On April 15th, the second Easter Sunday and the day of the Divine Mercy, at 10 am, Benedict XVI will officiate the celebration of the Eucharist for his 80th birthday on the square of the Vatican Basilica. The Pope will be assisted by the cardinals, the archbishops and the bishops at the head of the ministries of the Roman Curia, the auxiliary bishops and a number of representatives of the presbyters of the diocese of Rome. "The Church that is in Rome and in the other parts of the world reads a release from the Department of Liturgical Celebrations is invited to join the Holy Father, Benedict XVI, to raise to God our Father a deep prayer of thanks for his 80th birthday and the second anniversary of his appointment". Joseph Ratzinger was born in Marktl am Inn, in the diocese of Passau (Germany), on April 16th 1927 (Holy Saturday); he was baptised on the same day. His father, a police superintendent, came from an ancient family of farmers of Lower Bavaria, while his mother’s parents were craftsmen. And precisely next Monday, April 16th the day of the Pope’s 80th birthday, three days before the second anniversary of his appointment , the book written by Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI, “Jesus of Nazareth”, will be published in Italy (Rizzoli), Germany (Herder) and Poland (Wydawnictwo M).
