“Please don’t do this to me”: Ratzinger’s plea to God shortly before he was elected pope

Ratzinger was dean of the College of Cardinals in 2005, when he became the sixth German to be chosen as pope, the first since the 11th century.

As the conclave to name Pope John Paul II’s successor proceeded, Ratzinger said he quickly realized that he would be elected the new pope – although he was reluctant to take up the mantle of St. Peter.

“At one point I prayed to God, ‘Please don’t do this to me,’” he told a German audience in 2005. “Evidently, this time he didn’t listen to me.”

After his election, Ratzinger adopted the name Benedict XVI as a nod to church history, he said. He chose the name to honor Benedict XV, who sought peace during World War I, and the original Saint Benedict, a monk “whose life evokes Europe’s Christian roots,” Ratzinger said.

At 78, he was the oldest person to be elected pope since Pope Clement XII in 1730. Given his age, Benedict was widely seen as an interim pope, a bridge to the next generation after John Paul’s long tenure. II, an itinerant pontiff whose youth and vigor gave way to such frailty in later years that he needed help walking and was often hard of hearing during public speeches.

In his tone, demeanor, and actions, Benedict was remarkably different from his predecessor. While John Paul impressed crowds around the world with his command of multiple languages, Benedict’s influence was felt through his scholarly writings and theological rigor.

“In a world he saw as relativistic and secular, his main objective was to re-establish a sense of Catholic identity for Catholics themselves,” said Delia Gallagher, CNN’s Vatican correspondent.

As pope, Benedict has often advocated a back-to-basics approach. Three of his encyclicals – letters from the pope to Catholics around the world – were based on the theological virtues of faith, hope and love.

Bill Donohue of the conservative Catholic League of the United States credited Benedict with working to reduce friction between adherents of various faiths, something that was also a key part of John Paul’s mission.

But critics say Benedict didn’t always choose his words wisely. During a speech in Regensburg, Germany, in 2006, he quoted a 14th-century Byzantine emperor who criticized Islam, calling the religion violent, “evil and inhuman.”

His statements were heavily criticized by heads of state in the Middle East and Muslim groups around the world. Effigies of Benedict have been burned in Basra, Iraq, and other predominantly Muslim countries.

Benedict XVI later apologized, saying he was “deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to some passages of my speech”.