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NewsChannel 8 Script
Anchor Introduction:
NEWSCHANNEL EIGHT'S SPECIAL TWO-WEEK SERIES ON THE POPE AND THE PAPACY CONTINUES WITH AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT POPE BENEDICT XVI AND THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF HIS UPCOMING VISIT.
BRIANNE CARTER LOOKS BACK AT THE ROAD THAT LEAD JOSEPH RATZINGER TO BECOME HEAD OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
Story:
"This man represents so much more than an 80-year-old man from Germany; he represents our faith; he represents the fact that we believe that Jesus Christ passed on this authority to this man," said Kevin Bohli, Youth Ministry Director for the Arlington Diocese.
BORN APRIL 16, 1927 IN THIS HOME IN GERMANY, JOSEPH RATZINGER WAS THE THIRD AND YOUNGEST CHILD IN HIS FAMILY. FROM HIS EARLY YEARS RELIGION PLAYED A STRONG ROLE IN HIS LIFE.
"He grew up in a very traditional Catholic part of Germany, Bavaria," said Holger Zaborowski, a professor at Catholic University. "So I think he's always been in the Church, he's been Catholic."
PEOPLE CLOSE TO RATZINGER SAY FROM CHILDHOOD HE HAD NO DESIRE TO BE ANYTHING OTHER THAN A PRIEST, BUT HIS ROAD TO BECOMING THE LEADER OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DIDN'T COME WITHOUT STRIFE. THOUGH HE WANTED TO STUDY RELIGION, AT AGE 14, THE LAW REQUIRED JOSEPH TO BECOME A MEMBER OF HITLER YOUTH, A GROUP DESIGNED TO TRAIN AND RECRUIT MILITARY MEMBERS FOR THE NAZI PARTY.
RATZINGER FACED CRITICISMS IN HIS LATER YEARS FOR HIS PARTICIPATION, BUT CATHOLIC LEADERS SAY HE WASN'T AN ENTHUSIASTIC MEMBER.
"We all have backgrounds and come from where we come from and that was the name of the game back then. So my sense of it is we accept who you are and move forward," said Monsignor Kevin Irwin, the Dean of Catholic University.
MOVING FORWARD TWO YEARS TO 1943, RATZINGER WAS DRAFTED INTO THE ANTI-AIRCRAFT CORPS CALLED FLAK, TO HELP WITH THE WAR EFFORTS. DURING THAT TIME HE WAS TRAINED TO PROTECT AIR BASES, AND WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR GUARDING A BMW PLANT IN MUNICH.
RATZINGER DESERTED HIS POST WEEKS BEFORE GERMANY SURRENDERED, AND WAS BRIEFLY HELD AS A PRISONER OF WAR.
"I was an air raid (unintelligible) in case there were enemy planes coming into Connecticut -- he did something that was equivalent," said Thomas Melady, former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican. "The war was ending, and in that role he was captured. But no one has ever claimed he was any kind of Nazi supporter -- I think for a day or two, or a week or so. But I would say that most responsible people would say that it's totally irresponsible-- the implication -- that because when he was 17 years old, drafted, he had some sympathy for Nazis."
AFTER BEING RELEASED, HIS LIFE IN CHRISTENDOM BEGAN TO TAKE SHAPE
RATZINGER ENTERED A CATHOLIC SEMINARY.
HE WAS ORDAINED IN 1951.
"He's quiet and scholarly, he had been a professor for many years after being ordained in Germany," said Melady.
KNOWN NOW AS A THEOLOGIAN, RATZINGER HAS WRITTEN MANY BOOKS CONTINUING TO TEACH HIS TRADITIONALIST VIEWS. HE CONTINUED THOSE TEACHINGS AS THE ARCHBISHOP OF MUNICH, AS CARDINAL RATZINGER, AND NOW AS POPE BENEDICT THE SIXTEENTH.
BRIANNE CARTER, NEWSCHANNEL EIGHT.
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