Georg e Joseph Ratzinger they look very similar in the photos of their first mass, which they celebrated on the same day, June 29, 1951. You would have called them twins and you didn’t notice Don Georg’s three more years at all. Similar, but different in character: reserved, sensitive, timid both. But Georg is also backward, almost grouchy, certainly in a lonely mood. Joseph, on the other hand, more communicative, curious about everything and also combative. Don Georg always took, it seems, the ecclesiastical fortune of his younger brother, that came to hinder their family custom. In the memoir “My brother the Pope”, which dates back to 2011 (translated into Italian by Piemme in 2012), he abruptly comments on Joseph’s appointment as archbishop of Monaco (1977), his call to Rome as prefect of the Congregation for the doctrine (1981) and even the election as Pope (2005).
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Of the promotion to archbishop he says only: “I was very surprised.” On the call to Rome, however, that appointment is prolonged it took away his soul mate: «Well, I knew that my opinion was not relevant. I was very sorry that my brother moved further away. I was sad because we could no longer stay as close as before. Gradually I got used to the new situation, also managing to find some positive aspects ».
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No positivity will instead find inelection of Joseph to Pope: «When I heard his name I was petrified. I honestly have to say that at that moment I felt discouraged, downcast. For him it was a great challenge, a heavy commitment. And I was also sad because maybe he wouldn’t have time for me anymore. ” And it was not a momentary depression: «So that night I went to sleep a little depressed. From that moment until the next afternoon the phone never stopped ringing, but I was indifferent. I simply didn’t answer. Everyone go to hell, I thought. I didn’t even call him and didn’t even answer when he called the next morning. In the end my housekeeper answered and so she spoke first with her than with me ». Many days must pass before Don Georg is reassured: “In any case, behind the human decision of the cardinals there is the will of God, and to this we must say yes.”
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We witnessed the close bond between the two brothers two weeks ago when Benedetto had left his residence in the Vatican Gardens to visit his brother who had grown worse in Regensburg. With Georg’s death, Joseph loses the only family member he has left. A sister, Maria, had gone first in 1991.
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Nato a Pleiskirchen, in Baviera, on January 15, 1924, Georg Ratzinger had begun to play the organ in the parish church since he had 11 years old. In 1935 he entered the seminary in Traunstein, but in 1942 he came enlisted in the Reichsarbeitsdienst, and then nella Wehrmacht, with which also fights in Italy. Captured by the Allies in March 1945, he remains prisoner in Naples for a few months before being released and returning to the family.
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In 1947 together with his brother Joseph enter the seminar Herzogliches Georgianum of Munich. In June 1951, both brothers, together with forty other companions, were ordained priests in the Cathedral of Freising by Cardinal Michael von Faulhaber.
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The great passion of Don Georg’s life is music. First chapel master in Traunstein and then, for thirty years, from 1964 to 1994, choir director of the Regensburg Cathedral, the choir of the «Regensburger Domspatzen»: Sparrows of the Regensburg Cathedral. Don Georg has traveled the world doing numerous concerts and has conducted many recordings for Deutsche Grammophon, Ars Musici and other important record labels with productions dedicated to Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn and other authors. “In our house everyone loved music – wrote Don Georg in the memoirs – and already our father had a harp that often played in the evening. We sang together. I have always thought that music is one of the most beautiful things that God has created. Even my brother has always loved music: maybe I infected it».
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On August 22, 2008, thanking the mayor of Castel Gandolfo who granted Georg honorary citizenship, Benedict XVI said: «My brother has always been for me not only a companion, but also a reliable guide and a point of reference with clarity, the determination of its decisions. He always showed me the way to go, even in difficult situations. Now we have reached the last stage, old age and even now he helps me to accept the weight of each day with serenity ».
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Don Georg had had someone presentiment thathis brother Pope could “also” renounce the Papacy. Interviewed in 2011 by a German magazine, he said: «If he no longer manages to do it from the point of view of his physical condition, my brother should have the courage to resign». He will receive Benedict’s confidence months in advance about his sensational decision. “Age makes itself felt – Don Georg commented the announcement of his resignation in February 2013 – and my brother wants more tranquility in old age”. Despite leg and vision problems, Fr Georg has continued to travel from Regensburg to Rome over all these years, to stay as long as possible with his brother, both of whom are now united by the use of the stick as well as by the love of music.
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July 1, 2020 (change July 1, 2020 | 3:53 pm)
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