Pope Emeritus Benedict turns 90

April 17, 2017

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI celebrated his 90th birthday on Easter Sunday, April 16.

In a lengthy pre-birthday interview with EWTN, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, his personal secretary since 2003, said that Bavarian dignities were expected at a small birthday celebration, and that Pope Francis would likely visit on Easter Monday.

The Pope Emeritus’s “great concern was that the faith could evaporate,” said Archbishop Gänswein. “And it is surely his greatest wish that every man be in direct relationship with God, the Lord, with Christ, and that we might dedicate to this relationship our time, strength and affection.”

Three days before his birthday, the Vatican Publishing House published Cooperatores Veritatis [Coworkers of the Truth], a collection of tributes to the Pope Emeritus by winners of the Ratzinger Prize.

 

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Further information:

• As Benedict turns 90, a rare glimpse into his ‘joy’-filled life (CNA)
• Cooperatores veritatis: a birthday gift to the Pope emeritus (Vatican Radio)