Pope Benedict XVI turns 85 today and celebrates the seventh anniversary of his election to the papacy.
The Holy See Press Office issued the following overview of the Holy Father’s accomplishments thus far in his seven years as Pope:
“When, already advanced in age, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope, many wondered if after years marked by the infirmity of his great predecessor, his papacy would be as strong and durable as hoped for, and whether a theologian who had led a specifically doctrinal dicastery for such a long time would know how to undertake the very different task of the pastoral governance of the universal Church,” said Father Federico Lombardi, who added:
“In these seven years we have had 23 international trips to 23 countries and 26 different trips to Italy; we have witnessed four synods of bishops and three World Youth Days; we have read three encyclicals and received countless other addresses and magisterial acts; we have participated in a Pauline Year and a Year for Priests; we saw the Pope face with courage, humility and determination–that is, with a clear evangelical spirit–difficult situations, like the crisis of sexual abuse. We read–something new and original–in his work on Jesus of Nazareth and his book-length interview Light of the World.
“Above all, we have learned from the coherence and consistency of his teaching that the priority of his service to the Church and known by Jesus Christ, that faith and reason help each other in seeking the truth and respond to the expectations and demands of each one of us and humanity as a whole, that the marginalization of God and relativism are serious dangers of our time. We are immensely grateful for all this.”
Our beloved, it is very glad to know your birthday today. We thank to Our Lord Jesus Christ for giving Pope like you to us. We thank Lord for all the blessings he poured to church and his people all these days. May God will bless you in all the spheres of life so that Church and us also.
Happy Birthday, Celebrate it. Prayerful wishes.
While all of the above things about the Pope’s actions are true, there are still others not mentioned that are important: The Latin Mass being permitted again, in 2007, the Anglican outreach in 2009, and also the Canonizations of almost 30 saints. Also the important diplomatic actions the Cuban governments recent decision to allow Good Friday. Although John Paul was a Good pope he was not a “Great” one though he did give us Benedict. There is a “Reform of the Reform” as far as vocations Church Buildings and Music (including Latin) that honestly did not appear to be very much in vogue during the reign of “John Paul the Great” Lets be honest. Pope Benedict is also on the verge of possibly reuniting the SSPX another thing the late JPII could not accomplish. Lets give B-16 his real credit please and stop with all the Cult of Personality of the last Pope please.
Please go back and study some of the Great contributions of Blessed John Paul and you will find that Pope Benedict continues the work John Paul began. Also, the Tridentine Mass was never removed from the church and has been said all through Europe as well as many churces in the U.S. this memo box could not contain all the many blessed accomplishments of Pope John Paul II, and it was by no circumstance or accident that he was elected. His entire ministry was compassionate, brilliant, prayerful, merciful and one of the great credits to our beautiful Catholic Church.