A Delightful Interview with the Pope's Brother, and more on the Book About Him

Rare Pic of the Ratzinger Brother in Rome for Vatican II in 1965




Tip of the Hat AGAIN to the Ratzinger Forum that always has so many good news stories and pics we don't see here in the USA

The above picture and these two great stories I got from their thread here in the section People around the Pope.

I blogged on this book yesterday . Here is an interview with the Pope's Brother , Father Georg Ratzinger as well as review of the book all translated by the Ratzinger forum folks.

Here first is a translation of the interview conducted by Karl Birkenseer: Georg Ratzinger this year travelled to Castel Gandolfo with a new biography in his suitcase. In this interview, he talks about his life as a musician and as the Pope's brother.

Herr Domkapellmeister, how do you feel being the subject of a biography?

Georg Ratzinger: The book is a real 'first' for me - an unexpected 'first'

Do you recognize yourself in the book? Is the balance right between music and theology, private anecdotal material and official career descriptions?

I think, within the possibilities, yes, a balance is achieved.

Although you are the brother of the Pope, it is, of course, primarily about your own life. Does this book help to portray more strongly the real Georg Ratzinger?

I think so. To see my life only from the perspective of my relationship to the Pope would be one-sided. The author, Anton Zuber, made an effort to report the facts as he has learned them. I think he has avoided narrowing down my life to my relationship with the Pope.

When a young Domspatzen asked you once whether ypu ever had a girlfriend, you once answered spotnaneously: "Yes, music." Was it, for you, really a case of love at first sight?

I would say so. From my earliest infancy, music has fascinated me. Whether my answer about the 'girlfriend' was the right one, I can't say...

Your parents helped promote your musical talents in an exemplary manner. Do you think the value of music in formation and even character training is undervalued today?

The fact is I think only vew few children these days can read music, or even have a musical life. Of course that is because it is the same thing with their parents. When the parents live a life that has a completely different context - that has nothing to do with music - then it is unlikely they will provide their children with musical training.

In the center of your own musical life are the Regensburger Domspatzen. In reading your biography, everything seems to revolve around this particular vocation. Would you say this was something providential?

I am convinced that our Lord has a certain plan in eternity for every man's life. And I believe that my life was oriented toward's God's plan for me - which was to realize my fulfillment in church music and with the Regensburger Domspatzen.

Reading Zuber's book, one gets the impression that in the beginning, it was not always easy with you here in Regensburg. What do you think now, looking back at that time?

That's difficult to say. But I must say that I made mistakes myself. I had thought that if one were nice and worked well with everyone, then everything would go well. But that's not always so. I should probably have been a bit more forceful at times.

And now, to come to your brother. What do you think of the first two years of the Pontificate so far - from your personal, familial point of view. Are you happy with the family life you have between Rome and Regensburg?

For me what is most important is that all is well about my brother's situation with regard to the faith. And I can see that he is doing what God's love expects of him, and that many people see that too.

My own life has naturally been affected, arousing great interest that I am not used to, a public attention that is not in my nature. But there are some good and beautiful things about it, and I have been able to deal with it.

But meanwhile, regular contacts with your bother - whether by telephone or by your visits to Rome - have now settled into some sort of routine

Yes, one could say that. Our brotherly closeness has not changed at all, and so we have the same family life now

There have been criticisms lately against the Pope - because of liberalizing the Tridentine Mass or the CDF statement that, for example, the evangelical churches are not churches in the true sense. How are you affected by such controversies?

I must say. I only have contacts with people who think like my brother and myself, so negative voices get to me only in a roundabout way - after they have been filtered and cannot hurt any more.

You have not been personally confronted by such critics?

No. But these critical voices are to be expected - every Pontificate has them. Whoever works in the service of the Kingdom of God must - like our Lord himself who always met with resistance - expect some opposition. Everything can't always be peace, joy and pancakes!

Pope Benedict will be visiting Austria September 7-9. It is well-know that you both like Austria very much. Will you be there for the visit?

