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 emeritus on Jan. 5, 2023, in St. Peter’s Square / Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Vatican City, Jan 5, 2023 / 08:35 am (CNA).
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, one of the foremost theologians of the 20th century and the first pontiff in nearly 600 years to resign from the papacy, was laid to rest Thursday following a funeral Mass attended by tens of thousands of people.
Here are scenes from the funeral, held outside in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican on a cold, foggy morning in Rome:
On a foggy morning in Rome, pilgrims make their way to St. Peter’s Square on Jan. 5, 2023 for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Daniel Ibañez/CNA
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
Pallbearers carry the coffin of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI before his funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Jan. 5, 2023. Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Cardinals seated in St. Peter’s Square on Jan. 5, 2023 for the funeral Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Daniel Ibañez/CNA
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 emeritus on Jan. 5, 2023, in St. Peter’s Square. Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Cardinal Joseph Zen, former bishop of Hong Hong, attends the funeral Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Jan. 5, 2023, in St. Peter’s Square. Credit: Diane Montagna
Cardinal Joseph Zen, former bishop of Hong Hong (second from left), attends the funeral Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Jan. 5, 2023, in St. Peter’s Square. Alan Koppschall/EWTNPope Francis delivers the homily at the funeral Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Square on Jan. 5, 2023. Daniel Ibañez/CNA
The coffin of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is incensed during his funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Jan. 5, 2023, as Pope Francis looks on. Daniel Ibañez/CNA
Pilgrims from Bavaria pose at St. Peter’s Square where the funeral Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a native Bavarian, took place on Jan. 5, 2023. Courtney Mares/CNA
The funeral for Pope Benedict XVI on Jan. 5, 2023, at the Vatican. Vatican Media
Archbishop Georg Ganswein (left), longtime personal secretary of Pope Benedict XVI, kisses the coffin of friend and mentor at his funeral on Jan. 5, 2023, at the Vatican. Vatican Media
Cardinals attend the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI on Jan. 5, 2023. Vatican Media
The coffin of Pope Benedict XVI is carried at his funeral Mass on Jan. 5, 2023, at the Vatican. Vatican Media
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Pro-life supporters take part in a "Rally for Life" march and celebration outside the Texas State Capitol on January 27, 2024, in Austin, Texas. / Credit: Photo by SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images
Pope Francis meets with a delegation from the Lutheran World Federation on June 20, 2024, in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media
ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 20, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).
Pope Francis this morning received a dele… […]
Cardinal Seán O’Malley celebrates Mass in San Giovanni Rotondo for the feast of Padre Pio Sept. 23, 2022 / Screenshot of Youtube livestream from Padre Pio TV.
Rome Newsroom, Sep 23, 2022 / 04:20 am (CNA).
Padre Pio shows the world the power of bearing physical suffering with patience and love, Cardinal Seán O’Malley said at Mass for the Italian saint’s feast day on Friday.
O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston, celebrated Mass on Sept. 23 in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy, in the Church of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina.
“Padre Pio carried the burden of the stigmata for five decades, this and so many other physical sufferings were borne with love and patience. In a world where pain is seen as the greatest evil, Padre Pio shows us the power of the cross,” O’Malley said.
“He shows us that the greatest evil is not pain, but sin and selfishness,” the cardinal continued. “Pain can be a two-edged sword that turns us in on ourselves, leads to self-pity, anger or despair. When the cross is born with love and in union with Jesus it is life-giving and leads to resurrection.”
O’Malley, 78, has been a member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin since 1965. Padre Pio, one of the 20th century’s most beloved saints, was also a Capuchin friar.
Pio, born Francesco Forgione in 1887, made solemn vows with the Capuchins at the age of 19. His life was marked by illness and physical suffering, including receiving the visible stigmata — bleeding wounds corresponding to the five wounds Christ received at his crucifixion — in 1918.
A statue of Padre Pio in the Church of Saint Pio of Pietrelicina in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. Screenshot from Youtube livestream by Padre Pio TV.
His desire to create a hospital founded on the principle of caring for both the body and soul of the sick and suffering also led him to establish Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, or Home for the Relief of the Suffering, today a state-of-the-art private hospital and research center.
Padre Pio’s mission, Cardinal O’Malley said, “was a mission of mercy, to those who were sick physically or spiritually and, in that context, he announced the good news of the gospel.”
“The confessional and the Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza are just two of the ways Padre Pio manifested the loving mercy of God in the world convulsed by pain and suffering and sin,” he noted.
The cardinal quoted a line from the book “Padre Pio: The True Story.” The author, Bernard Ruffin, wrote that “Padre Pio made God real.”
“In a world of unbelief, the presence of holiness brings light and peace into a world of darkness and chaos,” O’Malley said in his homily. “The Saints next door, and the saints that God magnifies with his graces are a gift to increase in us a nostalgia for homeland yet unseen, for which we were created.”
Cardinal Seán O’Mally celebrates Mass for the feast of Padre Pio Sept. 23, 2022 in San Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. Screenshot from Youtube livestream by Padre Pio TV.
He recalled when Pope Francis said that the two paths to holiness are prayer and community.
“Padre Pio,” he said, “is an outstanding example of this in a society that has largely abandoned prayer and the Sabbath observance, but this holy man teaches us that prayer brings the power of the cross into our lives and allows us to enter into the mystery of the Eucharist.”
Many people no longer attend Mass on Sundays because they do not know how to pray, Cardinal O’Malley said: “Today we stand in this holy place to ask Padre Pio to pray for us and teach us how to pray, to love and to heal.”
“May he lend us that ladder that will allow us to climb the cross and lovingly pull out the nails from the hands of our brothers and sisters who are, as Mother Teresa used to say: ‘Christ in a distressing disguise.’”
“Today we stand before this great saint and say thank you for showing the world that God is real and that the only real success in life is holiness,” he said.
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