A series of celebrations marking the centenary of the birth of Pope Benedict XVI will take place across four continents beginning on April 16, 2027.
An international committee for the centenary celebrations established by the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation is coordinating the initiatives, the foundation announced.
“The centenary of Ratzingerʼs birth is an opportunity to fully present his thought and his approach to reality as significant contributions to the current ecclesial and cultural debate,” said Father Roberto Regoli, president of the foundation and of the centenary committee.
“His legacy concerns the interpretation of the Second Vatican Council, the personal experience of Christ, which becomes the key to all branches of theology, and reasonableness as the criterion underlying human reflection on reality,” the priest noted.
Events marking 100 years since the beloved German pontiffʼs birth on April 16, 1927, will take place in several countries in Europe as well as in the U.S., India, Colombia, and Kenya.
Events across the globe
On the first day of the centenary celebrations next April, the fourth volume of selected texts by Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI titled “The Faith of the Future: The Future of the Church” will be presented in Rome at Italy’s embassy to the Holy See.
Two events will take place in the U.S. next year. On Nov. 3, at Saint Mary’s University in Minneapolis, the presentation of Volume 6 of the “Collected Works” of Joseph Ratzinger will take place; and on Nov. 4–6, in the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, a conference will be held on the theme “Joseph Ratzinger and His Sources.”
On July 10–11 in Bangalore, the bishops of India will hold a colloquium on the theme “A Rereading of the Theological Journey of Joseph Ratzinger.”
On Sept. 10, Péter Pázmány Catholic University in Budapest, Hungary, will host a study day to mark the presentation of Volume 3 of Joseph Ratzinger’s complete works in Hungarian: “The God of Faith and the God of Philosophers: Philosophical Reason, Culture, Europe, Society.”
On Sept. 24–26, the international conference “For the Centenary of Joseph Ratzinger: Paths of Faith, Hope, and Charity” will take place at the University of La Sabana in Bogotá, Colombia.
On Oct. 14 in Paris, the Collège des Bernardins, the Académie Catholique de France, the Institut de France, the journal “Communio,” and the television channel KTO will host an international symposium provisionally titled “The Major Lectures of Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI in France.”
The international congress “The Beauty of the Liturgy” will be held in Almería, Spain, on Oct. 28–30, and a statue dedicated to Benedict XVI will be unveiled.
In Nairobi, Kenya, a symposium titled “Constellations of Hope: Africa and the Renewal of the Church in the Vision of Benedict XVI” will be held at Tangaza University on Nov. 18–21.
A schedule with more events will be announced at a later date.
By Walter Sánchez Silva
EWTN News
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, the Spanish-language sister service of EWTN News. It has been translated and adapted by EWTN News English.