Monsignor Kevin Irwin, who is the former Dean of Theology at the Catholic University of America, recalled the time then-Pope Benedict XVI visited the D.C. campus in 2008.
“It was extraordinarily exciting for the students,” Irwin said.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died Saturday at the age of 95. In 2013, the German theologian became the first pope in 600 years to resign from the role. Five years earlier, he visited D.C., where he met with then-President George W. Bush at the White House and performed a mass at Nationals Park.
It was during his D.C. visit where Pope Benedict reassured the academic community — who wanted to know more about his stance on academic freedom on Catholic campuses — of how vital their work was to “the mission of the Church to proclaim the Good News.”
“They were very encouraged by his remarks on Catholic education,” Irwin said.
Irwin said much is made of the personality differences between Benedict and his predecessor St. John Paul II.
He called John Paul “a very, very gregarious, extroverted philosopher” while remembering Benedict as “very gracious, very pleasant” when Irwin met him as a cardinal.
Benedict was famously fond of cats, even feeding strays, and he was an accomplished pianist.
“I knew very well he’d rather be at home with his cat and his piano,” Irwin said.
Benedict’s retirement as pope was unprecedented in modern times.
“We have not had an experience of a resigned Pope in 600 years,” Irwin said.
Having both Benedict and the newly appointed Pope Francis led to speculation of a power struggle at the pinnacle of the Catholic Church. It did not help that Benedict decided to be known by the title Pope Emeritus instead of the expected title Bishop Emeritus of Rome.
But the notion that there were “two popes” was dismissed by Irwin. “There were not two popes. There’s never two popes. Catholics do have one pope, and we have one at a time.”
Irwin said Benedict has to be credited with taking concrete steps to deal with allegations of sexual abuse within the church.
Benedict was criticized in some cases over his handling of allegations of sexual abuse within the clergy, but Irwin said Benedict “broke the ice and moved forward on the issue of abuse where John Paul did not,” such as in the case of Marcial Maciel, founder of the Legion of Christ.
Maciel was ordered to retire by Benedict after numerous allegations of sexual abuse of minors.
But Irwin said there were complications raised by Benedict’s authorship of published opinions.
In 2019, Benedict released a letter outlining his views on alleged sex abuse in the Church. In an essay, he blamed the clergy sex abuse scandal on the sexual revolution of the 1960s and an absence of God.
“I thought that was not fair play,” Irwin said. “When the curtain comes down you go home.”
Benedict’s choice of bright red shoes attracted a great deal of media attention, with speculation that the distinctive ruby shoes were made by the designer Prada.
Irwin said he told journalist Christiane Amanpour at the time of Benedict’s retirement, “The Devil may have worn Prada, this pope did not.”
According to the Catholic News Agency, Benedict’s red shoes were made by Italian shoemakers.
