By CWR Contributors on Jan 06, 2023 05:00 am
The introduction Jimmy Akin, Catholic Answers: The Jesus of Nazareth Series: Over the course of his pontificate, Benedict XVI did something extraordinary. He wrote three books. Popes write official documents all the time (or [...]
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By Sandra Miesel on Jan 06, 2023 05:00 am
We Three Kings of Orient are, Bearing gifts we traverse afar. . . . Who were these gift-bearing kings, these Wise Men of the East? What has their mission meant to Christians across the ages? [...]
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By Sean Fitzpatrick on Jan 06, 2023 04:30 am
As the first Christian pilgrimage, the Epiphany sounds the call to renew the pilgrim heart in all Catholics. And for many, that will mean preparing for the epiphanies—the apocalypses, the revelations—that can come suddenly to [...]
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By Carl E. Olson on Jan 05, 2023 07:26 pm
A couple of days ago, looking through and re-reading sections from some of the many (many!) books by Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, I took this photo and posted it on Twitter and Facebook: To my [...]
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By CWR Staff on Jan 05, 2023 05:03 pm
Hosted in partnership with National Review Institute, Catholic World Report, and Ethics and Public Policy Center: Mary Ann Glendon is the Learned Hand Professor of Law, emerita, at Harvard University, and a former U.S. [...]
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By Larry Chapp on Jan 05, 2023 01:00 pm
I am writing after attending the funeral for our beloved Pope Benedict XVI on this cool and cloudy January day. I found the Mass both dignified and reverent, although quite short as papal funerals go. [...]
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By Catholic News Agency on Jan 05, 2023 05:21 am
The coffin of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is carried into St. Peter's Square prior to his funeral Mass on Jan. 5, 2023. / Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Vatican City, Jan 5, 2023 / 03:21 am (CNA).
Tens of thousands of people were present in St. Peter’s Square for the funeral Thursday of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a leading theologian of the 20th century and the first pope to resign from office in nearly 600 years.
Royalty, cardinals, patriarchs, government officials, and many Catholic families and religious attended the funeral on a cold and foggy morning at the Vatican. More than 3,700 priests concelebrated the Mass.
Cardinals Joseph Zen, Daniel DiNardo, Timothy Dolan, Gianfranco Ravasi, and Giuseppe Betori, all cardinals created by Benedict, were seated in the front row. The Vatican said 125 cardinals concelebrated.
The ceremony began with the transport of the pope emeritus’ wooden coffin from the basilica to St. Peter’s Square.
Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Benedict’s personal secretary, approached the coffin, knelt before it, and kissed it. The crowd then prayed the sorrowful mysteries of the rosary in Latin for the repose of the soul of the late pope.
The funeral Mass was simple and solemn, in accord with Benedict XVI’s wishes. The Sistine Chapel Choir sang the “Salve Regina,” “In Paradisum,” and other hymns.
An image of the resurrection of Christ was hung from St. Peter’s Basilica behind the altar.
Pope Francis presided over the funeral for his predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
In his homily, he reflected on Jesus’ final words on the cross: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
“God’s faithful people, gathered here, now accompany and entrust to him the life of the one who was their pastor,” he said.
“Like the women at the tomb,” he said, “we too have come with the fragrance of gratitude and the balm of hope, in order to show him once more the love that is undying. We want to do this with the same wisdom, tenderness and devotion that he bestowed upon us over the years.”
Benedict XVI died on Dec. 31 at the age of 95. As confirmed by Archbishop Gänswein, his last words were “Signore, ti amo!” (“Lord, I love you”).
Nearly 200,000 people came to see Benedict XVI lying in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica in the days ahead of the funeral.
“Together, we want to say: ‘Father, into your hands we commend his spirit,’” Francis said in his homily. “Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever.”
The Vatican only invited two official state delegations — from Italy and Germany — to the funeral, but some heads of state and public figures decided to attend in an unofficial capacity.
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, and Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar came to the Vatican to attend the ceremony, along with European royals Queen Sofia of Spain and King Philip and Queen Mathilde of Belgium.
In the Prayers of the Faithful, the second prayer was said in German: “For Pope Emeritus Benedict, who has fallen asleep in the Lord: May the eternal Shepherd receive him into his kingdom of light and peace.”
The readings for the Mass were Isaiah 29:16–19 in Spanish; Psalm 23 sung in Latin; 1 Peter 1: 3–9 in English, and the Gospel of Luke 23:39–46 read in Italian.
At the end of the funeral Mass, Pope Francis presided over the Final Commendation and Valediction, which were followed by a moment of silent prayer.
Pope Francis approached with a cane and prayed while touching the wooden coffin of his predecessor.
Bells tolled and the crowd applauded as Benedict XVI’s coffin was carried into St. Peter’s Basilica to his place of burial in the basilica crypt. People waved flags and banners, including one that said “Santo Subito,” calling for Benedict’s immediate canonization.
