When Pope Benedict XVI died in Rome, the people of the Eternal City said it was the second time he had made Rome weep. The first was nearly ten years earlier, on February 28, 2013, when a snow-white helicopter lifted off from Vatican territory carrying a pope who had made history. With that flight, Benedict XVI became the first pope in almost 700 years to resign from the papacy.<\/p>\n
In the Footsteps of Pope Benedict XVI<\/p>\n
To understand why he made that decision, one must journey back to Bavaria, to the small town of Marktl am Inn, where Joseph Ratzinger was born on April 16, 1927.<\/p>\n
Roots of Faith: Marktl am Inn and Alt\u00f6tting<\/p>\n
At the Ratzinger family home in Marktl, Dr. Franz Haringer, Theological Director of the birthplace of Pope Benedict XVI, described how the foundations of Benedict\u2019s faith were laid early in life.<\/p>\n
\u201cMarktl am Inn is only one of many stations on this family’s journey,\u201d Haringer explained. \u201cThere are some memories from how the very small Joseph celebrated Christmas here for the first and second time, how he stood in front of the Christmas tree with big eyes, how he also experienced the church here.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that these early years were formative. \u201cHe, the man of words, of books, learned to speak and to believe here, in the midst of a family that held together closely. This certainly also had a great impact on him from the beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Joseph Ratzinger was baptized the very night he was born. Yet another place would shape his spirituality even more deeply. Bishop Stefan Oster of Passau recalled Benedict\u2019s lifelong devotion to Alt\u00f6tting, Germany\u2019s most important Marian pilgrimage site.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said again and again: \u2018Alt\u00f6tting is my spiritual home,\u2019\u201d Bishop Oster said. \u201cHis most beautiful and earliest childhood experiences are in connection with Alt\u00f6tting.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the bishop, this Marian devotion shaped Benedict\u2019s theology. \u201cHe learned the maternal dimension of the Church through Alt\u00f6tting. And then of course he also processed and articulated that theologically.\u201d<\/p>\n
That bond was visible when Benedict returned to Alt\u00f6tting as pope in 2006. Dr. Klaus Metzl, Director of the Marian Shrine, recalled a moment that surprised many.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen Pope Benedict celebrated the Holy Mass on September 11, 2006 here in Alt\u00f6tting, he went to pay his respects to Our Lady,\u201d Metzl said, \u201cand to the surprise of all of us, he placed his bishop’s ring at Our Lady’s feet.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ring, he explained, was deeply personal. \u201cThis is the ring that his siblings Mary and George had made from an ancient gem. It shows a dove with an olive branch as a symbol of peace.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Decision to Resign: Truth Behind the Historic Choice<\/p>\n
Back in Marktl, EWTN spoke with Peter Seewald, the journalist who came closer to Joseph Ratzinger than perhaps anyone else, publishing multiple interviews and an extensive biography in 2020.<\/p>\n
Seewald explained that Benedict\u2019s resignation was not sudden. \u201cIt was a resignation with an announcement,\u201d he said. \u201cAlready in 2010, during our interview for the book Light of the World, I asked him if he had ever thought of resigning and he said: \u2018Not yet.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Benedict, Seewald noted, believed one should not flee responsibility. \u201cYou can only leave when everything is more or less back in order,\u201d he said. Yet Benedict also understood his own limits.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn 2010, he stated quite clearly that if a pope is physically and mentally no longer able to carry out his office,\u201d Seewald recalled, \u201cthen he not only has the right to resign, but also the duty to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked whether the resignation damaged the papacy, Seewald responded cautiously. \u201cDifficult question,\u201d he said. \u201cIf before it was true that the Vicar of Christ is taken away only by Christ himself, by God himself, he cannot decide for himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Seewald stressed the decisive factor: Benedict\u2019s health. \u201cIt is very important to accept that Pope Benedict was seriously ill,\u201d he said, listing heart problems, blindness in one eye, constant headaches, Parkinson\u2019s disease, memory loss, and long-term insomnia.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll these rumors that there are other reasons for his resignation \u2026 all this is real rubbish and does not correspond to the truth,\u201d Seewald said firmly. \u201cThe truth is: he resigned for health reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Pope at Peace Until the End<\/p>\n
According to Seewald, the resignation ultimately brought Benedict peace. \u201cHe was rock-solidly convinced that he would die before the end of 2013 after his resignation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As Pope Emeritus, Benedict was careful never to undermine his successor. \u201cHe did not want to give the impression that he was a kind of \u2018shadow pope,\u2019\u201d Seewald explained. \u201cThe pope is the pope. There are not two popes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though the Vatican still has no formal regulations for future papal resignations, Benedict\u2019s decision has forever changed how the papacy is understood.<\/p>\n
Seewald said Benedict never regretted stepping down. Recalling his final visit in October 2022, he shared a deeply personal moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI asked him, \u2018Papa Benedetto, what comforts you?\u2019\u201d Seewald said. \u201cAnd then he said: God keeps everything in His hands.\u201d<\/p>\n
From a small Bavarian town to the heart of the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI walked a path marked by humility, faith, and trust\u2014leaving behind a legacy that continues to shape the Church and the papacy itself.<\/p>\n
Adapted by Jacob Stein<\/p>\n