IV 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 838 

Welcoming His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on his first apostolic visit to 

the United States. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

DECEMBER 4, 2007 

Mr. MCCOTTER submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Welcoming His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on his first 

apostolic visit to the United States. 

Whereas Joseph Alois Ratzinger ascended to the Papacy and 

chose the name Benedict XVI on April 19, 2005, becoming the 265th reigning Pope in the history of the Roman 

Catholic Church; 

Whereas he was born and baptized on April 16, 1927, in 

Marktl am Inn, Germany; 

Whereas his priestly vocation was evident from a young age 

to family and friends; 

Whereas he was required to leave seminary at the age of 16 

and forced into compulsory military service for Nazi Germany; 


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•HRES 838 IH 

Whereas he risked grave danger by defecting from the Nazi 

anti-aircraft corps in 1945 and subsequently spent time 

in an Allied prisoner of war camp; 

Whereas he was ordained to the priesthood on June 29, 

1951; 

Whereas he is a highly regarded theologian and scholar, having served in various university posts from 1959 until 

1977; 

Whereas he participated as a theological advisor to the monumental Second Vatican Council from 1962 until 1965; 

Whereas he was appointed Archbishop of Munich and 

Freising in Germany on March 24, 1977, and ordained 

a bishop on May 28, 1977; 

Whereas he was elevated to cardinal on June 27, 1977; 

Whereas he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for 

the Doctrine of the Faith and President of the Pontifical 

Biblical Commission on November 25, 1981; 

Whereas he was elected Dean of the College of Cardinals on 

November 27, 2002; 

Whereas Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was installed as Bishop 

of Rome on April 24, 2005; 

Whereas Pope Benedict XVI has made repeated calls for 

peaceful resolutions to international conflicts, especially 

with respect to North Korea’s nuclear ambitions; 

Whereas Pope Benedict XVI has made reconciliation and 

peace an important goal of his Papacy on an ecumenical 

level reaching out to both Orthodox and Protestant 

Churches and in an inter-religious manner with Judaism 

and Islam; 


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•HRES 838 IH 

Whereas Pope Benedict XVI has affirmed the dignity of the 

human person with respect to refugees, exiles, evacuees, 

and other migrant persons; 

Whereas Pope Benedict XVI has written 25 books and given 

thousands of hours of lectures, making him one of the 

most prolific theologians in modern times; 

Whereas Pope Benedict XVI has decried the imminent dangers terrorism and extremism pose to Western Civilization; and 

Whereas Pope Benedict XVI has identified the failed revolutions and violent ideologies of the 20th century as being 

the result of the ‘‘Dictatorship of Relativism’’ stating 

that ‘‘absolutizing what is not absolute but relative is 

called totalitarianism’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the United States House of Rep2 resentatives welcomes His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on 

3 his first apostolic visit to the United States. 

Æ 


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