Colo., Feb 29, 2012 / 09:14 am
Pope Benedict XVI's brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, is due to publish a memoir reflecting on his relationship of eight decades with the current successor of St. Peter.
“My Brother the Pope,” published by the Pope's official English-language publisher Ignatius Press, will be released worldwide on March 1. It features Msgr. Ratzinger's recollections of life with his brother Joseph, recorded for posterity in a collaboration with the journalist and historian Michael Hesemann.
Msgr. Ratzinger and his younger brother were born in 1924 and 1927, respectively. The Pope has described his older brother as a formative influence, saying in August 2008 that “from the beginning of my life, my brother has always been for me not only a companion, but a trustworthy guide.”
“For me he has been a point of orientation and of reference with the clarity and determination of his decisions,” the Pope said on that occasion, while granting his brother honorary citizenship for the papal residence Castel Gandolfo. “He has always shown me the path to take, even in difficult situations.”