Freiburg/Rottenburg/Rome (dpa/lsw) - The bishops in the country mourn the "German Pope". For the Archbishop of Freiburg, Stephan Burger, the pontificate of Benedict XVI. characterized by "spiritual brilliance and demanding clarity of the theology professor as well as the warm-heartedness and pious depth of a spiritual advisor and companion". Despite all the sadness, the painful events in dealing with allegations of abuse and perpetrators, which affect Joseph Ratzinger as Archbishop of Munich and Freising, should not be ignored, according to Burger. As prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and as Pope, he set clear standards in dealing with the past.
The Rottenburg Bishop Gebhard Fürst paid tribute to the late Benedict as a man who had had a lasting influence on the Catholic Church. Two sentences from the legacy of Benedict XVI. are particularly worth considering for Fürst today: "In the beginning there is not the teaching, but the person of Jesus of Nazareth." In a letter to the Church of Ireland on the abuse scandal there in 2010, he wrote: "We need a new vision to inspire future generations to appreciate the gift of our common faith."
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. died on Saturday morning in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican. The state of health of the native of Bavaria had recently deteriorated. Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope on April 19, 2005, succeeding John Paul II. Benedict was the first German pope in about 480 years.
