Georg Ratzinger PA (15 January 19241 July 2020) was a German

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

and musician, known for his work as the conductor of the

Regensburger Domspatzen The Regensburger Domspatzen (literally: Regensburg Cathedral Sparrows) is the cathedral choir at the Regensburg Cathedral in Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. The boys' choir dates back to 975, and consists of boys and young men only. They perform in ...

, the cathedral choir of

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

. He was the elder brother of the

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

. Their grand-uncle was the German politician

Georg Ratzinger Georg Ratzinger PA (15 January 19241 July 2020) was a German Catholic priest and musician, known for his work as the conductor of the Regensburger Domspatzen, the cathedral choir of Regensburg. He was the elder brother of the Pope Emeritus Be ...

Early life and military service

Ratzinger was born in

Pleiskirchen Pleiskirchen is a municipality in the district of Altötting in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, to Joseph Ratzinger, Sr. (1877–1959), a police officer, and Maria Ratzinger, née Peintner (1884–1963). His younger brother is

Joseph Ratzinger Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

(1927–2022), who later reigned as Pope Benedict XVI from 2005 to 2013, and they had an elder sister, Maria (1921–1991). Early in his life he showed musical talent, playing the

church organ Carol Williams performing at the United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel.">West_Point_Cadet_Chapel.html" ;"title="United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel">United States Military Academy West Point Cadet Chapel. ...

already at the age of 11. In 1935 he entered the minor

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

Traunstein Traunstein (Central Bavarian: ''Traunstoa'') is a town in the south-eastern part of Bavaria, Germany, and is the administrative center of a much larger district of the same name. The town serves as a local government, retail, health services, ...

and had professional musical instruction there. In 1941 he encountered for the first time the

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

of the

, which he would later direct, when they performed in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian) is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the ...

on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

's death. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, in the summer of 1942, Ratzinger was drafted to the

Reichsarbeitsdienst The Reich Labour Service (''Reichsarbeitsdienst''; RAD) was a major organisation established in Nazi Germany as an agency to help mitigate the effects of unemployment on the German economy, militarise the workforce and indoctrinate it with Nazi ...

and the same autumn to the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...

. On 12 June 1944, he was shot through the arm during a fight in

Bolsena Bolsena is a town and ''comune'' of Italy, in the province of Viterbo in northern Lazio on the eastern shore of Lake Bolsena. It is 10 km (6 mi) north-north west of Montefiascone and 36 km (22 mi) north-west of Viterbo. The an ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. At the end of the war, he was a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

of the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

in the vicinity of

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, but was soon released and arrived home in July 1945.

Education and ordination

In January 1946, he and his brother Joseph entered the seminary of the

archdiocese of Munich and Freising The Archdiocese of Munich and Freising (german: Erzbistum München und Freising, la, Archidioecesis Monacensis et Frisingensis) is an ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Bavaria, Germany.

to study for the priesthood. At the same time he pursued his musical studies. Georg and Joseph were ordained priests in 1951 by Cardinal

Michael von Faulhaber Michael Cardinal ''Ritter'' von Faulhaber (5 March 1869 – 12 June 1952) was a German Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Munich for 35 years, from 1917 to his death in 1952. Created Cardinal in 1921, von Faulhaber criticized the Weima ...

. Afterwards, Ratzinger studied Church music in Munich, while serving in different priestly functions for the diocese.

Regensburger Domspatzen

Ratzinger completed his studies in 1957 and became chorus director in his home parish in Traunstein. In February 1964 he was made musical director, Domkapellmeister, at St. Peters Cathedral in

, thereby becoming the chorus master of the cathedral choir, the Regensburger Domspatzen. In 1977 Ratzinger conducted the Domspatzen at his brother Joseph's consecration as

Archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

of Munich and Freising. They sang in honor of

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

at her state visit in 1978, and at

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

's visit to Munich in 1980. They also gave a concert for the state guests at the

NATO summit A NATO summit is a summit meeting that is regarded as a periodic opportunity for heads of state and heads of government of NATO member countries to evaluate and provide strategic direction for Alliance activities. NATO summits are not regular ...

in 1982 under the auspices of

President of Germany The president of Germany, officially the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: link=no, Bundespräsident der Bundesrepublik Deutschland),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international corres ...

Karl Carstens Karl Carstens (, 14 December 1914 – 30 May 1992) was a German politician. He served as the president of West Germany from 1979 to 1984. Early life and education Carstens was born in the City of Bremen, the son of a commercial school teacher, ...

. In 2010 Ratzinger indicated he would be prepared to testify to aid investigations into claims of abuse at the Regensburger Domspatzen choir in Germany. The Regensburg Diocese said that a former singer came forward with allegations of sexual abuse in the early 1960s, predating Ratzinger's tenure from 1964 to 1994.

Allegations of sexual and physical abuse under his directorship

A man who lived in the choir-linked boarding school until 1967 contended that "a sophisticated system of sadistic punishments in connection with sexual lust" had been installed there. ''

Der Spiegel ''Der Spiegel'' (, lit. ''"The Mirror"'') is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of 695,100 copies, it was the largest such publication in Europe in 2011. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...

