Pope Benedict XVI

"Purity of heart is what enables us to see." Some of the amazing things about Pope Benedict XVI are his inspiring and joyful quotes. In this quote by Pope Benedict is telling about how if you're nice and caring then that helps you to see other people being nice and living life to the extent. Pope Benedict is very inspirational; this is the main reason why he's my hero. Pope Benedict has made history by being the first pope in 600 years to resign from being pope.

Pope Benedict xvi was born in Marktl, Germany on 16 April 1927. Growing up he lived with his dad Joseph Ratzinger, Sr. his mother Maria Peintner, Sister Maria, and Brothers George and Josh. As a child he moved a lot, in Rural Bavaria, they stayed in the deep Roman Catholic parts of the village, as the Nazi's hold on the Catholics got stronger in Germany. His father was determined anti-Nazi. His father hated the Nazis as a defense Ratzinger made himself part of the Roman Catholic Church. When Pope Benedict was little he would see the beatings the Nazis gave the priests before the mass celebration. But he still has chosen the catholic past.

Besides relocating from house to house because of the Nazi regime he didn't experience many hard struggles. Even after seeing the Nazis beat the priest before mass he still wanted to be a pope. After years of dedication he was elected pope. Being pope is not the easiest thing, being a leader of a country and the catholic religion! This can be very stressful and after about eight years he decided he was getting too old to live up to the standards of pope. After a long decision he decided to resign.

Pope Benedict had the virtue of humility when he decided the he should resign from pope. He is a very humble man who always wanted the best for everyone. Becoming priest he knew he would have people who didn't like him or the religion he taught, even as a kid he knew it wouldn't be easy. As a child he once said to his mom he wanted to be a bishop for the catholic church and his mom jokingly replied why not the pope? Today he is the first resigned pope in about 600 years and is living a life in prayer.

Right now Pope Benedict lives in a priest nursing home. A priest retirement home is where priests go when they feel they're getting too old to be a priest but they don't have the money to live in a house because all they did was be a priest and the church pays for some of the needs they'd have like a house and car, they buy their own groceries and small stuff like that because they only get paid a little. Since he is the first pope to resign in about 600 years, he went to a special place right outside of the Vatican where resigned priests go after they feel they need to retire. He was/is a very inspiring person and I couldn't think of anyone better to be my hero.