On Sunday morning, Pope Francis welcomed “beloved” Benedict XVI, his predecessor who died on Saturday at the age of 95, and whose funeral he will celebrate on Thursday.
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“Today we entrust the beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. the Most Holy Mother (the Virgin Mary) to accompany him from this world to God,” he said during a mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.
The Argentine high priest was also scheduled to address the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square at noon for the weekly Angelus prayer.
The brilliant theologian and ardent guardian of dogma, Benedict XVI, who announced he would step down from office in 2013 due to failing strength, died on Saturday at the age of 95 at his retirement monastery in the heart of Vatican Gardens.
A few hours after the announcement of his death, François had already paid tribute to his predecessor and greeted a “man so noble, so kind”. “We feel so much gratitude in our hearts.”
He will celebrate Thursday morning’s funeral of Germany’s first modern pope – who was head of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013 – an unprecedented event in the two-thousand-year history of the Catholic Church, which was expected to be attended by thousands of the faithful.
The public can gather from Monday morning in front of the body of Joseph Ratzinger, which will be displayed under the gold of St. Peter’s Basilica before being buried in a crypt after his funeral.
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.
In his home village in Germany, Marktl, the town hall flag was lowered, as it was on all public buildings in Bavaria.
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 had assured that he had never covered up a child criminal.
With this decision, unprecedented in six centuries, the first modern German pope paved the way for his successors, whose power was to dwindle. Francois, 86, who suffers from knee pain, left the possibility “open” himself.
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.