'' quoted the man, the composer Franz Wittenbrink, as saying it would be inexplicable that the pope's brother did not know anything about it. Ratzinger admitted slapping pupils in the face. He commented: "At the start, I also slapped people in the face, but I always had a bad conscience". He said he had been relieved when corporal punishment was forbidden in 1980. Ratzinger denied any knowledge of sexual abuse. A Vatican spokesperson stated that the allegations on sexual abuse, particularly the Regensburg case, are a campaign aimed against the pope and the Roman Catholic Church comparable to Nazi propaganda. A lawyer commissioned by the choir to look into the accusations concluded that over 200 young singers were abused to various degrees, with at least 40 of the cases involving sexual violence, and that he must assume that Ratzinger had known. A report in 2017 faulted Ratzinger "in particular for 'looking away' or for failing to intervene" and also stated that, "with a high degree of plausibility", between the years 1945 and 1992, 547 boys were victims of physical or sexual abuse, or both.

Later life

Ratzinger retired from his position as director of the choir in 1994 and was made

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

in Regensburg on 25 January 2009. In 2005, during a visit to his brother in Rome, symptoms of heart failure and

arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, heart arrhythmias, or dysrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beats per minute in adults ...

led to a brief admission at the

Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic The Gemelli University Hospital ( it, Fondazione Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli) is a large general hospital in Rome, Italy. With 1575 beds, it is the second-largest hospital in Italy, the largest hospital in Rome and one of the lar ...

. On 29 June 2011, Ratzinger celebrated 60 years as a priest and gave an interview on the topic, during which he noted that during the ordination ceremony, "My brother was the second to youngest, though there were some who were older." He also noted that "I have the stole and the

cassock The cassock or soutane is a Christian clerical clothing coat used by the clergy and male religious of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, in addition to some clergy in certain Protestant denomi ...

from that day".Georg Ratzinger also marks 90th birthday
. He celebrated his 90th birthday in 2014 with Benedict XVI in the Vatican. His birthday party was organized by Vatican journalist Michael Hesemann and the guests included American religion journalist

Lauren Green Lauren Susan Green (born June 30, 1958) is the Chief Religion Correspondent for Fox News.

, who played the piano,

Georg Gänswein Georg Gänswein (; born 30 July 1956) is a German prelate of the Catholic Church, who serves as Prefect of the Papal Household, and was personal secretary to Pope Benedict XVI. He was a professor of canon law at the Pontifical University of the ...

and

Gerhard Ludwig Müller Gerhard Ludwig Müller (; born 31 December 1947) is a German cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) from his appointment by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012 until 2017. He was ...

. The celebrations included a personal letter written by Maria Elena Bergoglio to Ratzinger.Los noventa anos de monsenor Ratzinger
Osservatore Romano

Illness and death

On 18 June 2020, Ratzinger was reportedly "seriously" unwell while his brother Benedict XVI visited him in

. He died two weeks later on 1 July 2020, aged 96.

Honours and awards

* Black Wound Badge (1944) * Iron Cross 2nd Class (1944) *

Bavarian Order of Merit The Bavarian Order of Merit (german: Bayerischer Verdienstorden) is the Order of Merit of the Free State of Bavaria. It is awarded by the Minister-President of Bavaria as a "recognition of outstanding contributions to the Free State of Bavaria ...

(1983) *

Protonotary apostolic In the Roman Catholic Church, protonotary apostolic (PA; Latin: ''protonotarius apostolicus'') is the title for a member of the highest non-episcopal college of prelates in the Roman Curia or, outside Rome, an honorary prelate on whom the pop ...

(1993) *

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...

(2004) * Honorary citizen of

Castel Gandolfo Castel Gandolfo (, , ; la, Castrum Gandulphi), colloquially just Castello in the Castelli Romani dialects, is a town located southeast of Rome in the Lazio region of Italy. Occupying a height on the Alban Hills overlooking Lake Albano, Castel Ga ...

(2008) * Grand Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking ...

(2009) * Pontifikalvesper of Bishop

Regensburg Cathedral Regensburg Cathedral (german: Dom St. Peter or Regensburger Dom), also known as St. Peter's Cathedral, is an example of important Gothic architecture within the German state of Bavaria. It is a landmark for the city of Regensburg, Germany, and ...

(2009) * Award of the Fondazione Pro Musica e Arte Sacra (2010)

References

External links

Ratzinger, Georg, ''My brother the pope''
(Ignatius Press 2012 )
Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratzinger, Georg 1924 births 2020 deaths People from Altötting (district) 20th-century German Roman Catholic priests German male musicians Papal family members Pope Benedict XVI German blind people Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic

Georg Georg may refer to: * Georg (film), ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker See also

* George (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class German Army personnel of World War II German prisoners of war in World War II held by the United States Reich Labour Service members 21st-century German Roman Catholic priests