“Today we entrust our beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to Our Lady to accompany him on his journey from this world to God.”
Pope Francis on Sunday at the New Year’s Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for his predecessor Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday. prayed. “Today we entrust our beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to Our Lady to accompany him on his journey from this world to God,” Francis said at the service to mark the World Day of Peace.
January 1st is the Catholic Church’s World Day of Peace. In 2023, the motto will be: “No one is saved. Starting over after Covid-19 to explore paths of peace together”.
In his sermon on Sunday, according to agency reports, on the occasion of the World Day of Peace, Francis addressed particularly those who have suffered from wars. “We ask the Mother of God in a special way for children who suffer and no longer have the strength to pray, for the many brothers and sisters who are affected by war in large parts of the world,” said the 86-year-old Argentinean. People would have spent their holidays in darkness and fear amidst violence and indifference.
“Dirty hands”
As a good resolution for the New Year, Francis recommended not looking at world events with laziness and indifference, but doing good and “getting your hands dirty”. One cannot sit back and comfortably wait for things to get better.
“At the beginning of the year, in the midst of so many new things that we want to experience and so many things that we want to do, let’s take some time to ‘see’, that is, open our eyes and let them open to keep what counts: for God and for others,” Pope Francis said at the Mass for the Solemnity of Our Lady Mary.
“How many times, in our hurry, do we not have time to stop for even a minute in the Lord’s company, to listen to his word, to pray, to adore, to praise…”, observed the Pope, asking for peace in the world.
The body of Benedict XVI will be placed in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, starting this Monday morning, so that the faithful can say goodbye to him. Benedict XVI’s funeral will take place on January 5 in St. Peter’s Square and will be presided over by the current Pope Francis – an unprecedented event in the history of the Catholic Church, which took place with the resignation of Benedict XVI.
(apa)