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Tributes to Benedict XVI pour in as funeral date is announced

Vatican announces the funeral of the pope emeritus for January 5 at St. Peter's Square and to be presided over by Pope Francis

La Croix International

The Vatican has announced the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to be held in St. Peter's Square on Thursday, January 5 and will be presided over by Pope Francis, as Church and world leaders begin paying tribute to the pope who led the Catholic Church from April 2005 until February 2013, becoming the first Pope in centuries to resign.

The Holy See Press Office announced that the pope emeritus died at 9:34 AM on Saturday morning in his residence at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery and that further information regarding the funeral will be provided as soon as possible. “As of Monday morning, 2 January 2023, the body of the Pope Emeritus will be in Saint Peter's Basilica so the faithful can bid farewell," it said. The funeral rites will take place with much simplicity, in accordance with the wishes of Benedict XVI, Holy See Press Office said.

“There is no doubt that Benedict XVI’s pontificate has been characterized by his magisterium more than by his governance. A faith always in dialogue with reason, a reasonable faith; a reason open to faith. Rightly, Pope Ratzinger was respected by those who live attentive to movements of thought and spirit and try to read events in their deeper and longer-term meaning, without limiting themselves to the surface of events and changes,” said Benedict XVI’s former spokesperson, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi. 

Australian Archbishop Timothy Costelloe said Benedict XVI will long be remembered fondly in Australia as the pope who led young people from around the globe in prayer at World Youth Day in Sydney in 2008. “From his time as an expert adviser – or peritus – at the Second Vatican Council onwards, there was no question that Joseph Ratzinger was a major figure within the Church around the world,” said the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference.

"One of the great theologians of the 20th century"

The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Cardinal Vincent Nichols, said Pope Benedict was "one of the great theologians of the 20th century". In a statement he said: "I remember with particular affection the remarkable papal visit to these lands in 2010. We saw his courtesy, his gentleness, the perceptiveness of his mind and the openness of his welcome to everybody that he met. He was through and through a gentleman, through and through a scholar, through and through a pastor, through and through a man of God - close to the Lord and always his humble servant."

Similarly, Justin Welby, the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury, described Benedict as “one of the greatest theologians of his age”. In his statement on the news of the retired pope’s death he said: “In Pope Benedict’s long life and ministry of service to Christ in His Church he saw many profound changes in the church and in the world...Pope Benedict was one of the greatest theologians of his age – committed to the faith of the Church and stalwart in its defence. In all things, not least in his writing and his preaching, he looked to Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God. It was abundantly clear that Christ was the root of his thought and the basis of his prayer.”

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also said he was saddened to learn of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, saying "He was a great theologian whose UK visit in 2010 was an historic moment for both Catholics and non-Catholics throughout our country. My thoughts are with Catholic people in the UK and around the world today."

French President Emmanuel Macron said: "My thoughts go out to Catholics in France and around the world, bereaved by the departure of His Holiness Benedict XVI, who worked with soul and intelligence for a more fraternal world."

Tributes also came in from other European leaders. Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni described Benedict as " a giant of faith and reason" who “put his life at the service of the universal Church and spoke, and will continue to speak, to the hearts and minds of men with the spiritual, cultural and intellectual depth of his magisterium."

Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, said for many, not only in Germany, Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger, at Marktl am Inn, Diocese of Passau (Germany), was "a formative figure of the Catholic Church, a controversial personality and a clever theologian". German flags on the roof of the Reichstag building were at half-mast soon after Benedict XVI's death was announced.

Irish President Michael D Higgins said Benedict XVI will be remembered for "his untiring efforts to find a common path in promoting peace and goodwill throughout the world".