Pope Benedict XVI

VATICAN CITY — The Catholic Church conducted a historic funeral Thursday for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, using a mix of ancient rituals and new precedents ...

“I remember very well the feeling of mourning, of emotion,” O’Connell said. More than 100,000 people gathered for his final address, some in tears, as he talked about loving the church and having “the courage to make difficult, painful decisions.” The next day, he was whisked away by helicopter to his summer residence, Castel Gandolfo, no longer the pope. Gerard O’Connell, a Vatican correspondent who has covered the church for more than three decades, said Benedict received an emotional send-off on par with previous popes — but in 2013,

Bells tolled Thursday for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who made history by retiring, as thousands of mourners packed St.

And the unprecedented situation of a retired pope living alongside a reigning one prompted calls for protocols to guide future popes emeritus to prevent any confusion about who is really in charge. The document gave ample attention to Benedict's historic resignation and referred to him as "pope emeritus," citing verbatim the Latin words he uttered on Feb. In addition, a host of patriarchs joined 125 cardinals in the seats to the side of the altar. "I see a continuity between these two popes and the fact that today Francis is celebrating the funeral in Benedict's memory is an historical event." While the ritual is unusual, it does have some precedent: In 1802, Pope Pius VII presided over the funeral in St. As cardinal and pope, he passed sweeping church legislation that resulted in 848 priests being defrocked from 2004-2014, roughly his pontificate with a year on either end. But he will go down in history for a singular, revolutionary act that changed the future of the papacy: He retired, the first pope in six centuries to do so. Only Italy and Germany were invited to send official delegations, but other leaders took the Vatican up on its offer and come in their "private capacity." "We came to pay homage to Benedict and wanted to be here today to say goodbye," said Raymond Mainar, who traveled from a small village east of Munich for the funeral. Benedict's longtime secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, bent down and kissed a book of the Gospels that was left open on the coffin. The reigning pontiff, for his part, recently said he has already left written instructions outlining the conditions in which he too would resign. 31 at age 95](https://www.npr.org/2022/12/31/898524253/pope-benedict-xvi-dies), is considered one of the 20th century's greatest theologians and spent his lifetime upholding church doctrine.

Pope Benedict XVI was mourned Thursday at a funeral service held in St. Peter's Basilica and led by Pope Francis. A respected theologian, Benedict was the ...

Pope Francis bowed and touched the coffin after Mass, and a supporters on St. A respected theologian, Benedict was the first pope to retire in six centuries and is remembered for his efforts to combat scandals and outreach to other faiths. Pope Benedict XVI was mourned Thursday at a funeral service held in St.

Archbishop Georg Gänswein (right), the longtime personal secretary for Benedict XVI, kneels to kiss the book of the Gospels atop the coffin of the pope ...

Phnom Penh (Agenzia Fides) - "Benedict XVI was a passionate seeker of God who worked to create harmony of religions and to build a more just world, ...

Now we entrust his soul to Our Lady of the Mekong and raise a prayer of thanksgiving for Benedict XVI, a Pope who had God only as a solid rock, an intellectual who believed in reason, a man in love with the truth", said the Vicar Apostolic of Phnom Penh, Bishop Olivier Schmitthaeusler MEP, to the faithful, in a holy requiem mass celebrated in Phom Penh for Benedict XVI. In 2013, a few days before his resignation - continued the Vicar - the Pope sent a video message of encouragement to the Church of Cambodia in which he "invoked Our Lady of the Mekong to encourage us in the faith". Phnom Penh (Agenzia Fides) - "Benedict XVI was a passionate seeker of God who worked to create harmony of religions and to build a more just world, in truth and with passion.

Pope Benedict XVI — especially during his extraordinary career and ministry as a theologian and professor — was not only one of the towering intellects in ...

