Thursday, January 5, 2023 | 8:30 a.m.
To a peal of bells, thousands of faithful, political leaders and the pope himself bid their final farewell Thursday to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who made history by retiring from office, at a rare requiem mass for a dead pontiff presided over by for his replacement.
The crowd cheered as the bearers carried Benedict’s cypress coffin on their shoulders from the mist-shrouded St. Peter’s Basilica and placed it before the altar set up in the vast piazza outside. Francis, decked out in the crimson vestments of papal funerals, began the mass with a prayer and closed it an hour later with a solemn blessing of the simple coffin, decorated only with the emeritus pope’s coat of arms.
Heads of state and royalty, clergy from around the world and thousands of faithful flocked to the Vatican despite calls by the pope emeritus for a simple farewell and efforts by the Holy See to make the first funeral of a para emeritus in modern times was discreet.
Many came from former Cardinal Joshep Ratzinger’s native Bavaria and wore traditional costumes including woolen coats to protect them from the morning chill. “We have come to pay tribute to Benedict and we wanted to be here today to say goodbye,” said Raymond Mainar, who traveled from a small town east of Munich for the funeral. “He was a very good dad.”
The emeritus pope, who died on December 31 at the age of 95, is considered one of the great theologians of the 20th century and dedicated his life to defending the doctrine of the Church. But he will go down in history for a singular and revolutionary announcement that changed the future of the papacy: he became the first pope to retire in six centuries.
Ignoring calls for decorum at the end, some in the crowd held up banners or chanted “¡Santo Subito!” (“Holiness now!”), in a repeat of the spontaneous chants during the funeral of Saint John Paul II in 2005.
The emeritus pope, who died on December 31 at the age of 95, is considered one of the great theologians of the 20th century and dedicated his life to defending the doctrine of the Church. But he will go down in history for a singular and revolutionary announcement that changed the future of the papacy: he became the first pope to retire in six centuries.
Francis has praised his courage to step aside, noting that he “opened the door” for others to do the same. The Vatican said Thursday’s mass was attended by some 50,000 people, with around 200,000 passing through the basilica during the three days it hosted the funeral chapel.
Only Italy and Germany were invited to send official delegations, but other leaders accepted the Vatican’s offer and came in a “private capacity.” Among them were several other heads of state, at least four prime ministers and two delegations from royal houses. In addition, several Orthodox patriarchs joined the 125 cardinals seated at the altar, and the Russian Orthodox Church sent its head of foreign affairs.
Among the attendees was Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, who obtained special judicial permission to attend the event. Zen was detained in May under a Chinese national security law for alleged collaboration with foreign forces due to his involvement in a now-silenced pro-democracy movement. After his arrest, the authorities withdrew his passport.
Many of the late pope’s confidants were present at the mass and Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, his secretary for many years, leaned over and kissed a copy of the Gospels that lay open on the coffin before the funeral began.
Early Thursday, the Vatican released the official history of Benedict XVI’s life, a short document in Latin that was placed in a metal cylinder inside his coffin before being sealed, along with coins and medallions minted during his papacy and its canopy stoles.
The document pays extensive attention to his historic retirement and refers to Benedict as “pope emeritus,” quoting the Latin phrase he uttered in his February 11, 2013 announcement.
Francis made no specific mention of his predecessor’s legacy in his homily, uttering his name only once, in the last sentence, using instead a reflection on Jesus’ willingness to surrender to God’s will.
“We too, clinging to the Lord’s last words and the testimony that marked his life, want, as an ecclesial community, to follow in his footsteps and entrust our brother in the hands of the Father,” Francis said.
Benedict’s legacy was marred by the clergy sexual abuse scandal, even though he acknowledged earlier than most the “filth” of priests who raped children and laid the groundwork for the Vatican to punish them. .
After the mass, Benedict XVI’s cypress coffin will be placed inside a zinc coffin and a third outer oak coffin before being buried in the crypt below St. Peter’s Basilica, where the tomb once stood. of Saint John Paul II before being moved to the upper floor.
Although the funeral was unusual, it has precedent: In 1802, Pope Pius VII held a funeral in St. Peter’s for his predecessor, Pius VI, who had died in exile in France in 1799 as a prisoner of Napoleon.