Yes, but I don't think I will be with my brother much during the visit. We both love Austria, of course, and I am very happy that the Bishop of St. Polten, Klaus Kueng, has invited me to stay with him during the visit. I'm looking forward to beautiful celebratory days in Austria, and that the devil who hides in the details, remains hidden!

What do you value most about Austria?

To begin with, that it is a foreign country that does not pose a language problem! And of course, I see it far more from the musical perspective. It is the land of Haydn, Betthoven, Mozart, Schubert, Bruckner, Brahms.And somehow, Austrians are very different from North Germans, for instance, who are very rational and who generally hide their emotions - which, of course, they have - behind a frigid exterior. Unlike the Austrians, who are friendly and pleasant, perhaps even nicer than us Bavarians ourselves. We can be somewhat gruff, while the Austrians are more forthcoming.

How long will you be at Castel Gandolfo this time? And will the Holy Father read the book about you?
Altogether, I will be there four weeks. As far as the book - my brother reads fast, unlike me with my sight problems now. With him, reading is just a breeze. 'Der Joseph' will certainly have the time to read the book.

Here is a review of the book also on that same thread-


MORE THAN JUST THE POPE'S BROTHER
By Karl Birkenseer

The new biogrpahy of Georg Ratzinger is a sensitive portrait of the former Cathedral Choirmaster of Regensburg. Some stories about the Pope are found alongside a masterly appreciation of a gifted musician.

There was a time when Georg Ratzinger, longtime conductor of the Regensburger Domspatzen, was more famous than his brother Joseph, the theologian.

But even after the election of Joseph Ratzinger as Pope, the former Domkapellmeister soon became a media darling. Therefore, it is not surprising that Herder, the Freiburg publishing house, now has a biography of him among its rich offering of books that have to do with Benedict XVI.

The book, which will be in bookstores on August 25, was presented to the Pope in Castel Gandolfo on Thursday, August 16.

Der Bruder des Papstes - Georg Ratzinger und die Regensburger Domspatzen - Already, the title of the biography makes clear what the focus of the book is.

Of course, author Anton Zuber also recounts stories connected with the Conclave - how Georg Ratzinger had initially rejected any thought at all that his brother might be elected Pope, how he fell into some sort of catatonic shock when it happened, and what happened afterwards - how he gradually came back to 'normalcy.'

Nor does he overlook the fact that for most Italians, Georg Ratzinger has come to be considered 'the holy brother of the Holy Father'. And he describes the times that the brothers have since spent together, in Rome, Castel Gandolfo and Regensburg - including that now legendary hour that the brothers spent together in the Pope's Pentling 'Haeusl' when they prepared and shared a little meal together just like old times.

But Anton Zuber does not succumb to the temptation of seeing Georg Ratzinger mainly from the attention-getting perspective of his relationship to the Pope.

He portrays him as an independent personage of many parts, corners and edges included, a gifted musician, whose talents took many turns that led him eventually to become Choirmaster and conductor of the Regensburger Domspatzen and into the highest ranks of international concert artists. For 30 years, from 1964 to 1994, Georg Ratzinger held that double title.

His parents recognized his musical talents early. Even as an infant, born in Pleiskirchen in 1924, he showed pleasure at a tuba performance by the then municipal secretary of Marktl, Andreas Eichner.

Lessons on the harmonium piano and organ soon brought remarkable results, and as a 12-year-old, he showed such gifts for composition that the music prefect at the Archdiocesan Seminary in Traunstein expressed his envy by saying he felt like he was 'boxed in the ear'.

But Georg Ratzinger himself entertained no illusions. As a student, he managed to combine his passion for theology and music, and in his first years in Regenbsurg, he survived some still-unclarified questions that were raised about his musical competence. He came through that episode successfully, both in the artistic sense and as a human being.

A wealth of anecdotes survives about Georg Ratzinger's popularity with generations of Domspatzen, and his biograper makes good use of them.

The former Domkapellmeister himself says about his life: "In my entire career as a priest, I always prayed, 'Dear God, please give me a task in which I can combine musical, religious, missionary and pastoral work together.' The dear Lord has wonderfully made all that possible."