Six years ago today, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected the 265th Supreme Pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, choosing the name Benedict XVI. Below, a reminder of what that day was like for Catholics around the world. Enjoy!

Article 3. The Church, Mother and Teacher (cont’d)

III. Moral Life and Missionary Witness

Catholic Mission | Credit: Topix

(2044) The fidelity of the baptized is a primordial condition for the proclamation of the Gospel and for the Church’s mission in the world. In order that the message of salvation can show the power of its truth and radiance before men, it must be authenticated by the witness of the life of Christians. “The witness of a Christian life and good works done in a supernatural spirit have great power to draw men to the faith and to God.”

(2045) Because they are members of the Body whose Head is Christ, Christians contribute to building up the Church by the constancy of their convictions and their moral lives. The Church increases, grows, and develops through the holiness of her faithful, until “we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

(2046) By living with the mind of Christ, Christians hasten the coming of the Reign of God, “a kingdom of justice, love, and peace.” They do not, for all that, abandon their earthly tasks; faithful to their master, they fulfill them with uprightness, patience, and love.

Fr. Francis Baker

1820—Father Francis Asbury Baker, one of the founders of the Society of St. Paul the Apostle, is born in Baltimore Maryland. Ordained as a Protestant clergyman in 1846, Fr. Baker left the Episcopal Church in 1853 and converted to Catholicism. He was ordained a Redemptorist priest on September 21, 1856 in the Cathedral of Baltimore. Along with several of his Redemptorist brothers, Fr. Baker left the order and co-founded the Paulist Institute.

1191—Giacinto Bobone is elected Pope Celestine III at the age of 85, succeeding Clement III. When he was elected to the Chair of St. Peter, Celestine III was only a deacon and therefore had to be ordained to the priesthood, which took place on April 13, 1191. On April 14th, Celestine was ordained to the episcopacy and consecrated Pope.

Article 3. The Church, Mother and Teacher

Basilica of St. Peter | Vatican

(2030) It is in the Church, in communion with all the baptized, that the Christian fulfills his vocation. From the Church he receives the Word of God containing the teachings of “the law of Christ.” From the Church he receives the grace of the sacraments that sustains him on the “way.” From the Church he learns the example of holiness and recognizes its model and source in the all-holy Virgin Mary; he discerns it in the authentic witness of those who live it; he discovers it in the spiritual tradition and long history of the saints who have gone before him and whom the liturgy celebrates in the rhythms of the sanctoral cycle.

(2031) The moral life is spiritual worship. We “present [our] bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,” within the Body of Christ that we form and in communion with the offering of his Eucharist. In the liturgy and the celebration of the sacraments, prayer and teaching are conjoined with the grace of Christ to enlighten and nourish Christian activity. As does the whole of the Christian life, the moral life finds its source and summit in the Eucharistic sacrifice.

Five years ago today, Pope Benedict XVI was elected in the second day of the Papal Conclave. Let us remember the Holy Father in our prayers on this special anniversary. Most especially, let us show our support for our German Shepherd as he continues to guide the church.

Shortly after the Habemus Papam announcement, Pope Benedict XVI emerged and gave his first Urbi et Orbi address.

“Dear Brothers and Sisters,

After the great Pope John Paul II, the Cardinals have elected me, a simple and humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord.

The fact that the Lord knows how to work and act even with inadequate instruments consoles me, so above all I entrust myself to your prayers.

In the joy of the Risen Lord, confident of his unfailing help, let us move forward. The Lord will help us and Mary, his Most Holy Mother, will be on our side. Thank you.”

VIDEO SOURCE: YouTube

SOURCE: Vatican | Holy See