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Participants | Pope Francis, the College of Cardinals, various dignitaries worldwide |
On 31 December 2022, at 09:34 Central European Time (UTC+1), former Pope Benedict XVI died at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City at the age of 95. He had been pope emeritus since his resignation as the leader of the Catholic Church in 2013 due to declining health. His death ended a nine-year period during which an incumbent pope and a retired pope both lived within Vatican City.
Benedict's body lay in state in St. Peter's Basilica from 2 to 4 January 2023, during which around 195,000 mourners paid their respects. His funeral, presided over by Pope Francis, took place in St. Peter's Square on 5 January, and was attended by around 50,000 people.
Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was elected Pope Benedict XVI on 19 April 2005, succeeding John Paul II, who died on 2 April 2005. He stepped down as pope at 20:00 (CET) on 28 February 2013, in the first papal renunciation in almost 600 years since Pope Gregory XII in 1415, [1] and the first to voluntarily step down since Pope Celestine V in 1294. [2] [3] He cited his declining health as the reason for his resignation. [4]
In October 2017, a photograph on Facebook showed Benedict with a black eye. He had developed a hematoma after slipping at his residence. Speculation about his health had arisen in the preceding weeks. [5]
In June 2020, Benedict visited his ailing brother Georg Ratzinger in Bavaria, who died shortly after the visit on 1 July. [6]
On 3 August 2020, after speculation in the German press in the wake of a visit by the journalist Peter Seewald on 1 August, Benedict's aides disclosed that he was experiencing inflammation of the trigeminal nerve, but stated that his condition was not serious. [7] Maltese cardinal Mario Grech reported to Vatican News on 2 December 2020 that Benedict was enduring serious difficulties in speaking, reportedly stating to a group of cardinals that "the Lord has taken away my speech in order to let me appreciate silence". [8]
Benedict became the longest-lived pope on 4 September 2020, surpassing Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903 at the age of 93 years, 4 months and 3 days. [9]
In his weekly general audience on 28 December 2022, Pope Francis announced that Benedict was "very sick". Francis did not disclose the exact nature of his ailment, but called for people to pray for Benedict. [10] Later that day, Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, attributed Benedict's illness to old age and reported that he was under medical supervision at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City, where he had lived since his resignation as pope. [11] Francis visited Benedict after the audience, [12] and Benedict received the Anointing of the Sick. [13]
On 29 December, Bruni reported that Benedict's situation remained grave, but he was "absolutely lucid and alert". [14] The next day, Benedict participated in the celebration of mass in his room; his condition was stable. [15] The same day, a special mass was celebrated for Benedict at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. [16]
Benedict died at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery on 31 December 2022 at 9:34 a.m. Central European Time (UTC+01), at the age of 95. [17] Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Benedict's personal secretary and confidant, said that his last words, heard by a nurse, were "Signore ti amo" ( Italian for 'Lord, I love you'). [18] [19] On the same day, the Holy See released his spiritual testament, dated 29 August 2006. [20]
On the same day, Pope Francis gave his first words about Benedict since his death, praising him. [21]
At the time of Benedict's death, the Holy See had procedures governing the rituals surrounding papal deaths and funerals, but which were designed specifically for the deaths of incumbent popes. [22]
On 1 January 2023, Benedict's body was laid in the chapel at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, where it was viewed by people closest to him. He was clothed in red vestments, the traditional liturgical colour for papal funerals. [23] Since Benedict was no longer pope, he did not wear the pallium or hold the ferula, symbols of the papal office. [24] In the morning of 2 January, Benedict's body was moved to St. Peter's Basilica, where he lay in state for three days until his funeral. [25] The Holy See stated that approximately 195,000 people paid their respects during the lying in state. [26] On the evening of 4 January, Benedict's face was covered with a white veil. His pallium, coins and medals minted during his reign, and a rogito ( Italian for 'deed'; a text summarizing his life and pontificate) were placed in his coffin before it was closed. [27]
