Father Gerald Murray of the Archdiocese of New York Saturday on Newsmax honored the life of the late former Pope Benedict XVI as an influence on him and his faith because of his "theological writings and because of his personal example."
"He was a man of great faith, deep faith," Murray said on Newsmax's "Saturday Agenda" of the late former pontiff, who died Saturday at the age of 95. "He suffered much in his life as a youth. His family was anti-Nazi; and he, [as] a result, was ostracized to a degree from his community. He was forced out of the seminary and into the German army toward the end of the war and indeed was in the prisoner of war camp after the war ended for a couple of months."
Benedict, whose given name was Joseph Ratzinger, had wanted to be a theologian, said Murray, "But he ended up being a bishop, a cardinal and then a pope, all of which require management skills that he himself admitted were not his strength."
That, said Murray, is a reminder as a priest that "when you say yes to Christ, your ordination, you have to be ready to do whatever it is the church asks of you, and he did it very well."
There were, however, "many domains" that Benedict found difficult, leading to his resignation as pope in 2013, noted Murray.
"He told us that the emotional and physical toll of running the Catholic church was just too much, and he wanted to pass the baton to a younger man. And that's when Pope Francis was elected in March 2013," Murray commented.
Part of Benedict's work was to improve the church's relations with the Jewish community, Murray recalled, telling Newsmax about the time the then-pontiff visited New York City and it was arranged for him to go to a synagogue near St. Patrick's Cathedral.
"There, he said so memorably how pleased he was to come to a place that reminds him of where Jesus himself would have worshiped God as he was a young man before he began his public ministry and even during his public ministry," said Murray. "The pope was horrified by the Nazis, horrified by the Holocaust and horrified by antisemitic movements. He was completely in line with Catholic efforts to improve relations with Judaism and with Jewish people and to understand theological differences as not a source of disunity, but rather contrasting how our two faiths develop and what we believe in and then try to highlight what unites us."
About NEWSMAX TV:
NEWSMAX is the fastest-growing cable news channel in America!
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.