Brothers

I often tell my older sons that you know, there will come a time when all you'll have is each other. Maybe I should send them this photo as a reminder?

Benedict visits his brother in the hospital..

Comments

[Jason]

Thanks for posting this. My brothers and I hardly talk. Gonna change that some day. Some day...*sigh*

[CJ]

What Jason said... Thanks, Amy, I needed that reminder.

[Mike]

Touching picture.

[Don't take this the wrong way]

Benedict XVI.. "the Great" is taken already for Benedicts, isn't it? We'll have to find another honorific for this man... Benedict XVI reminds me of a cartoon mouse, really good and earnest and focussed and sweet and clever/funny.
Not like Mickey, (yuch!) more like Sniffles or Topo Gigio.

[sissa]

My 2 brothers never got along at all.

Then one day the younger one had a serious health scare and had to be rushed to the hospital.

I was moved to tears when my sister-in-law told me how the other one just dropped everything and rushed off to the hospital when he was told the news.

Since then they have been very close.

Guys, don't wait for something dire to happen.

[Lynn]

The same is true for sisters...don't wait too long to make peace.

Thanks for posting the picture.

[Septimus]

If Amy et al. will forgive me for being off-topic...can anyone explain to me what the "permalink" and "trackback" links do? I haven't a clue.

[Rosemarie]

+J.M.J+

Can't help but wonder what it's like to have your kid brother become Pope. Imagine that?

In Jesu et Maria,

[Colleen]

Moves me to tears. I love my brother and sister so much and I thank God for them every day. We are very blessed. I pray our relationship sets an example for all of our kids - all cousins - and I (we) tell them all the time to stay close and take care of one another because the day will come when all you will have is each other.

Thanks for the picture, I have to show my own kids.

[Gerard E.]

"Josef...ach, vat a problem dis is....die nurses feed me der vurst slop....dese needles in and out and in and out....blahblahblah...."

[Veronica]

Very beautiful picture. Thanks for posting it! You should show it to your sons... you'll never know the good it can give them.

"Can't help but wonder what it's like to have your kid brother become Pope. Imagine that?"

As the oldest sibling of my family, I also wonder what Benedict's older brother feels about this. Some of his reactions to the news that his brother had become pope seemed to suggest that he wasn't happy at all, though of course, that could simply mean that he was worried about him, or perhaps annoyed because they wouldn't see each other as often as before... who knows.

By the way, does anybody know anything about Benedict's sister? Is she still alive? What is/was her name? She's seldom ever mentioned, if at all... I'm curious.

[Jason]

From Wikipedia:

Pope Benedict's brother, Georg, is still living. His sister, Maria Ratzinger, who never married, managed her brother Joseph's household until her death in 1991.

[Liam]

Well, coming from a fractious family of 6 sibs (I'm #5), the 4 eldest of whom hardly spoke much with each other for a decade (and, in some cases, not at all), after two years of prepartory negotiations worthy of the UN, we got ##2-4 on speaking terms in time for my parents' 50th anniversary a few years back, and now there is general communication among ##2-6 (age range 53-37) that has become pretty warm and close -- nothing like it was before. We all just made adult decisions to deal with each other as adults and let go of childhood perceptions. #1 child is pretty much estranged from the world (a very tenuous line of connection), so we hold that estrangement in prayer in our varied ways. Suffering can either make you close in on yourself or, via compassion, break you open. Hopefully not in reverse order....

[sissa]

Fr. Georg Ratzinger was reportedly not too happy about his brother becoming Pope, partly because of his fears that his brother's health will not hold up under the rigors of the job, and partly because he realized that they would not henceforth be able to spend as much time in each other's company as they were accustomed to doing. 'I'll probably have to go to Rome instead,' he said.

About his little brother ascending to the Throne of St. Peter, it is said that he broke down and wept openly during the Installation Mass.

[Veronica]

Thanks for the info, Jason!

"About his little brother ascending to the Throne of St. Peter, it is said that he broke down and wept openly during the Installation Mass."

Didn't know about this... they do seem very close, but the press seldom, if ever, mentions anything about Benedict's family, which is why I had to ask... :)

[Jack Bennett]

I heard that after the conclave Cardinal Ratzinger hoped to finally retire from the CDF and return to Germany and spend his last years in retirement with his brother. Obviously thats not going to happen now.

[Fr. Phil Bloom]

As third of five brothers and one sister, the foto means a lot. Thanks for posting it, Amy!

[Sam Martin]

It is a sweet picture - thanks! I have read that the Ratzinger brothers have been especially close since their only sister died in Rome - she was her brothers housekeeper - in 1991, and that prior to that it had always been the three of them who were close, after their parents deaths in the 50's and early 60's. Both Georg and Joseph are priests and Maria never married. I think Georg's response to his brother's election was one of understandable total shock and a bit of anxiety - I think the world can forgive him a bit of "stunned reaction" in terms of his comments. He was a well-respected and prominent musician for decades as the Director of the Regenbsburg Domspatzen Cathedral Choir, and probably knows only too well the burden his little brother has accepted. I feel for them both and wish them a few more years of joy and companionship even under unexpected circumstances; they are in my prayers; I think I'll go call my sister......

[Kenjiro Shoda]

Very touching picture. The Pope and His brother are obviously very close. They are fortunate. Not all families are like that.

I hope that Pope Benedict XVI holds up better helath wise than His brother tought He would at the beginning. And I also pray that Pope Benedict's reign will not be as brief as even He thought it would when He was elected. It would be wonderful to see Him able to restore the Liturgy (a return to Catholic Tradition) that He is so fond of, and an overall housecleaning of the Church which John Paul II negelcted so badly for 26 years.

I hope the elder Ratzinger gets well soon.

[Mary Kay]

"and an overall housecleaning of the Church which John Paul II negelcted so badly for 26 years"

I've never understood why people feel so free to criticize a pope.

Likewise, why choose to ignore and/or belittle the huge amount that was done to focus on what is still to do?

[Septimus]

I wonder why the holy father doesn't "command" (in a nice way) that his brother come to live with him...

[Peggy]

I had not thought of sibling discord as others did here. My first thoughts about the photo were of the pope's humanity, a man who has come from and is still a part of a family, as we all are.

[Maureen]

Re: commanding Georg to come live in Rome

Most of the man's musical colleagues and former students probably live in Germany. He speaks German. He might just want to live at home, ne?

[Maureen]

I know this is probably a tad late....

Trackback shows who's linked to a blog entry (if anyone). Permalink is what you click to get the permanent URL of the blog entry, so you can link to it.

[Maria Mancini]

B16 is showing himself to be an unaffected and genuine human being who happens to possess one of the great theological minds of the past century- not at all like shrill MSM reports early on. In fact, he suprises me and I find I like him very much. His writings and homilies are lovely and "spot on", and the Church may just have a "diamond in the rough" here - I will enjoy watching the papacy unfold and will pray for his good health and some time to do whatever God has in mind. And for his brother as well - what a shock this all must have been for the both of them!

[fr. romeo]

Great !
Keep up the good work through this site !
God bless you always !