[trilogy](https://ignatius.com/jesus-of-nazareth-3-volume-set-jnsetx/) on the person of Jesus Christ, “Jesus of Nazareth: From the Baptism in the Jordan to the Transfiguration” was the first book written by Pope Benedict XVI after his election. Pope Benedict brings all his decades of study and prayer to the immense task of revealing Christ to the modern reader and draws upon a vast array of sources to weave a compelling narrative that is also arguably the most accessible of all his writings. [Salt of the Earth”](https://ignatius.com/salt-of-the-earth-digital-soee/) followed in the footsteps of “The Ratzinger Report” both in style and many of its themes. This gift is not the product of our own will and invention but precedes us and comes to meet us as the incomprehensible reality that is ‘greater than our heart’ (cf. As he writes: “What is great and liberating about the Church is not something self-made but the gift that is given to us all. Paul’s description of the Church as the Body of Christ to help the reader understand the proper role and function of its members.

Pope Francis conducted the funeral service for his predecessor Benedict XVI in front of tens of thousands of mourners in St Peter's Square, ...

Former Pope Benedict XVI was buried at the Vatican Thursday after his funeral, bringing an end to an unprecedented decade in which a reigning pope lived ...

POGGIOLI: Earlier today, the Vatican released the official history of Benedict's life. We want to do this with the same wisdom, tenderness and devotion that he bestowed upon us over the years. He invoked the image of the women in the gospel stories who prayed at the tomb of the deceased Jesus. SYLVIA POGGIOLI, BYLINE: The air was damp and thick with fog as mourners began arriving at St Peter's Square in darkness, hours before the funeral mass. (SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING) Afterwards, Benedict was buried in the crypt under the basilica alongside his predecessors.

Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger (b. April 16, 1927) became pope of the Catholic Church on April 19, 2005, and served in that role until his resignation on February 28 ...

At the center of the accusations was his handling of an Essen diocesan priest who was sent to Munich in 1980 after sexually offending minors. By teaching a theology centered on Jesus Christ alone, Benedict XVI has rendered invaluable service to the unity of the Church. Jesus Christ was the spiritual theme of the life of Pope Benedict XVI. And the more reconstructions I see come and go, the more I feel strengthened in this trust. A profound theologian, he demonstrated a significant understanding of the Lutheran tradition and its witness to the Gospel. April 16, 1927) became pope of the Catholic Church on April 19, 2005, and served in that role until his resignation on February 28, 2013.

The representative of the Holy Father in Kenya has eulogized Pope emeritus Benedict XVI who passed on in Rome on New Year eve as one who set out to reveal ...

“To reveal the magnificence of God, to reveal the beauty of the truth, to reveal the deep sense of life was the mission of Pope Benedict,” Archbishop van Megen said during the event that was held at Holy Family Basilica of Nairobi Archdiocese in Kenya. [Requiem Mass](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_7i3LDqog0&t=2s) of the 265th Catholic Pontiff, Archbishop [ Hubertus van Megen](https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bvmegen.html) reflected on the late Pope’s theological works and described him as “a prophet of our times”. [Benedict XVI](https://www.catholic-hierarchy.org/bishop/bratz.html) who [passed on](https://www.aciafrica.org/news/7340/breaking-pope-emeritus-benedict-xvi-dies-at-age-95) in Rome on New Year eve as one who set out to reveal the beauty of God, truth, and “the deep sense of life”.

Canadian Cardinal Gérald Lacroix of Quebec speaks to Vatican News about his memories of Benedict XVI, and recalls the late Pope Emeritus as a "humble ...

Admitting he was very curious as to why the Pope wanted to see him, the Canadian Cardinal expressed joy and appreciation that upon his arrival in Rome, the late Benedict received him for almost a half hour only to encourage and listen to him, offer some good advice, and thank him for accepting. While present at the General Audience where Pope Francis praised Benedict XVI as a "master of the catechesis," Cardinal Lacroix shared his delight in seeing “the gratitude for this man who was not exuberant, who did not have the charisma of his predecessor or his successor, the charisma of the crowds, but who had the charisma of authenticity, of truth, of love and of his link with the Lord which was visible in his being.” The Cardinal said he went twice to pay his respects to the Pope Emeritus while he was lying in state in St.

As thousands pour into the Vatican to pay their final respects to the late Pope Benedict XVI, Christian and interfaith leaders across the world have ...

