In German town, Benedict XVI known for love of cats, conversation
Courtesy: Knight Ridder Newspapers
In German town, Benedict XVI known for love of cats, conversation
By Matthew Schofield, Knight Ridder NewspapersThu Apr 21, 6:20 PM ET
REGENSBURG, Germany - When he was a cardinal, Pope Benedict XVI often
delivered sermons at the German-language church in Campasanto Teutonico
near St. Peter's Basilica, but his most heartfelt talks may have been the
ones he gave after celebrating Mass."I went with him once," said Konrad Baumgartner, the head of the theology department at Regensburg University. "Afterwards, he went into the old cemetery behind the church."It was full of cats, and when he went out, they all ran to him. They knew him and loved him. He stood there, petting some and talking to them, for
quite a long time. He visited the cats whenever he visited the church. His love for cats is quite famous."
Although his public image is that of a stern enforcer of church doctrine, in Regensburg, where the 78-year-old pope came into his own as a theologian, those who know the man known as "God's Rottweiler" say his soft, human side has been ignored.
The pope loves cats, can't resist Christmas cookies and, three months ago,
waxed on about how he dreamed of retiring from the hectic life at the
Vatican to enjoy his last years reading, writing and talking with
friends.
His brother Georg still lives in Regensburg and is Benedict's strongest
connection to the town he left for Munich when he became archbishop.
Georg
Ratzinger, also ordained in the church, spent decades as the musical
director of the famous Regensburger Domspatzen boys' choir. He lives
down a
twisting cobbled street from the towering Gothic Regensburg Cathedral.
"The totally wrong picture is painted of my brother," he said Thursday
in a
dining room decorated with iconic art and photos and letters from Pope
John
Paul II. "He's a cheerful man, friendly. But he does have principles
that he
will stand for."
In fact, Ratzinger believes that instead of being divisive, Benedict
will
build bridges - "though there are limits."
He bridled at how some members of the English press have treated his
brother. One paper ran a headline saying "From Hitler Youth to Papa
Ratzi,"
but Ratzinger said all boys were forced to join the Hitler Youth and
that
his brother was never a Nazi.
"In our family, we were taught they were evil," he said.
His brother's interests included music, Ratzinger said. "He played the
organ
quite well, but he hasn't played for years now."
When he was younger, Benedict XVI hiked in the Tyrol mountains to
relax. As
he grew older and had less time and energy, he tended the magnolia tree
outside his house, cleaned the fountain under the statue of Mary and
thinned
out the ivy.
Agnes Heindl has been Georg Ratzinger's housekeeper for 10 years, and
she's
come to know the new pope well.
She said she often drove then-Cardinal Ratzinger to his house after the
brothers had shared Sunday dinner. His favorite foods were Weisswurst -
the
traditional white Bavarian sausage - and anything sweet. She said he's
known
for trying every type of Christmas cookie at a party.
"Oh, he could just talk about anything, really," she said. "He liked to
talk
about friends and how people he knew were doing. He's a very pleasant
man to
have a conversation with."
She clutched 16 Benedict roses, white, as she talked.
"Maybe if I can't get the flowers to him, someone will take a picture
of
them, and he'll see that we're thinking of him," she said.
She spoke with him again this week. He called on Wednesday morning,
after
getting busy signals at his brother's house Tuesday night. When she
answered, a well-known voice said: "Can I please speak to my brother."
"The Holy Father called, and all I could do was stammer, `So how do I
address you now?' He laughed," she said.
She said she's glad she heard him laugh. His new job isn't easy, and
he'll
need to laugh. She said that when he was relaxing, there was never a
mystery
about what would make him laugh.
"Oh, cats," she said. " He loves them."
She pointed up a staircase to a wall full of painted plates, each
depicting
a different cat. The brothers collected the plates together, she said.
"When we were on vacation, a cat, a little kitten, would come by, and
he'd
be giddy, almost giggling with joy," she said." Cats love him; they
always
go to him straight away. And he loves them back."
He doesn't have a cat, however. Heindl doesn't think he can have one
living
in the Vatican.
"He was always content to play with the street cats," she said. "I
don't
know much about Rome, but I know there's no shortage of cats there."
Benedict still owns the house he bought on the edge of Regensburg in
1970,
but he visits only a couple times a year. The city adjusted his deed
this
week: It now lists the owner as "Holy Father."
On Thursday afternoon, Chico the cat - perhaps the closest thing there
is to
The Pope's Cat, strolled from the shaded arch between the pope's front
door
and his garage. Chico belongs to Rupert Hofbauer, who looks after
Benedict's
garden and home.
"Chico is his friend, though he scratched him over Christmas because he
didn't want to go outside, all day or night, and the cardinal tried to
put
him out," Hofbauer said. "They usually get along well, though."
Hofbauer and many others in Regensburg, where the new pope remains on
the
faculty rolls, shared mixed emotions, pride and sorrow, when they heard
the
news. Georg Ratzinger said he almost feels as if he's lost his brother,
knowing that it won't be easy to see him now.
"I thought he'd retire soon, and we would finally have a lot of time to
finish all the talks we've started through the years. We talked about
that,
just this Christmas when he was home," Hofbauer said.
"He thought it sounded nice, to retire, to take it easy. That's not how
it
worked out though, is it?"��