Born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, he was elected to the papacy in April 2005, taking the name Benedict XVI, after decades of service to the Catholic Church as a theologian, prefect for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, cardinal, and one of the closest collaborators of St. John Paul II, whom he succeeded as pope.
Widely recognized as one of the Catholic Church’s top theologians, Benedict’s pontificate was marked by a profound understanding of the challenges to the Church in the face of growing ideological aggression, not least from an increasingly secular Western mindset, both within and outside the Church. He famously warned about the “dictatorship of relativism” in a homily just before the conclave in 2005 that elected him pope.
On Feb. 11, 2013, the 85-year-old Benedict shocked the world with a Latin-language announcement of his retirement, becoming the first pope in 600 years to do so. He cited his advanced age and his lack of strength as unsuitable to the exercise of his office.
Reflecting on life after death in an Angelus message on Nov. 2, 2008, Pope Benedict XVI said eternal life will be like “immersing yourself in the ocean of infinite love where time — a before and an after — no longer exists. Fullness of life and joy: This is what we hope for and expect from our being with Christ.”
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By Alessandra Nucci on Jan 04, 2023 06:49 pm
The official count, as of this writing, is 200,000 people having lined up – for hours – to pay their respects to Pope Benedict XVI, in just the first three days of his body laying [...]
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By Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, SVD on Jan 04, 2023 04:38 pm
My six years at the new University of Regensburg, sitting at the feet of Joseph Ratzinger in the 1970s, profoundly marked my life and thought. When I went there in 1971, I did so at [...]
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By Catholic News Agency on Jan 04, 2023 12:50 pm
Father Joseph Fessio with then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger during his 1999 visit to Ignatius Press / Dorothy Petersen and Eva Muntean
Denver, Colo., Jan 4, 2023 / 10:50 am (CNA).
As a young priest, Father Joseph Fessio, SJ, studied theology under... [...]
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By Catholic News Agency on Jan 04, 2023 09:30 am
President D.Trump participates in the first presidential campaign debate with Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, Sept. 29, 2020. / Alex Gakos/Shutterstock
Boston, Mass., Jan 3, 2023 / 16:30 pm (CNA).
Former president Donald Trump took t... [...]
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By CWR Staff on Jan 04, 2023 05:00 am
Revolutionary Changes – “Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI rarely got credit for having turned the Vatican around on clergy sexual abuse, but as cardinal and pope, he pushed through revolutionary changes to church law to make [...]
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By George Weigel on Jan 04, 2023 03:10 am
The Joseph Ratzinger I knew for 35 years — first as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, later as Pope Benedict XVI and then Pope Emeritus — was a brilliant, holy [...]
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By Jim Graves on Jan 03, 2023 06:00 pm
The Walk for Life West Coast, the nation’s second largest pro-life event, will present its 19th-annual rally and walk through the streets of downtown San Francisco on Saturday, January 21, 2023. The walk is held [...]
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By Catholic News Agency on Jan 03, 2023 11:07 am
Rosary beads entwined in the hands of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as his body lies in state on Jan. 3, 2023, in St. Peter's Basilica. / Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Rome Newsroom, Jan 3, 2023 / 09:07 am (CNA).
The Vatican has released the missal for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s funeral Mass.
Pope Francis will preside over the funeral of Benedict XVI on Thursday, Jan. 5, at 9:30 a.m. (Rome time) in St. Peter’s Square.
Here is a preview of the readings and prayers that will be offered at the funeral of Benedict XVI:
The collect prayer will be prayed in Latin:
Let us pray. O God, who in your wondrous providence chose your servant Benedict to preside over your Church, grant, we pray, that, having served as the Vicar of your Son on earth, he may be welcomed by him into eternal glory. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
The readings for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s funeral Mass will be:
In the Prayers of the Faithful, the second prayer will be said in German:
For Pope Emeritus Benedict, who has fallen asleep in the Lord: may the eternal Shepherd receive him into his kingdom of light and peace.
At the end of the Prayers of the Faithful, Pope Francis will pray:
God our Father, lover of life, hear the prayers we raise to you with faith in the Risen Lord for Pope Emeritus Benedict and for the needs of the Church and our world. Grant us a share in fellowship with you in the heavenly Jerusalem, where sorrow and tears will be no more. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Prayer over the Offerings:
Look with favor on the offerings of your Church as she calls on you, O Lord, and by the power of this sacrifice grant that, as you placed your servant Benedict as High Priest over your flock, so you may set him among the number of your chosen Priests in heaven. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer at the end of the Eucharistic Prayer III offered in Latin:
Remember your servant Pope Emeritus Benedict, whom you have called from this world to yourself. Grant that he who was united with your Son in a death like his, may also be one with him in his Resurrection, when from the earth he will raise up in the flesh those who have died, and transform our lowly body after the pattern of his own glorious body. To our departed brothers and sisters, too, and to all who were pleasing to you at their passing from this life, give kind admittance to your kingdom. There we hope to enjoy forever the fullness of your glory, when you will wipe away every tear from our eyes. For seeing you, our God, as you are, we shall be like you for all the ages and praise you without end, through Christ our Lord, through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.
