The centenary of Benedict XVI’s birth highlights his enduring legacy, with special focus on his commitment to dialogue and reconciliation between Christianity and Judaism, rooted in their shared biblical heritage. A key anniversary initiative is an exhibition in Italy, supported by Poland, reflecting on the Pope’s life and thought.
On April 16, 1927, Pope Benedict XVI was born in Marktl am Inn, Germany. The centenary year thus opens as an opportunity to rediscover the teaching and legacy of Joseph Ratzinger. One of the first events marking this milestone will take place in Italy, in Pordenone, at the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art, with the exhibition “Remembering Benedict XVI. Towards the Centenary of His Birth” (opening on February 21). The event retraces the life and works of the theologian Pope and highlights his enduring impact on the Church and theology. On display will be some of his personal belongings, from household items to liturgical vestments, along with a selection of photographs and artworks.
The exhibition was made possible by contributions from Poland. Most objects come not only from the Vatican Foundation Joseph Ratzinger–Benedict XVI but also from the Ratzinger Study Center in Bydgoszcz.
Over the next twelve months, leading up to April 2027, numerous initiatives will revisit Benedict XVI. He was the last pope to participate in the Second Vatican Council and collaborated closely with John Paul II, who appointed him Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Benedict served as pope from 2005 to 2013 and surprised the world by resigning in an unprecedented move, whose significance was not fully understood at the time.
This year also offers an opportunity to revisit Ratzinger’s relationship with the Jewish world. “It is evident that the dialogue of us Christians with the Jews,” Cardinal Ratzinger wrote in L’Osservatore Romano on December 29, 2000, “takes place on a different level than that with other religions. The faith attested in the Bible of the Jews—the Old Testament of Christians—is not, for us, another religion, but the foundation of our faith. Therefore, Christians, and today increasingly in collaboration with their Jewish brothers, read and study these books of Sacred Scripture with great attention as part of their own heritage.” This special bond was also reflected, once he became Pope, in his visits to synagogues in Cologne (2005), New York (2008), and Rome (2010).
The German Pontiff maintained many relationships with Jewish representatives and formed genuine friendships with some of them. Many Jewish leaders held him in high regard. For example, Rome’s Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni, on February 11, 2013, commented on the Pope’s resignation: “Benedict XVI has been and remains a learned and sensitive interlocutor. We particularly appreciated his emphasis on the Jewish roots of Christianity as a premise for a respectful and constructive relationship.” Rabbi Di Segni also recalled Benedict’s 2011 visit to the Rome synagogue as “a sign of continuity along the path set by his predecessor,” Pope Wojtyła.
As a theologian, Ratzinger championed the message that antisemitism has no place in Christianity, acknowledging past distortions and calling for reconciliation. Regarding the Shoah—which he witnessed as a young German—he urged a new perspective for humanity grounded in memory and dialogue. In the same 2000 article, he stressed that the Shoah “was perpetrated in the name of an anti-Christian ideology that sought to strike at Christianity at its Abrahamic root, in the people of Israel.” He concluded that, out of this tragedy, emerged “a sincere willingness to overcome every form of anti-Judaism and to begin a constructive dialogue of mutual knowledge and reconciliation.” This commitment to reconciliation defined his papacy, even amid misunderstandings.
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