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Remembering Pope Benedict XVI

By Katie Mahon, Communications Manager


This week’s “Embracing Faith” article will focus on Embracing Faith through Reflection.

Embracing Faith Through Community

“The world offers you comfort. But you were not made for comfort.

You were made for greatness.” -Pope Benedict XVI


The year ended sadly when Pope Benedict XVI passed away on Saturday, December 31, 2022.


In 2005, Benedict, previously Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, became the 265th Pope. (1)


Benedict was known for many things, especially his warmth and kindness, as well as for being an inspiring theologian. In 2012, he became the first pontiff to use social media when the first tweet from the @pontifex account was sent from the Vatican. (1)


He made history in 2013 when he became the first pontiff in 600 years to step down due to his health. (1)


To reflect on the life and legacy of Benedict, here are seven of his most memorable quotes. (2)

  1. “We are not some casual and meaningless product of evolution. Each of us is the result of a thought of God.”

  2. “One who has hope lives differently.”

  3. “The least power of love is already greater than the greatest power of destruction.”

  4. “Purity of heart is what enables us to see.”

  5. "Love is the only force capable of changing the heart of the human person and of all humanity, by making fruitful the relations between men and women, between rich and poor, between cultures and civilizations.

  6. “The human person finds perfection ‘in seeking and loving what is true and good.’”

  7. “The loss of joy does not make the world better - and, conversely, refusing joy for the sake of suffering does not help those who suffer. The contrary is true. The world needs people who discover the good, who rejoice in it and thereby derive the impetus and courage to do good. Joy, then, does not break with solidarity. When it is the right kind of joy, when it is not egotistic, when it comes from the perception of the good, then it wants to communicate itself, and it gets passed on.”

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