The Prayer after Communion will be prayed in Latin:
Let us pray. As we receive sacred sustenance from your charity, O Lord, we pray that your
servant Benedict, who was a faithful steward of your mysteries on earth, may praise your mercy forever in the glory of the Saints. Through Christ our Lord.
After Communion there will be a Final Commendation and Farewell followed by a moment for silent prayer:
Dear brothers and sisters, in celebrating the sacred mysteries we have opened our minds and hearts to joy-filled hope; with confidence we now offer our final farewell to Pope Emeritus Benedict and commend him to God, our merciful and loving Father.
May the God of our fathers, through Jesus Christ, his only Son, in the Holy Spirit, Lord and Giver of Life, deliver Pope Emeritus Benedict from death, that he may sing God’s praises in the heavenly Jerusalem in expectation of the resurrection of his mortal body on the last day.
May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles and Salus Populi Romani, intercede before the Eternal Father, that he may reveal the face of Jesus his Son to Pope Emeritus Benedict and console the Church on her pilgrimage through history as she awaits the Lord’s return.
After Pope Francis incenses the mortal remains of Benedict XVI, the pope will pray in Latin:
Gracious Father, we commend to your mercy Pope Emeritus Benedict whom you made Successor of Peter and shepherd of the Church, a fearless preacher of your word and a faithful minister of the divine mysteries.
Welcome him, we pray, into your heavenly dwelling place, to enjoy eternal glory with all your chosen ones. We give you thanks, Lord, for all the blessings that in your goodness you bestowed upon him for the good of your people.
Grant us the comfort of faith and the strength of hope.
To you Father, source of life, through Christ, the conqueror of death, in the life-giving Spirit, be all honor and glory forever and ever.
The choir and the congregation will sing the following Antiphons:
May the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs come and welcome you and take you to the holy city, the new and eternal Jerusalem.
May choirs of angels welcome you and with Lazarus, who is poor no longer may you have eternal rest.
As Benedict XVI’s coffin is carried to his place of burial in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica, the choir will sing the Magnificat in Latin.
You can view the funeral live on EWTN here.
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By Brad Bursa, Ph.D. on Jan 02, 2023 10:24 pm
I stood in the dank darkness — a fairly typical mid-winter morning in Cincinnati — holding an umbrella over my newly lighted charcoal. The sun remained asleep and the strange noises of night lingered in [...]
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By Fr. D. Vincent Twomey, SVD on Jan 02, 2023 06:54 pm
Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI will be remembered above all for his literary and scholarly output. Many of his Collected Works (sixteen massive volumes in German) have been translated into several languages and are only now [...]
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By Roger Dubin on Jan 02, 2023 03:50 pm
Editor’s note: This essay was first posted at CWR on April 16, 2013. Groucho Marx once said, “I wouldn’t want to belong to any club that would have a guy like me as a member.” [...]
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By Catholic News Agency on Jan 02, 2023 01:00 pm
Pope Benedict XVI, May 11, 2010 / Mazur/www.thepapalvisit.org.uk
Washington D.C., Jan 2, 2023 / 11:00 am (CNA).
In the days after news spread that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was nearing the end of his life, a number of Catholic converts shared ... [...]
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By Carl E. Olson on Jan 01, 2023 10:52 pm
Two topics dominated the most read CWR pieces of 2021: vaccines and liturgy. This year’s list centers around the Vatican: the Vatican bank, the Vatican Publishing House, Pope Francis, the Synod, synodality, the German church, [...]
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By Catholic News Agency on Jan 01, 2023 03:00 pm
Benedict XVI holds his final general audience, Feb. 27, 2013. / Mazur/www.thepapalvisit.org.uk (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Denver, Colo., Jan 1, 2023 / 13:00 pm (CNA).
The death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI prompted his former students and other Catholi... [...]
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By Carl E. Olson on Jan 01, 2023 04:00 am
Note: Marking the death Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI on December 31st, CWR is reposting this interview, first posted on January 13, 2021. The veteran German journalist Peter Seewald first met Joseph Ratzinger nearly thirty years ago. [...]
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By Catholic News Agency on Dec 31, 2022 10:00 pm
null / Credit: Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Dec 31, 2022 / 13:28 pm (CNA).
The Vatican on Saturday evening published the Spiritual Testament of Benedict XVI, written on Aug. 29, 2006, one year and four months into his pontificate. Each pope wri... [...]
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By Carl E. Olson on Dec 31, 2022 06:43 pm
Readings: Nm 6:22-27 Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 Gal 4:4-7 Lk 2:16-21 “If anyone believes that holy Mary is not the mother of God (Theotokos), he has no share in the divine inheritance”, wrote the [...]
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By Christopher R. Altieri on Dec 31, 2022 03:03 pm
“We hear a great deal of talk about ‘servant leadership’ from all sorts of prelates and ecclesiastical grandees,” said Christopher Wells – an old Vatican hand and a dear friend of many years – in [...]
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