From all over the world, from Heads of State, from Church leaders, from believers
and non believers, greetings have been pouring in for Pope Benedict XVI’s 84th
birthday. A normal working day for the Holy Father, who spent Saturday giving private
audiences and public addresses.
In a message, Queen Elizabeth II sent her
prayers, recalling the Pope’s memorable visit to the UK last year. For his part, Cardinal
Angelo Bagnasco, on behalf of the Italian bishops, thanked the Pope for being "a
faithful witness and steadfast example who teaches us how to live according to Christ."
Mgr. Josef Clemens, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity, and
long-time secretary to then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, when he was Prefect of the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, recalls the many birthday’s he has celebrated
with the Pope : “I have celebrated his birthday with him over the past 27 years and
I remember in particular his 60th here in Rome: it was also Holy Thursday,
many pilgrims had come for the week and we had a really big celebration in his titular
church and there was also an audience with Pope John Paul II. Then I remember his
65th, when we were together in Jerusalem. Then there was his 75th birthday
which we celebrated at my house with a small group of friends and we had a nice, private
dinner. And finally, of course, I remember the cardinal's last birthday, 16 April
2005, we celebrated it together, just the three of us: there was the Cardinal, was
his assistant, Ingrid Stampa, and I”.
Mgr .Clemens notes the coincidence of
Benedict XVI’s birthday in relation to Easter and his election as Pope. “Easter is
an important aspect right from the beginning of Joseph Ratzinger’s life. He was baptised
on Holy Saturday very early in the morning, as was the custom in Bavaria”, and just
three days after his birthday in 2005 he was elected Pope.
Pope Benedict XVI,
was born Joseph Ratzinger, at Marktl am Inn, Southern Germany on 16 April 1927 (Holy
Saturday) and was baptised on the same day. His father, a policeman, belonged to an
old family of farmers from Lower Bavaria of modest economic resources. His mother
was the daughter of artisans. He spent his childhood and adolescence in a small village
near the Austrian border. In this environment, which he himself has defined as "Mozartian",
he received his Christian, cultural and human formation.
His youthful years
were not easy. His faith and the education received at home prepared him for the harsh
experience of those years during which the Nazi regime pursued a hostile attitude
towards the Catholic Church. It was precisely during that complex situation that he
discovered the beauty and truth of faith in Christ, his personal calling and the beginnings
of a journey that would lead to the Chair of Peter.
Fast forward 80 years and
the eve of Palm Sunday, a sunny spring day, there are many faithful and tourists milling
around the square before the basilica that enshrines the tomb of the first apostle,
below the windows of the apartments that have been home to Pope Benedict, his 264th
successor, for the past six years. They, in their own simple way, also send their
greetings to Pope Benedict, ‘Benedetto’ as the bishop of Rome is locally known, with
spontaneous songs and cheers in the hope he will hear.
Finally, Father Federico
Lombardi, director of the Holy See Press Office, Vatican Radio and Vatican Television
Center on behalf of our listeners, viewers and readers all over the world; “84 years!
Happy Birthday, Holy Father! A long life committed to serving the Lord and His Church,
with total and tireless dedication. All of us at Vatican Radio, the Vatican Television
Center, the Holy See Press Office and the other various bodies working together daily
for you, follow you with gratitude and admiration, and feel privileged to be associated
with your ministry that leads the universal Church”.
From all of us at Vatican
Radio to our Pope and Holy Father a very happy birthday! Listen: