QUICK FACTS about the Pope

Personal Motto

Cooperatores veritatis (Cooperators of the truth)

Quote from the Pope on Happiness

“If we allow the love of Christ to change our heart, then we can change the world. This is the secret of authentic happiness.” (Apostolic Journey to Mexico and the Republic of Cuba, March 2012)

Three Encyclicals

Caritas in Veritate

Spe Salvi

Deus Caritas Est

Charity & Truth

Christian Hope

Christian Love

June 29, 2009

Nov 30, 2007

Dec 25, 2005 to leave them with that understanding. I often wonder today if any of those tourists know their photographer moved on to become Pope Benedict XVI.”

Archbishop Schnurr also recognized the grandeur and grace of the esteemed leader, “Pope Benedict is widely known as one of the greatest theologians of the 20th Century, but this distinction should not overshadow his genuine personal interactions and humble nature. Those of us who interacted with him can attest to his ready sense of humor and consistently kind nature.”

But one doesn’t need to have met Pope Benedict XVI to be greatly impacted by him. Aside from those with personal stories of interaction, many others have come to know Pope Benedict through his prolific writings. Father Jacob Lindle, Parochial Vicar of the NE-1 Family of Parishes, was ordained to the priesthood in 2022. He credits Pope Benedict XVI for guidance in his vocation.

“His book, Introduction to Christianity, changed my life as a young freshman in college, and I have been reading his works ever since. When we read books, we win friends whom we might never meet on earth. When I read Benedict XVI, I not only gained a friend, but a spiritual father whom I hope to meet in Eternity.”

Date of Birth

Apr 16, 1927

Date of Death

Dec 31, 2022

Pontificate

Apr 19, 2003 -

Feb 28, 2013

Country of Origin

Bavaria, Germany

Bishop Earl Fernandes, of the Diocese of Columbus, was formed in his faith under the direct leadership of then-Cardinal Ratzinger, “As a teenager and college student, I began to read and study [Ratzinger] thoroughly, along with Hans urs von Balthasar and Henri de Lubac. His writings deepened my love for the Church, and when I left medical school, I went to a house of spiritual discernment in Rome, the Casa Balthasar. Then-Cardinal Ratzinger was our Cardinal Protector. He was scholarly yet gentle, like someone’s grandfather, who was unfailingly kind yet knew absolutely everything–a true wisdom figure.”

Following the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Archbishop Schnurr celebrated a Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Peter in Chains for the peaceful repose of the soul of Pope Benedict XVI. Additionally, many parishes in the archdiocese also celebrated Masses in the Pope’s honor.

While Pope Benedict was lying in state in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the day before his Jan. 5 funeral, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, made the following remarks: “I would like … to turn my thoughts to [Pope Benedict XVI], a great master of catechesis. His acute and gentle thought was not self-referential, but ecclesial, because he always wanted to accompany us in the encounter with Jesus. Jesus, Crucified and Risen, the Living One and the Lord, was the destination to which Pope Benedict led us, taking us by the hand. May he help us rediscover in Christ the joy of believing and the hope of living.”

I’m usually allergic to titles like “Becoming Eucharistic People.” While the title is beautiful, as with a nice spring flower, I have an instinctual adverse reaction against it. Why? Because I’ve often seen such titles on shelves headlining handfuls of dust. What in the world does the adjective “Eucharistic” even mean with respect to people?

Happily, my cover-judgment was both rash and entirely wrong. This book is not mystically abstract, but relentlessly, and even uncomfortably, concrete: it is an extended refusal to let the doctrine of the Eucharist remain separate from any facet of our existence—the flesh and blood of our personal lives and communities. Becoming Eucharistic People is one long meditation on the consequences of the God who tabernacled among us in the Incarnation and who continues to set up His tent with us in the Eucharist.

So back to my initial reservation: what does the adjective Eucharistic mean with respect to people? Well, as the people who pattern their lives on Christ are called Christian, so too can the people who pattern their lives on the Eucharist be called Eucharistic. God, who is love, revealed Himself totally in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus revealed God most radically in His passion, death and resurrection. And before Jesus was handed over to be crucified, He handed Himself over in the Eucharist. The creation-saving, death-defeating love which He revealed to the world on Good Friday and Easter Sunday was made always-accessible to us on Holy Thursday. Our whole lives, and indeed the whole world, are to be patterned on and formed into this love, which Love Himself patterned for us in the Eucharist.

In this book, Professor Timothy O’Malley walks his reader through this process of formation into love, from context to