Monday, February 16, 2015

Benedict XVI Baptismal Font

The neo-Gothic baptismal font, made of bright Danube limestone with six angels' heads, over which little Joseph Alois was held on that occasion has fortunately been preserved. It had been banished at first to the yard of the rectory when the church was rebuilt in 1965, and then the inhabitants of Marktl put it in their local museum in 1992. Research at that time found that it was the work of a sculptor in Munich, Anselm Sickinger (1807-1873), who had taken part in the construction of the Victory Gate in Munich. After the election of Joseph Ratzinger as pope, it "was allowed" to return to the church. Since then it stands before the neo-Gothic altar of Saint Oswald, a remnant from the former house of worship. On Easter Sunday 2006, which coincidentally fell on the Pope's birthday and the anniversary of his baptism, it was used again for the first time for the baptism of a child.
My Brother the Pope, George Ratzinger, Ignatius Press, 2011 p. 39
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