Sun Herald/Knight Ridder 4/21/05: In German town, Benedict XVI known for love of cats, conversation

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Posted on Thu, Apr. 21, 2005

 

In German town, Benedict XVI known for love of cats, conversation

BY MATTHEW SCHOFIELD

Knight Ridder Newspapers

 

REGENSBURG, Germany - (KRT) - 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? "

 

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© 2005, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

 

 

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