LThe fog persisted over St. Peter’s Square on Thursday morning. After spring-like temperatures since the end of 2022, it had turned cool in the middle of the week. The many homeless people who enjoy a certain dominance around St. Peter’s Basilica and along the Via della Conciliazione had covered themselves with additional layers of cardboard for the night. The area around St. Peter’s Basilica was used by the security forces in preparation for the requiem for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. cordoned off over a wide area, parked cars had been towed away.
The first pilgrims and mourners had already arrived early in the morning. Among them was a group of young Nigerian priests and seminarians studying at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. They visibly shivered, but described themselves as “blessed” that God had sent them to the Eternal City at just these times. “It is a moment of sadness and prayer for the Church,” said Father Henry, a graduate student at the Gregoriana. “But it is also a moment of hope. An epoch ends and a new one begins. All for the glory of God on high.”
Exactly at 8.45 a.m. the coffin made of cypress wood was carried from St. Peter’s Basilica to the forecourt of the basilica and placed in front of the altar set up there. Applause erupted. As early as Wednesday evening, Benedict’s body, which had been laid out for three days in front of the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, was placed there in the simple wooden coffin.
“He fought fiercely against crime”
The text of the so-called Rogitum, which summarizes the main stages of the life and pontificate of a deceased pope, was read out at the open coffin. It says, as the Vatican announced on Thursday morning, a few hours before the start of the Requiem: “He fought vigorously against the crimes committed by representatives of the clergy against minors or vulnerable people and repeatedly called on the Church to conversion, to prayer, to repentance and purification.”
In addition, Benedict XVI. “In view of the ever-increasing spread of relativism and practical atheism” with the motu proprio “Ubicumque et semper” from 2010, he set up the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, to which he gave catechetical powers in January 2013. The document goes on to say that Benedict promoted dialogue with Anglicans, Jews and followers of other religions. “As a theologian of recognized authority, he left a rich legacy of study and research into the fundamental truths of the faith,” the document concludes.
The Rogitum summarizes the existence of Benedict as Pope Emeritus from February 2013 to the end of 2022 as follows: “He spent the last years of his life in the Vatican in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery and devoted himself to prayer and meditation.” Finally, the document is in Latin the dates of life and government, which read in German translation: “The body of Pontifex Maximus Benedikt XVI. lived 95 years, 8 months and 15 days. He presided over the universal Church for 7 years, 10 months and 9 days, from April 19, 2005 to February 28, 2013. May you live in Christ forever, Holy Father!”
“Benedict, you faithful friend of the bridegroom”
The joint prayer of the mourners gathered in St. Peter’s Square and Via della Cociliazione was followed, again promptly at 9.30 a.m., by the funeral mass led by Francis and celebrated by Cardinal Dean Giovanni Battista Re. As is usual at most public events in recent months, Francis was wheeled to the altar in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. Only toward the end of his homily did Francis go into direct detail about his immediate predecessor on the throne of Peter.
