The funeral of Pope Benedict, who passed away this morning, will be held on Thursday, January 5, in St. Peter’s Square, as announced by Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.
According to the same source, the ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m. local time, presided over by Pope Francis.
Starting on January 2, the body of Pope Emeritus Benedict will lie in state at the Vatican.
Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pope to resign in 600 years, was receiving treatment at a former monastery in the Vatican, where he had been living ever since.
Benedict, the first German pope in 1,000 years, was elected on April 19, 2005, to succeed the very popular Pope John Paul II, who had led the Roman Catholic Church for 27 years.
Benedict announced his intention to resign on February 11, 2013. He stated that he no longer had the physical and mental strength to lead the Church. On February 28 of that same year, he officially resigned and moved temporarily to the papal summer residence, south of Rome, while cardinals from around the world gathered in Rome to elect his successor. Francis, the first pope from Latin America, was elected his successor on March 13, 2013.
Condolences from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the Death of Former Pope Benedict
Starting January 2, a public pilgrimage to the Vatican
Starting on January 2, the body of Pope Emeritus Benedict, who passed away this morning, will lie in state at the Vatican. According to the Italian public television network Rai, an official funeral will then be held, attended by political and religious leaders.
Biography
Pope Emeritus Benedict, Joseph Ratzinger, was born on April 27, 1927, in Passau, Germany. His father came from a family of farmers and was a member of the local police force, while his mother, before she married, had worked as a cook in various hotels.
Ratzinger spent his teenage years not far from the Austrian border, near Salzburg. As he himself recounted, he experienced firsthand the Nazis’ hostility toward the Catholic Church and was an eyewitness on the day his parish priest was beaten by the Nazis. During World War II, he enlisted in the reserve anti-aircraft forces and subsequently, from 1946 to 1951, he studied theology and philosophy in Munich. On June 29, 1951, he was ordained a priest and immediately began teaching theology in Bonn alongside renowned professors of the time. He participated as an expert in the Second Vatican Council from 1962 to 1965. In 1977, Pope Paul VI appointed him Archbishop of Munich, and that same year, he was made a cardinal by the same pontiff.
In 1981, Pope John Paul II appointed Joseph Ratzinger as head of the Vatican’s «ministry» of the Vatican responsible for the integrity of the faith, and as the Vatican itself has emphasized, «his overall work, as a collaborator of Pope John Paul II, was enduring and invaluable.» Shortly before his death, the Polish pontiff asked him to write the meditations for the Catholic Way of the Cross (Via Crucis) for Easter 2005 at the Colosseum.
On April 19, 2005, Benedict was elected pope by the College of Cardinals. His main focus was the need to achieve peace in all regions of the world. At the same time, he sought to curtail the bureaucratic power of several high-level Vatican departments headed by clergy and also emphasized interfaith dialogue, particularly with the Orthodox. Many analysts noted that Benedict sought to revive certain traditional elements, starting with his own vestments: for example, he once again wore a red cape and miter, the karmauro and tabaro, and red shoes.
‘As the Italian press reports, he was also the first pope to apologize to the victims of harassment and sexual abuse perpetrated by clergy. He also met with many of the victims of these reprehensible and traumatic acts. For example, with regard to Ireland, in 2006, the pope called for the resignation of Irish bishops who had not combated cases of pedophilia within the Catholic Church with sufficient determination. In 2011, however, some of the associations representing victims of abuse by clergy filed a complaint with the International Court of Justice in The Hague, accusing the German pope and other high-ranking Vatican officials of crimes against humanity and covering up sexual abuse. In 2012, the complaint and the charges were withdrawn by the associations’ own lawyers.
On February 28, 2013, Benedict officially resigned as pope, causing immense surprise among devout Catholics and others alike. The reason for his decision, as he himself emphasized, was his health problems, which had worsened. Following the election of Francis, Benedict was named «Pope Emeritus of the Roman Catholic Church.».
