The spiritual testament of Benedict XVI has been published in the Vatican

My spiritual testament

As I look back at the decades I have traveled at this late hour of my life, I see above all how much I have to be thankful for. Above all, I thank God Himself, the giver of all good gifts, who has given me life and guided me through various turmoil; who always lifted me up when I started to fall, who always gave me the light of his countenance anew. In retrospect, I see and understand that even the dark and arduous parts of this path served my salvation and that it was in them that he guided me well.

I thank my parents who gave me life in difficult times and at the price of great sacrifices, with their love, prepared for me a wonderful nest, which to this day shines through all my days as a bright light. My father’s penetrating faith taught us children to believe and stood firm as a guide amidst all my scientific achievements. My mother’s warm piety and great kindness remain a legacy for which I cannot thank her enough. My sister has served me selflessly and lovingly for decades. My brother always paved the way for me with his clarity of judgment, firm firmness, and serenity. Without his constant precedence and accompaniment, I would not have been able to find the right path.

I thank God from the bottom of my heart for the many friends, men and women, whom he has always placed by my side; for my collaborators at all stages of my journey; for the teachers and disciples he has given me. I gratefully entrust them all to his goodness. And I would like to thank the Lord for my beautiful home in the Bavarian foothills of the Alps, where I could see again and again the light of the Creator himself. I thank the inhabitants of my homeland for allowing me to experience the beauty of faith many times. I am praying that our country will remain a country of faith and I am asking you, dear compatriots, not to be led away from your faith. Finally, I thank God for all the beauty that I have been able to experience at different stages of my journey, but especially in Rome and Italy, which have become my second home.