The booklet for Benedict's funeral Mass was released on 3 January. [28] Matteo Bruni, the director of the Holy See Press Office, said the mass had been adapted from the usual papal burial service, omitting portions applicable to the death of a current pope, and adding other parts. [29] In a departure from previous papal funeral Masses, Eucharistic Prayer III was planned to be used instead of the Roman Canon. [30]
The funeral ceremony took place in St. Peter's Square on 5 January, and began at around 09:30. [31] Pope Francis, Benedict's successor, presided over the service, which was conducted primarily in Latin with prayers and readings also in Italian, Spanish, English, French, Portuguese and Arabic. [32] The Sistine Chapel Choir sang at the service, and Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, celebrated the Eucharist at the altar set up in the Square. [33] The funeral was attended by an estimated 50,000 people. [34] Requests for the rapid canonization of the pontiff – as "santo subito" – were made by the participants. [35] In accordance with Benedict's wishes, his funeral was shorter and simpler than a usual papal funeral. [36]
Francis delivered a short homily during the Mass that focused on the reading from the Gospel, mentioning Benedict briefly such as to praise his "wisdom, tenderness and devotion that he bestowed upon us over the years". Commentators contrasted it to the more effusive homily that Benedict (then Cardinal Ratzinger) gave at Pope John Paul II's funeral. [37] [36]
Before this funeral, the first time a pope had assisted at the funeral of his predecessor occurred in 1802, when a solemn ceremony was celebrated in the presence of Pius VII when the remains of Pius VI, who died in French custody in 1799, were brought to Rome. [37] [38]
Immediately after the funeral, Benedict was interred in a private ceremony in the crypt underneath St. Peter's Basilica, in the same tomb that had previously been occupied by Pope John Paul II's body from his death in 2005 until his beatification in 2011. [39] [37] In accordance with tradition, Benedict's cypress coffin was placed inside a zinc one, which was in turn enclosed in an oak outer coffin. [27] The tomb was opened to public visits on 8 January 2023. [40]
In keeping with Benedict's request for a simple funeral, only the governments of Italy and his native Germany were invited to send official delegations, [41] although representatives from other countries and organisations were able to participate "in a private capacity". [42] Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of Portugal, criticised the decision, saying: "The president of the Republic does not go to these things in a personal capacity, he goes representing the Portuguese State." [43]
On 31 January 2023, to commemorate the death of Benedict XVI, Vatican City released a stamp. [91]
Pope Benedict XVI was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as pope occurred in the 2005 papal conclave that followed the death of Pope John Paul II. Benedict chose to be known as "Pope emeritus" upon his resignation, and he retained this title until his death in 2022.
Papabile is an unofficial Italian term first coined by Vaticanologists and now used internationally in many languages to describe a Catholic man, in practice always a cardinal, who is thought a likely or possible candidate to be elected pope.
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Giovanni Battista Re is an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church whose service has been primarily in the Roman Curia. He was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 2001. He was prefect of the Congregation for Bishops from 2000 to 2010. As the senior cardinal-bishop in attendance, he chaired the March 2013 papal conclave to elect Pope Benedict XVI's successor. Pope Francis approved his election as Dean of the College of Cardinals on 18 January 2020.
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Georg Gänswein is a German prelate of the Catholic Church who was named Apostolic Nuncio to Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia on 24 June 2024. He served as Prefect of the Papal Household from 2012 to 2023 and was the Personal Secretary of Pope Benedict XVI. He was a Professor of Canon Law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross for about a decade and has been an archbishop since 2012. He is also an Honorary Canon of Freiburg Cathedral.
Carlo Maria Martini was an Italian Jesuit, cardinal of the Catholic Church and a Biblical scholar. He was Archbishop of Milan from 1980 to 2004 and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1983. A towering intellectual figure of the Roman Catholic Church, Martini was the liberal contender for the Papacy in the 2005 conclave, following the death of Pope John Paul II. According to highly placed Vatican sources, Martini received more votes in the first round than Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the conservative candidate: 40 to 38. Ratzinger ended up with more votes in subsequent rounds and was elected Pope Benedict XVI.
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Events in the year 2023 in Vatican City.