After the surprising arrival of Pope Benedict in Regensburg, it remains unclear how long he will stay in the cathedral city. The 93-year-old traveled to Bavaria on Thursday to visit his brother Georg, who was three years older.
The state of health has deteriorated, said the Vatican and the diocese of Regensburg. “It may be the last time that the two brothers, Georg and Joseph Ratzinger, see themselves in this world,” said the bishopric spokesman, Clemens Neck. How long Joseph Ratzinger stayed there depends on his brother’s health.
There is hardly any hope of the emeritus pope’s public appearance. The diocese emphasized that it was a purely private visit. It was the “heart’s desire” of the two brothers to see each other again in this life.
The street in which Georg Ratzinger, the long-time director of the world-famous Regensburger Domspatzen, lives, was strictly blocked by the police. It is therefore hardly possible to catch a glimpse of the resigned pontiff there. During his stay Benedikt lives in the seminary in Regensburg. For lunch there was fusilli with goulash, as Neck said.
Joseph Ratzinger has a very close relationship with his 96-year-old brother Georg. Together they were ordained priests in Freising Cathedral on June 29, 1951. The Pope was beaming when he came out of his brother’s house after the visit, Neck said. The first meeting lasted 20 to 30 minutes, and in the evening the two met again. Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer from Regensburg attended the dinner. There was also a “small fair” on the program.
He doesn’t know how long the brothers hadn’t seen each other before. The emeritus pope had to celebrate his 93rd birthday in mid-April because of the corona pandemic without his brother.
Benedict’s visit to Regensburg is the first time since his resignation in 2013 that Benedict, who is now 93 years old, is leaving the Vatican – apart from a detour to the summer residence in Castel Gandolfo near Rome. The last time as a pontiff was Benedikt in Germany in 2011.
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