The Ratzinger/Benedict XVI legacy

The trajectory of Pope Benedict XVI's legacy was set at his funeral, says columnist Michael Sean Winters.

The late Pope Benedict XVI's concern for the liturgy and his concern for the earth flowed from the same source: God's creative work and our response to it.

Pope Francis offered a subtle send-off to the late Pope Benedict XVI in an historic Vatican funeral Jan. 5, praising Benedict's devotion to the Gospel and drawing to a close a 10-year period of two popes.

Francis, the comic strip: The bells are ringing and the crowds are gathering for Father Benedict.

One of the first tasks of the U.S. bishops' lay-run National Review Board was to thoroughly investigate the nature of the clergy sexual abuse and cover-up scandal in the U.S. A key ally was the future Pope Benedict XVI.

"With Benedict XVI, we had not only strong theology ... but we also had strong actions": Theologians say part of the late pope's legacy will be his teachings that rooted environmental concerns in Catholic tradition.

Would-be conservative defenders of the Ratzingerian legacy ignore the obvious points of continuity between Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis, writes Michael Sean Winters.

NCR's news editor and Vatican correspondent sat down with contributor Sr. Rose Pacatte in Rome to discuss their experiences of visiting the body of the late Pope Benedict XVI, and to reflect on his complicated legacy.

Long before Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI, theologian Tracey Rowland was studying his scholarship — work that she believes should one day lead to Benedict being named a doctor of the church.

The Jan. 5 funeral Mass for Pope Benedict XVI will be a papal funeral with a few changes to fit with the fact that he was not the reigning pope and has not left behind a "sede vacante."

Representatives from the world's Christian churches will travel to the Vatican to attend the funeral Mass of Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square Jan. 5.

"Protocol develops over time, and this has never happened before," the director of the Vatican press office kept repeating in the days after the death of retired Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s longtime personal secretary has written a tell-all book that his publisher on Jan. 2 promised would tell the truth about the “blatant calumnies,” “dark maneuvers,” mysteries and scandals that sullied the reputation of a pontiff best known for his historic resignation.

Thousands of people from around the world began to pay their final respects to the late Pope Benedict XVI on Jan. 2, as his body was transferred into St. Peter's Basilica from the Vatican monastery where he resided for nearly ten years after his surprise resignation from the papacy in 2013.

Within minutes of the announcement of the death of Pope Benedict, Words of praise and fond remembrance were offered by world leaders and religious figures, including the archbishop of Canterbury and Jewish advocates.

After the Second Vatican Council open discussion was suppressed by Joseph Ratzinger under the papacy of John Paul. If you did not agree with the Vatican, you were silenced.

Benedict XVI's great failing was surrounding himself with acolytes who would never challenge him and would insulate him from challenge.

A collection of notable quotes from Pope Benedict XVI from homilies, documents, messages and speeches from 2005 to 2013, the years he served as pope.

A timeline of important events in the life of the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died Dec. 31.

Following the death of retired Pope Benedict XVI on Dec. 31, the Vatican has announced arrangements for his funeral and other details. Here's the latest.

For all his efforts to control or suppress theological inquiry, Pope Benedict's success remains questionable. During his 24 years as head of the CDF and his eight years as pope, theology actually thrived.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who was situated squarely at the centers of power during five decades of epochal change and unprecedented scandal in the global Catholic Church, has died.

Pope Benedict will be remembered as a profoundly intelligent and prayerful man, called to leadership during a time of turmoil in a church, who was not really suited for such rough waters.