Benedict also emphasised that "Only creative reason, which in the crucified God is manifested as love, can really show us the way. One possible approach to development aid would be to apply effectively what is known as fiscal subsidiarity, allowing citizens to decide how to allocate a portion of the taxes they pay to the State.

However, in an audience with Benedict, Camillo Ruini, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome and the official responsible for promoting the cause for canonization of any person who dies within that diocese, cited "exceptional circumstances" which suggested that the waiting period could be waived. Benedict was known to be deeply interested in classical music, [22] and was an accomplished pianist. Italian police reported that Maiolo had in a prior action attempted to accost Benedict at the previous Christmas Eve Mass, but was prevented from doing so.Ratzinger engaged in a dialogue with critical theorist Jürgen Habermas in 2004, published three years later by Ignatius Press. Benedict XVI: Cardinal Meisner was a 'passionate shepherd' who found it 'difficult to leave his post' ". He attacked "gender theories", which he described as "man's attempt at self-emancipation from creation and the Creator.

Benedict supported the peaceful use of nuclear energy as a tool for development and the fight against poverty. When Maciel was honoured by the Pope in 2004, new accusers came forward [215] and Cardinal Ratzinger "took it on himself to authorize an investigation of Maciel".From Pope John Paul II to Benedict XVI: an inside look at the end of an era, the beginning of a new one, and the future of the church. On 11 February 2013, Benedict announced his resignation, citing a "lack of strength of mind and body" due to his advanced age. Following the death of Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns in December 2016, Benedict became the last living person appointed cardinal by Pope Paul VI. Benedict corrected his former statement that he had not been at a meeting of the ordinariate of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising in January 1980, saying he mistakenly told German investigators he was not there. Mariano de la Mata was beatified in November 2006 and Rosa Eluvathingal was beatified on 3 December of that year, and Basil Moreau was beatified in September 2007.

Apostolic Journey to München, Altötting and Regensburg: Meeting with the representatives of science in the Aula Magna of the University of Regensburg (September 12, 2006) | Benedict XVI". His visit to Turkey, an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, was initially overshadowed by the controversy about a lecture he had given at Regensburg. On 13 November 2006, Benedict said that the dispute over the North Korea nuclear weapons program should be resolved through negotiations, in his first public comment on the security issue, a news report said. He was a member of several social science academies, such as the French Académie des Sciences Morales et Politiques. In 2019, Benedict released a 6,000-word letter that attributed the Church's sexual abuse crisis to an erosion of morality driven by secularization and the sexual revolution of the 1960s.

The best-known title, that of "Pope", did not appear in the official list of titles, but is commonly used in the titles of documents, and appears, in abbreviated form, in their signatures as "PP. If we let Christ enter fully into our lives, if we open ourselves totally to Him, are we not afraid that He might take something away from us?

Benedict entered the basilica through a discreet entrance and was seated in a row with several other cardinals. a police officer, and Maria Ratzinger ( née Peintner); his grand-uncle was the German priest-politician Georg Ratzinger.For regularly scheduled public celebrations of the Tridentine Mass, the permission of the priest in charge of the church is required. Benedict also stated that Mozart's music affected him greatly as a young man and "deeply penetrated his soul". The Dalai Lama congratulated Benedict XVI upon his election, [164] and visited him in October 2006 in Vatican City. One of the cases Ratzinger pursued involved Marcial Maciel, a Mexican priest and founder of the Legionaries of Christ who had been accused repeatedly of sexual abuse. Following his election in April 2005 there were several rumours about the Pope's health, but none of them were confirmed.