Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Seasons of Grace

Home
Catholic

Pope Benedict XVI

Select a Category #Synod14 Abortion Abstinence Abuse Addiction Adoption Advent Adventure Advertising Aging Agnosticism All Saints Day All Souls Day Amish Anathema Angels Anglican Animals Annulment Annunciation Apocalypse Apologetics Apostles Apostleship of the Sea Apparitions Archangels Archbishop Cordileone Archbishop Dolan Archbishop Vigneron Archeology Architecture Art Art Buchwald Ash Wednesday Assisted Suicide Astronauts Atheism Athletes Babies Baptism Beatification Beauty Bible Biochemistry Bioethics Birds Bishop Lori Bishops Blasphemy Books Canon Law Canonization Capital Punishment Cardinal Burke Cardinal Dolan Cardinal George Caritas Catechesis Catechism of the Catholic Church Catholic Catholic Education Catholic Higher Education Catholic Social Teaching Celibacy Cemeteries Character Charity Chastity Cheapskate Christian Unity Christmas Churches Civil Rights Cloning Comedy Communion of Saints Community Kitchens Confession Confirmation Conscience Consequences Consistory Constitution Contraception Conversion Cooking Councils of the Church Creativity Criminal Justice Cristero War Crucifixion Crystal Cathedral Culture Death Death and Dying Death Penalty Department of Health and Human Services Diaconate Dictatorship of Relativism Dignity Disability Discrimination Dissidence Divorce Doctors of the Church Early Church Fathers Easter Economics Ecumenism Education Encyclicals Environmentalism Episcopal Church Eucharist Euthanasia Evangelism Evangelists Evangelization Evolution Excuses Facebook Faith Families Family Fashion Fasting Fatherhood Federal Government Feminism Fiction Film First Amendment First Communion For Greater Glory Forgiveness Free Speech Friends Friendship Gender Discrimination Germany Gnosticism Good Friday Government Grace Greed Gregorian Calendar Happiness Health Heaven Heresy History Holidays Holiness Hollywood Holy Land Holy Saturday Holy Spirit Holy Week Holy Year Home Sweet Home Homosexuality Hope Humanism Humility Humor Imagination Immaculate Conception Immigration Impulsivity In Vitro Fertilization Incarnation Indulgences Infallibility Internet Islam Italy Jerusalem Jesus Judaism Justice Kathleen Sebelius Labor Movement LCWR Lent Life Literature Liturgy Lourdes Love Magi Marketing Marriage Martyrdom Martyrs Mary Mass Media Medical Ethics Mexico Michigan Miracles Missionaries Modernism Modesty Monks Monothelitism Motherhood Movies Mushrooms Music Muslim Mystery Mysticism Mythology Nativity Natural Law Nature New Evangelization New Media New Year New Year's Resolutions Nostalgia Obscenity Occult Old Testament Origen Orthodox Orvieto Pallium Papacy Parenting Patience Patriarch Bartholomew Patriotism Peace Peace and Justice Penitence Pentecost People Persecution Philosophy Poetry Political activism Political Correctness Politics Polls Pop Culture Pope Benedict XVI Pope Francis Pope John Paul II Pope John XXIII Pope Paul VI Pope St. Pius X Pope Urban VII Population Prayer Preaching Prejudice Pride Priesthood Pro-Life Protestantism Psychology Purgatory Queenship of Mary Racism Rape Real Presence Reconciliation Reformation Relics Religious Religious Liberty Reliquary Renewal Reproductive Technology Resurrection Rights Romance Rome Royalty Sacraments Sacred Heart Saints Satanism Science Science Fiction Scripture Seal of Confession Secularism Seniors September 11 Seventy Times Seven Sexuality Sharks Sin Smoking Social Communications Social Justice Social Networking Social Sciences Space Exploration Spirituality Sports St. Luke St. Patrick's Day St. Paul St. Peter St. Teresa of Avila Stations of the Cross Steve Jobs Superstition Supreme Court Symbolism Synod Technology Teen Rebellion Television Terrorism Thankfulness Thanksgiving Theology Think This, Not That Tobit Toilets Toys Tradition Traditions Transplants Travel Trinity Twitter U.S. Air Force Uncategorized United Nations USCCB Valentine Vatican Vatican Archives Vatican Blogfest Virtue Vocations Where We Pray White Heart Women World Day of Social Communications World Meeting of Families World News World Youth Day Worship Writing Year of Consecrated Life Year of Faith Year of Mercy Youth

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010

June 2015

June 19, 2015

An Unexpected Privilege: The Day I Attended Mass with Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Ratzinger

Talk about being in the right place at the right time! It was September 2003,...

December 2014

December 08, 2014

Technology Meets Tradition, As Pope Francis Lights Tree with a Tablet

The world's largest Christmas tree is aglow again on a hillside above the Umbrian town of...

