German Popes
Main category: German popesEight popes have been either German or from Germanic tribes. Pope Boniface II, an Ostrogoth, served as the first Germanic pope from 530 to 532. The next German pope was Gregory V (Pope 996-999). The 11th century saw five German popes, including Leo IX, who was canonised as a saint.
The last Pope Benedict XVI, former Josef Cardinal Ratzinger, is a German, from Bavaria. Recently, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, in her 9-page address at the Bavarian Catholic Academy's conference on "Political Action based on Christian Responsibility", noted that Benedict XVI's new encyclical Caritas in Veritate points to the way forward in the current economic crisis.
Read more about this topic: Roman Catholicism In Germany
Famous quotes containing the words german and/or popes:
“He’s leaving Germany by special request of the Nazi government. First he sends a dispatch about Danzig and how 10,000 German tourists are pouring into the city every day with butterfly nets in their hands and submachine guns in their knapsacks. They warn him right then. What does he do next? Goes to a reception at von Ribbentropf’s and keeps yelling for gefilte fish!”
—Billy Wilder (b. 1906)
“From Paul to Stalin, the popes who have chosen Caesar have prepared the way for Caesars who quickly learn to despise popes.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)