On a day like today, 18 years ago, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected as the 265th successor of Saint Peter and presented to the world as Pope Benedict XVI. In his first words, the now-deceased Pope defined himself as a “simple and humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord.”
“The fact that the Lord knows how to work and to act even with inadequate instruments comforts me, and above all, I entrust myself to your prayers. Let us move forward in the joy of the Risen Lord, confident of his unfailing help. The Lord will help us, and Mary, his Most Holy Mother, will be on our side,” exclaimed the Holy Father to a crowded St. Peter’s Square on the day of his election.
Pope Benedict XVI continued the path of his predecessor. He visited 24 countries on four continents in 100 days, out of the 2,800 days of his pontificate, with Asia being the only continent he did not see. He published the encyclicals “Caritas in Veritate,” “Spe Salvi,” and “Deus Caritas Est.”
He was the oldest person to be elected Pope since 1730 and had been a Cardinal for a more extended period of time than any Pope since 1724
On 11 February 2013, during the Ordinary Public Consistory for the Vote on several Causes for Canonization, Benedict announced his decision to resign from the Petrine ministry with these words:
“After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry. I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only with words and deeds but no less with prayer and suffering. However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strengths of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me. For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom, I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter.”
His pontificate came to an end on 28 February 2013.
After his resignation took effect, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI lived in the Vatican in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery until his death, which occurred on 31 December 2022.
