Benedict XVI remembers his brother as a "man of God"

In a letter read aloud at his brother's funeral in Regensburg, retired pope Benedict XVI recalled several characteristics that he felt better describing his older brother, including love for music, joy in adversity and profound pity.

"He was a man of God. Although he did not show his pity, he was the real center of his life," said Benedetto in the letter, praising his brother's "sobriety and honesty".

Mgr Georg Ratzinger, musician and last living member of Benedict's immediate family, died on July 1 at the age of 96.

His funeral was held on 8 July in Regensburg and chaired by the local bishop, Rudolf Voderholzer, who told attendees that Benedict was watching the live streaming service. Before the death of his brother, Benedetto had made a surprise visit to Regensburg from June 18-22 to be with his brother for the last time.

In his letter, read aloud by his personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, Benedict thanked Voderholzer for celebrating the funeral Mass and also expressed gratitude to everyone who was with his brother in the past few weeks.

Benedetto noted that he had received numerous letters and correspondence from people all over the world expressing their condolences. Complaining that he was unable to respond to all of them, he said: “Everyone should have a personal response. Unfortunately, I lack the time and strength to do it, and I can only thank everyone for taking part in these hours and days. "

He said that his brother had not asked him to visit in June, but that he had felt that "it was time to go to him again".

"I am deeply grateful for this inner sign that the Lord has given me," he said, noting that when he said goodbye to Ratzinger on the morning of Monday June 22, "we knew it would be goodbye to this world forever. But we also knew that the benevolent God who gave us this unity in this world will also rule in the other world and give us a new unity there. "

"Thank God, dear Georg, for all that you have done, suffered and given to me!" Benedetto said.

Benedict then turned to his brother's affinity for music, noting that for years it has been said "that my brother has received and understood the priesthood call as a musical call."

When Ratzinger was appointed musical director of St. Peter's Cathedral in Regensburg in 1964, giving him the opportunity to direct the cathedral's famous choir, the Regensburger Domspatzen - dating back to the 10th century - he saw "indicated the direction of his life," he said. Blessed.

Benedict said the meeting was an experience of "joy and pain" for his brother, since their mother had passed away around the same time. If their mother had lived, he said, his brother would not have accepted the position.

However, over time, "this service has become increasingly a joy for him." At the beginning there was "hostility and rejection", said Benedetto, but insisted that, despite his suffering, his brother became "a father to the young people who thankfully got up and support him as his Cathedral sparrows ".

Ratzinger was targeted several years ago after an investigation into child abuse in Germany, when it was revealed that he had used corporal punishment to discipline choirs. In 2010, Ratzinger apologized, but insisted that that had been common practice at the time.

In his letter, Benedict expressed his voice thanks to all present at his funeral, a moment in which he claimed to be able to "try again as he, as a priest and musician, was a priestly person and has always become new".

Benedict also praised his brother's cheerful and social nature, saying that he had a good sense of humor and rejoiced in the "good gifts of creation". At the same time, he said that his brother was also "a man of direct expression as he openly expressed his belief".

Noting that Ratzinger has been blind for nearly 20 years and has been "therefore excluded from a good part of reality," Benedict said the experience was difficult, but this is the brother "always accepted and lived from within".

Benedict closed his letter asking God to "repay" Voderholzer "for the extraordinary effort you have made in recent weeks, which has not been easy for both of us".