September 2014

September 18, 2014

As Scottish Bishops Oppose “Opt-Out” for Organ Donation, a Review of Catholic Church Teaching

As Scottish voters take to the polls today to vote on whether or not to declare independence...

May 2014

May 22, 2014

Pope Benedict, the Pianist

One of the pleasures in which Pope Emeritus Benedict is said to indulge in his...

March 2014

March 07, 2014

Once Again Francis, Pope and Prophet, Issues Clarion Call for Unity

Catholics and Evangelicals: Have you noticed anything different about how we think of one another?...

January 2014

January 09, 2014

A Burgeoning Market for Papal Kitsch

Hoodies, t-shirts, aprons—even doggie apparel. In the wake of the “Pope Francis Effect”, all of...

September 2013

September 18, 2013

Vatican Releases Free eBook with Benedict XVI’s Messages – New Links

Great news this morning from the Pontifical Council for Social Communications! The Pontifical Council has...

July 2013

July 13, 2013

Francis on Benedict: “You Cannot Imagine the Humility and Wisdom of the Man”

Pope Francis, in a phone call with his friend and former pupil, journalist Jorge Milia,...

July 05, 2013

Two Popes Consecrate the Vatican to St. Michael the Archangel

Since his retirement, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has kept a low profile—living a life of...

July 01, 2013

Pope Francis’ First Encyclical Continues Themes Begun by Pope Benedict

On Friday, July 5, Pope Francis will publish his first encyclical, Lumen Fidei (Light of...

June 2013

June 14, 2013

Arab News: “Pope Francis Should Declare Islam a Religion of Peace” – UPDATED

Remember that Holy Thursday liturgy, at which Pope Francis washed the feet of a young...

May 2013

May 27, 2013

Two Atheists Who Changed Their Minds—And Why

ATHEIST NUMBER ONE Last night, my imagination was sparked by an entry I read over...

May 07, 2013

Breathtaking Disrespect: Pope-Emeritus Benedict Portrayed in Condoms

I’m speechless. In a convergence of chutzpah and bad taste, Shorewood (WI) artist Niki Johnson...

April 2013

April 16, 2013

Pope-emeritus Benedict’s Birthday Portrait

Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI turns 86 today—and at a party in his honor, the German Embassy...

March 2013

March 23, 2013

We Are Brothers: Pope Francis, Pope-Emeritus Benedict Do Lunch

It’s been 600 years since such a meeting could take place. Today at Castel Gandolfo,...

March 15, 2013

Photoshop Ruins Everything!

I posted this. It was an Internet sensation. Everyone I’d ever met "liked" it. Within...

March 08, 2013

New Book Reveals the Promise of Adult Stem Cells

“…the potential benefits of adult stem cell research are very considerable, since it opens up...

February 2013

February 28, 2013

Pope Benedict’s New Digs

By now you’ve probably seen this picture: It’s the Mater Ecclesiae—the former convent inside the...

February 27, 2013

Pope Benedict’s Final General Audience Draws 150,000

“I’m moved. When I see you, I see the Church is alive.” These were the...

February 25, 2013

A Coat of Arms for the Interregnum

Have you ever seen this? Probably not—This is the coat of arms of the Holy...

February 24, 2013

LAST DAYS IN THE OFFICE: What I Do, What Pope Benedict Does

On my last days on the job, I have my hands full: I try to...

February 21, 2013

How a Pope Is Elected

As Pope Benedict prepares to step down from the papacy on February 28, we look...

February 13, 2013

Getting Into a Pope Pool? DON’T DO IT!

Everyone’s talking about Pope Benedict’s resignation, and wondering who will be elected by the Cardinals...

February 13, 2013

Crowds Gather in Paul VI Hall for First Papal Audience Since the Big Announcement

In the winter, or whenever the weather is inclement, the Pope’s regular Wednesday General...

February 11, 2013

Pope Benedict is old and tired. He is also holy and wise.

I understand that “tired” feeling. Lately, some days I’ve found myself wringing my hands [metaphorically...

January 2013

January 31, 2013

“The Lourdes of Germany”: Our Lady of Altötting and the World Day of the Sick

In southeastern Germany, in the region of Bavaria, there stands an octagonal chapel which dates...

January 26, 2013

WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY: Use Social Media for Good, Pope Says

YES to logic, kindness and Christian witness. NO to bluster, star-status and division. YES to...

January 14, 2013

Protesters Strip in St. Peter’s Square; Pope Stays on Target

Four women from the Ukrainian feminist group Femen shed their shirts and bared their breasts...

December 2012

December 22, 2012

Christmas Pardon for Pope’s Valet

Earlier today, Pope Benedict XVI gave a wonderful gift to his former butler, Paolo Gabriele. ...

December 21, 2012

Twitted Wisdom from Our Shepherd

Pope Benedict XVI is tweeting today. After a blitz of papal messages on December 12,...