39 years ago today
Joseph Ratzinger was made cardinal
It was to be Paul VI's last consistory, at which he named only five new cardinals, including the new Archbishop of Munich-Freising who had been consecrated bishop barely a month earlier.
Thanks to the Fondazione Vaticana for the Facebook reminder!
Meanwhile, there's this story:
'Ratzinger Foundation is at the service
of the Church and the Holy See'
by Francesco Peloso
From the English service of
June 27, 2016
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican-based Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Foundation places all its scientific and charity activities at the service of the Church and the Pope, whoever he is. At the moment that would be Francis.
The institution said this in a statement published today, which reads: “Ever since its establishment in March 2010, the Vatican Foundation Joseph Ratzinger–Benedict XVI and all of its activities has had the one and only aim of serving the Supreme Pontiff and his magisterium, in the ways that characterise this Foundation, dedicated since the very start by Benedict XVI to the Holy See and the Pontiffs who succeed him”.
Each year, the Foundation has been awarding ten scholarships to theology students in Italy and abroad. Then there are all the formation activities, conferences, seminars and Theology training courses which are offered throughout the world and funded by the Foundation’s proceeds.
These partly come from the royalties that derive from the sale of almost 100 volumes written by Joseph Ratzinger. Sales peaked when the Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine for the Faith was elected Pope; this success continued throughout his pontificate and was fuelled also by the celebrated trilogy on Jesus, authored by Benedict XVI.
The Foundation’s statement was issued following the publication of an article which appeared on Italian website Tiscali.it. The article contains a statement from the body’s president, Mgr. Giuseppe Scotti, who said: “Now we work for Francis, even though the Foundation was created with Benedict XVI’s money”.
Benedict XVI’s royalties from his books written as Joseph Ratzinger now bring in around 300,000 euros per year. When he became pope, he signed an agreement ceding all the royalties from his writings as Joseph Ratzinger and then as Benedict XVI to the Vatican Publishing House. At some point, it was decided to separate the royalties from his Ratzinger books to fund the Foundation which was established on 2010. The Foundation’s statute was definitively approved by Pope Francis in 2014.
Now, the Foundation manages the proceeds from the Ratzinger royalties. It is estimated that the institution initially had several million euros’ worth of endowments.
The Foundation’s website explains: “The assets of the Vatican Foundation Joseph Ratzinger–Benedict XVI include: the initial endowment from royalties deriving from the texts authored by Professor Joseph Ratzinger; all movable and real estate property as well as sums and other transferable securities which should result from the acquisition of inheritance, legacies and bequests from all sources, in favour of the Foundation; any assets which the administrative council decides, upon consultation with the college of auditors, to earmark for the enhancement of the Foundation’s holdings.”
Every year the Foundation sets aside 120,000 euros for scholarships, as well as a sum for the Ratzinger Prize (the winner is announced by Pope Francis), while another chunk is allocated to high-level scientific conferences involving Catholic universities and their collaboration over important and current theological issues.
Meanwhile, tomorrow, a solemn ceremony for the celebration of the 65th anniversary of Ratzinger’s ordination to the priesthood is to be held in the Clementine Hall in the Apostolic Palace.
This is a rare papal record, since Leo XIII, who lived to be 93, was the last Pope to achieve a similar milestone at the beginning of the last century.
Perhaps the timing of the statement from the Foundation is just coincidental, but might it not be an effort somehow to mitigate the infelicitous effect of Mons. Gaenswein's statements on an 'expanded Petrine ministry'?
It turns out the Vatican Press Office today released this story to clarify a misleading story about the Foundation that appeared on an Italian website. The INSIDER story did not use the wrong information.
Ratzinger Foundation corrects
misleading article
Vatican City, 27 June 2016 – This morning Tiscali News published an article containing an interview with the president of the Joseph Ratzinger–Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation, Msgr. Giuseppe Scotti, entitled
“To Pope Francis, Ratzinger’s money: a donation of four million euros. Tiscali.it exclusive: Benedict XVI hands over to Bergoglio his foundation, with its huge capital. An act that demonstrates the unity between the current Pope and his predecessor”.
As both title and subtitle may be misleading, the Foundation has issued a communiqué to provide the correct information, reproduced below.
Communiqué of the
Joseph Ratzinger–Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation
27 June 2016
Since its creation in March 2010, the Joseph Ratzinger–Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation through all the activities it promotes has as its sole scope that of placing itself at the service of the Supreme Pontiff and his Magisterium, with the characteristics specific to the Foundation, donated by Benedict XVI from the beginning to the Holy See and to his successors in the papacy.
In particular, with regard to the charitable work of the Foundation, this is exercised through the annual assignment of ten scholarships to students in Italy and abroad. In 2015 scholarships were awarded for a value of 120,000 euros. The ways of obtaining study grants and the students who have benefited from them may be consulted on the Foundation’s website.
Secondly, the organisation of conferences at high cultural and scientific level, as set out in the Foundation’s statute, is guided by what Pope Francis recalls in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium: “Universities are outstanding environments for articulating and developing this evangelising commitment in an interdisciplinary and integrated way”.
Finally, with the assignment of the Ratzinger Prize to scholars whose names are submitted by the Foundation’s scientific committee to the Pontiff, the Holy Father wishes to highlight the work of these men and women – Catholic and non-Catholic – who with their life of study have placed themselves fully at the service of the Gospel, making it comprehensible to their contemporaries.
This is because, as we read again in Evangelii Gaudium, “proclaiming the Gospel message to different cultures also involves proclaiming it to professional, scientific and academic circles”.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 28/06/2016 03:41]