In case you haven't heard, today is the 85th birthday of Pope Benedict XVI. There is a picture here of the Holy Father praying with his brother. (You will have to scroll down.) How wonderful to be able to share your 85th birthday with your brother.
During the last 15 years or so of John Paul II's papacy I would occasionally think, "Well, I know that he is probably going to die before me and whoever they choose to replace him will be a horrible letdown. Well, thank goodness I have been proved definitely wrong.
AMDG
Thanks for this! I did not know that his birthday is today. May he have many more years.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you posted on this, because I didn't. I only realized sometime in the afternoon that it was his birthday, and didn't really have time or mental wherewithal to post anything. I had similar worries about JPII's successor--maybe even worse, because I was afraid it wouldn't be just a letdown but a disaster. I think I personally feel closer to Benedict than I did to John Paul. I don't mean he's a better pope, but just as a personality, and in his writings, I feel a more personal connection.
ReplyDelete85 is really quite old, so I guess we are going to face this succession thing again before too long.
Yes, I feel that way about Pope Benedict, too, and that was a surprise to me. His writing, except for Introduction to Christianity has been much more accessible to me. And then, I didn't expect him to be so charming.
ReplyDeleteWell, on the bright side, he might live to be really, really old, and we might not.
AMDG
Lovely pictures, Thanks.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
ReplyDeleteAMDG