Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 31, 2022 / 10:45 am
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI helped lead the Church to “a more profound love of truth and the mystery of God,” Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, said Saturday in reaction to the former pontiff’s death.
“While we grieve that he is no longer with us here, I join Catholics everywhere in offering my profound gratitude to the Lord for the gift of Pope Benedict XVI and his ministry,” said Broglio, who heads the Archdiocese for the Military Services. “Together we beg Our Lord to grant him eternal rest.”
Benedict XVI served as pope from 2005 to 2013. He was the first pontiff to resign from the papacy in nearly six centuries.
He was born Joseph Ratzinger on April 16, 1927, in the German region of Bavaria. He grew up in a family staunchly opposed to the Nazis and was conscripted into the German military’s auxiliary anti-aircraft service near the end of World War II. Both he and his brother were ordained to the priesthood in June 1951.