Similarly, Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople during a Divine Liturgy on Jan. Benedict, he said, was “an inspired spiritual leader who committed himself to a common and prophetic voice of Christians in the face of societal challenge. “During his papacy, he worked hard to promote these issues. He also praised Benedict’s “sincere respect for the tradition of Russian Orthodoxy,” saying that during Benedict XVI’s papacy, “relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church developed considerably in the spirit of fraternal collaboration and in the desire of fraternal collaboration.” “The indisputable authority of Benedict XVI as an eminent theologian has enabled him to make a significant contribution to the development of inter-Christian cooperation, to the witness of Christ in the face of a secularized world and to the defense of traditional moral values,” Kirill said, saying he saw first-hand in his meetings with Benedict “his deep love for eastern Christianity.” “Pope Benedict was one of the greatest theologians of his age – committed to the faith of the Church and stalwart in its defense,” Welby said, saying, “In all things, not least in his writing and his preaching, he looked to Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God.”

On the eve of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's funeral, Delia Opekokew's feelings of him remain the same today as they did when she met him in 2009. Opekokew was ...

“But I did feel strongly watching it on TV that it was important for him to be there because the faces of the Elders that I saw, who were mostly survivors from Indian residential school. Those faces she saw on television were “the same kind of faces I saw when I was the chief adjudicator holding hearings across the country. She became the first Indigenous person of Canada to be sainted. “I think it was important that (Kateri) was canonized. I told the Pontiff that she is an Indian residential school survivor, and that she maintains her strong beliefs and devotion in her two-part cultural identity: she is a devout Roman Catholic and follows her Indian spirituality. She died at the age of 24 in 1680 near Montreal. Prior to meeting the Pope, Opekokew recounts a conversation she had with Catholic representatives and Vatican officials about local parishes with Kateri Circles. So in any way he could enhance her sense of serenity and peace, I really respected that.” In her 2009 account of that meeting, Opekokew wrote, “I told the Pope that my mother, Margaret Opekokew, is from the Canoe Lake Indian Reserve in Saskatchewan, is a Treaty No. I have strong feelings about its inability to take responsibility for the sexual abuse the individuals from the church inflicted on Indigenous children in Canada and other places.” I told him that my parents had sent me to Indian residential school in order to get an education. The invitation to meet with the Pope came from Benedict XVI three years after the Indian Residential School Settlement Agreement was signed.

Many believe Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died Saturday, mishandled the clergy sexual abuse scandal. But John Thavis, who was the Rome bureau chief for ...

And in fact, he approached the house, he looked very bored, and he walked right past it to the great disappointment of photographers and TV people. It was a particular kind of music, you know — the kind that could be trusted, not pop music. I turned up there and I could see the Pope was suddenly very energized. This was the house where he had grown up, and he was supposed to go inside and look like he was remembering things, I guess. He was a very sensitive man, very sensitive to criticism. As for ecology, I once wrote that Pope Benedict was the “green pope” because he installed solar panels on top of the Vatican rooftops. He was visiting the places where he grew up in Bavaria. He then went to Brazil in 2007 and declared that Christianity was not an imposition of a foreign culture on Indigenous peoples. He became a teacher, and that meant talking about what we believe as Catholics, [such as] the importance of saints. Does it stand to reason then that Pope Benedict was a relic of a bygone era? He basically engineered a much tougher approach, and the result was that hundreds of priests were defrocked. You might remember the case of the founder of the Legionaries of Christ.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was celebrated Thursday at a funeral mass in St. Peter's Square with his successor, Pope Francis, presiding.

Francis has remade the church, but Benedict's legacy is likely to linger, even as it it's still debated after his death. And they are really not doing anything for us at all. The part that I cannot forgive is the cover-up. Starting at the age of 10, he was molested and later raped by his parish priest. On the one hand, you have got exaggerated faith separated from reason that can lead to irrationality. Father Roger Landry is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, and Columbia University's Catholic chaplain. Pope Benedict XVI was born Joseph Ratzinger in 1927. Benedict, faithful friend of the bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice now and forever. Peter's Square, a solemn service that hasn't taken place for more than 200 years, a living pope, Francis, leading the funeral of a former pope, Benedict XVI. Nick Schifrin: Others look at his mixed record on child sexual abuse in the church as a failure. Though retired nearly a decade, Benedict was a leading light for conservatives in the church.