A loving papal embrace for a dying brother

National Post, 19 June 2020

For any and for all, to die in the company of those who love you is a blessing most desired. Too many have died alone these months.

In 10 days Monsignor Georg Ratzinger will celebrate the 69th anniversary of his priestly ordination. That’s remarkable enough — he has been a priest longer than Elizabeth II has been queen. More remarkable is that his younger brother is also a priest, and the two Ratzinger brothers were ordained together on the same day, June 29 1951. But Georg may not live to see his anniversary.

Most remarkable is that the brother, Joseph, is Benedict XVI. In his first trip outside of Italy since his abdication in 2013, Benedict left the Vatican for Regensburg, Germany, on Thursday to be with his older brother in what are believed to be his final days. Georg is 96, Joseph/Benedict is 93.

They are the last surviving members of their family. When Joseph was merely Cardinal Ratzinger, the two brothers and their sister had a house in Regensburg where they planned to retire together. Georg would have his music — his priestly service was spent largely in directing the renowned cathedral choir of Regensburg — and Joseph would have his books. And they would have each other.

Joseph/Benedict too loves music, though he reportedly is no longer able to play the piano. In some of his autobiographical writing, Joseph described his family as coming from the “Mozart region” of Bavaria.

Maria Ratzinger died in 1991 though. Retirement would be just for the two brothers. Then Joseph was elected Benedict XVI and spending their elderly years together in Regensburg ceased to be a possibility. Msgr. Georg would visit his brother often in Rome, his stays extended after Benedict went into retirement. Now travel is not possible for Georg.

In January 2015 I had the honour of a brief audience with Benedict in the Vatican Gardens. He received less important visitors in the late afternoon outdoors, after his afternoon walk. That day he was joined by Georg, still in Rome after his Christmas visit. We waited for the two brothers to finish their walk, praying the rosary together. Benedict used a walker, and Georg was on a motorized scooter, his head so wrapped up against the Roman winter chill that he could not hear anything we said. So he remained quiet as we spoke with his brother, something of a lifetime role for him. He is just as much a priest as Joseph, but not one of the most important churchmen and theologians of his generation.

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