The Vatican on Sunday released the first photos of the body of Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday at the age of 95 and whose memory was once again celebrated by his successor, Francis.
• Also read: Pope Francis speaks the day after Benedict XVI’s death
We see the deceased Pope lying on a catafalque, dressed in red (the color of papal mourning) and wearing a white miter adorned with a gold braid, holding a rosary in his hands.
The catafalque is located in the center of a small private chapel of the monastery where he has lived since his renunciation in 2013, in the heart of the Vatican Gardens. A crucifix, a Christmas tree and a nativity scene can be seen in the background.
Cardinals also prayed before the body of Joseph Ratzinger, according to a photo posted to social media.
“We trust the beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. the Most Holy Mother (the Virgin Mary) to accompany him from this world to God,” the Argentine Pope said Sunday during a mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
“A great man”
At noon, the Pope again paid homage to “this faithful servant of the Gospel and of the Church” during the weekly Angelus prayer. He spoke from the window of the Apostolic Palace to around 40,000 faithful who had gathered under the sun at Place Saint-Pierre. Then he observed a moment of silence.
“I respect him very much: he was a great man, simple and humble,” Paola Filippa, a 58-year-old Italian teacher who was present in the crowd, told AFP.
The brilliant theologian and ardent guardian of dogma, Benedict XVI, who had announced that he would be stepping down from office due to failing strength, died peacefully on Saturday morning.
The funeral celebrated by Francis for his predecessor, head of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013, will be an unprecedented event in the two thousand year history of the Catholic Church.
“We are planning to come to this funeral,” which “will have a lot of people coming from abroad,” said Luca Scotti, a 58-year-old Roman who was present to AFP in Saint-Pierre Square on Sunday.
The public can already gather from Monday morning to Wednesday evening in front of the body of Joseph Ratzinger, which is being transferred from the Inbrunstkapelle to St. Peter’s Basilica. The first German pope of modern times is buried in a crypt of the basilica after his funeral.
“principles”
From United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to French Presidents Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin, tributes poured in from world leaders on Saturday.
“He will be remembered as a distinguished theologian, guided by his principles and faith, and whose entire life was devoted to his devotion to the Church,” said US President Joe Biden.
His death puts an end to the unusual coexistence of two men in white: on the one hand the German Joseph Ratzinger, a brilliant theologian who does not feel comfortable in crowds, on the other hand the Argentine Jorge Bergoglio, a Jesuit with a succinct word that wanted to put the poor and migrants back at the center of the Church’s mission.
After his eight-year pontificate, which was marked by numerous crises, Benedict XVI. Caught up in the drama of child crime in the church in early 2022. When questioned by a report in Germany about his handling of sexual violence as Archbishop of Munich, he broke his silence to ask for “pardon” but assured that he had never covered up a child criminal.
With his renunciation unprecedented in six centuries, Benedict XVI. the way for his successors, whose powers would dwindle.
HIV and vat leaks
Francois, 86 and suffering from knee pain, left the option “open”. He announced in December that he had already signed a letter of resignation should his health prevent him from taking on the role.
Joseph Ratzinger, born in 1927, taught theology in Germany for 25 years before being appointed Archbishop of Munich.
After that, for another quarter of a century, he became the strict guardian of the dogma of the Church in Rome at the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, then Pope for eight years, succeeding John Paul II.
However, as the last pope to attend Vatican II, he defended a conservative line at the head of the Church, particularly on abortion, homosexuality or euthanasia.
Some of his statements shocked people, for example about Islam or the use of condoms against HIV.
His pontificate was also marked in 2012 by the leak of confidential documents (“Vatileaks”) orchestrated by his butler. The scandal had exposed an intrigue-ridden Roman Curia (Vatican government) that lacks financial austerity.