[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 838 Introduced in House (IH)]







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;
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;
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
    Resolved, That the United States House of Representatives welcomes 
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on his first apostolic visit to the 
United States.
                                 <all>