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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TO THOSE IN CHARGE OF THE VATICAN: This is what happens when you open your borders and allow free-access to “migrants.” Pope Leo ought to just consider this miscreant a “migrant.”
Why drag migrants into this?
Simply because this person illegally trespassed upon sacred ground. Please note that the Vatican police FORCIBLY removed him from the premises. However, according to Leonine Doctrine, this intruder should have been welcomed as Christ and permitted to do whatever he wanted to do since he “migrated” to that area of the sanctuary. Why didnt Leo treat him as a guest like he counsels our government to do? Please, dear Br. Jaques, let us know what the Vatican authorities did with this individual. Did they throw him in jail? Will they prosecute him? Maybe just give him a cupful of leftover ice and send him on his way? He’s a migrant simply because he went where he was not supposed to be (that is, unless Leo tells us otherwise).
It would seem the far greater desecration made than these mindless crazies was the Jubilee Celebration parade into St Peter’s Basilica homosexuals flaunting their ‘life choices’ [Pope Leo’s terminology] insulting Catholic doctrine with an expletive, and receiving the Holy Eucharist.
Leo XIV had to be informed beforehand to permit Fr James Martin SJ to arrange this depravity spectacle. Since his elevation to the papacy Leo XIV has made it consistently clear where he stands. Who would have conceived this occurring during Benedict’s or John Paul’s pontificates? This is a time for reparation and strengthening of faith in Christ.
I was thinking the same thing, Fr. Morello. It seems as if something very evil is at work over there and this last episode is just one more outward or blatant instance of it. It makes one cry. Francis of Assisi, pray for the Church that once you rebuilt; Anthony of Padua, pray for the Church that you so well helped once.
Oscar, you allude to what may well be the marker for “something very evil is at work over there”. I’ve referred to it elsewhere as the cultic Pachamama idolatry ceremonies that occurred at the Vatican under Francis I. Since that time there’ve been a chain of controversial events, allegedly contrary to Apostolic tradition.
In remarks regarding these altar desecrations Bishop Athanasius Schneider believes they are not as serious as those Pachamama worship ceremonies, which were violations of the first commandment. Sins of idolatry are more egregious than what followed. My opinion is that the Pachamama idolatry was the source of what has followed.
It doesn’t appear that there was a exorcism ritual [the formal blessing of a house is an exorcism ritual] to correct that idolatry due to the involvement and respect given to Pope Francis.
Fr Peter you are right that from a point of view of dates – Pachamama Ceremony was October 4 2019 – all the evil flows from that date onwards. The subsequent dessecrations are all also post Traditionis Custodes 16.07.2021. So, two major dates.
The sanctification of daily TLM on the side altars of “the panting heart of Rome” – as the priests loudly beat their chests – was axed by application of Traditionis Custodes brutally ending those daily masses which were calling down graces to the heart of the Church’s tresury.
Dessecration is the consequence of the dessacrilisation of St Peter’s: the application of Traditionis Custodes by Churchmen. It is an unprecedented punishment. The message is clearly a call back to faith of the fathers, as the Church continues to persecute thriving faithful parishes for the crime of TLM.
Holy father, hear the cry from the formerly panting heart of Rome: Bergoglioism is not the Faith of our Fathers.
Just when you think humans can’t possibly do anything more disgusting, along comes a story like this.
I am hopeful this guy will do a VERY long stint in jail. And personally, I am tired of hearing “by reason of insanity” used as a way to get people exempted from the punishment they so richly deserve. Jail for a bunch of years, and then throw him into a mental hospital when the prison term expires.
The steward who was forgiven?
As all catholics know, forgiveness does not mean you are exempt from punishment for your sins when you are judged. Why should you be exempt in this world? Further, is there a point in offering forgiveness when there has been no sign of repentance?
I am a little more than tired of what I call the “tyranny of nice”. That is, the way in which too much of secular society views sin, violence and and immorality. Which means everything is all ok, no matter what heinous crime you commit. Because no one wants anyone to “feel bad” by speaking the truth about what someone has done. Apparently, thats worse than the crime itself in some circles. Sorry, but I think the fact that we do not hold people accountable for bad behavior is part of the reason civil society is on the brink of dissolving.
Mill stone around the neck?? Jesus advised forgiveness. He never said the sins didnt matter.
LJ, you get my nomination for Pope. You get it!
“This is what happens when you open your borders and allow free-access to “migrants.”
No, this is what happens when the Church fails to repent for abuse. It also happens when the Church herself allows/invites “the abomination of desolation” into her buildings and her heart, and becomes a whore instead of a bride. One needs only to refer to the Old Testament to see that.
In a sense, a man urinated on the altar of St Peter’s gave a physical expression of a rapidly escalating spiritual abuse which has been dealt to Our Lord and to His Bride, the Church, by the hands of her hierarchy. Recently we saw “f*ck the rules” and other phenomena (invited in by the Vatican) exactly in the same place; St Peter’s was desecrated already.
Attention not deserved. As much as possible, do not broadcast. Do the purification without broadcast.
Clergy, abandon the adolescent mentality fixation with media.
One could also argue that loving and accepting ALL of God’s children as Pope Leo is doing is in line with reparation and strengthening faith in Christ.
It was reported elsewhere that a penitential rite was performed. My question: Was a penitential rite done after Bergoglio desecrated the Basilica with the worship of the Pachamama demon within its sacred walls?
The man is clearly not well. What happened is awful, but if he’s mentally ill he’s not responsible for his actions. He should get help, we should pray for that man, the altar should be cleaned and re-consecrated and we should move on. We shouldn’t make more out of this than needed.
Unless these people are crazy enough to think a person is a tree, they know what they are doing. This “mentally ill” plea is just a convenient way for those on the left to excuse uncivil behavior. Its said that many of those who are jailed have some level of emotional problem. That doesnt make them innocent. That does nothing to negate the crime they have committed or help heal their victims. “Mentally ill” gets the criminal off the hook and free to commit violence again. I am doubtful you or anyone else would think its ok to “move on” if your spouse were killed by a DWI driver, or some other violent crime was committed against a loved one. People like this seldom commit one crime. As long as they are not incarcerated, the record shows they commit crimes over and over again. Often violent crimes. Much like the young Ukrainian woman who was stabbed to death on the train recently in an unprovoked attack. She could have been any one of us. Being a Christian does not require you to cheerfully be a victim.
Psychosis is a whole different thing from an emotional trouble.
I have no idea what the man in this situation suffers from but I agree that the seriously mentally ill need better care and that can include commitment in psychiatric facilities.
Years ago an unbalanced man tried to burn down our cathedral. It wasn’t his first attempt at destroying a church.
Psychiatric hospitals have a place.
💯 percent. I say this as a therapist. Mental illness is an overused excuse for criminal behavior. It’s a ploy used to excuse even the most heinous crimes and puts repeat offenders back on the streets. If the insanity plea is used the criminal should be committed to a mental institution indefinitely and held there until they no longer pose a threat to the public according to stringent standards.
As to the Gospel of Nice? It has not saved one single soul.