The renunciation of the German pontiff, in February 2013, had created a new status, that of Pope Emeritus. But Benoît XVI has not always managed to stay in the shadow of his Argentinian successor.
by Cécile Chambraud and Sarah Belouezane
Joseph Ratzinger, who was pope from 2005 to 2013 under the name of Benedict XVI, died on Saturday December 31, at the Vatican, at the age of 95. This is a press room of the Vatican press room who announced this news, for which the reigning pope had already prepared Catholics around the world. Wednesday morning, during the general hearing which is held every week in Place Saint-Pierre, François had asked the faithful together to have, for his predecessor, “a special prayer (…) to maintain his memory, because he is seriously ill “. The Vatican press service confirmed in the process “aggravation, due to its advanced age”, of the state of health of the first retired pope since the 14th e sup> century.
Since his renunciation, the one who had decided to be called “Pope Emeritus” continued to live in the Vatican, in the Monastery Mater Ecclesivel, located in the Vatican gardens. François went to his bedside at the end of the general hearing on Wednesday. This is where Benoîr XVI died at 9:34 am on Saturday morning. The day before, a mass had been celebrated at the Saint-Jean-de-Latran basilica, in Rome, in his honor.
an unprecedented configuration
This is the first time of recent times the highest representative of the Catholic Church was called upon to bring its predecessor to the ground. Until now, a pontiff has been buried before the election of his successor at the end of a conclave which brings together cardinals under the age of 80 from around the world, according to a highly codified ritual. But the surprise renunciation of Benoît, on February 11, 2013, had ipso facto open the way to this unprecedented configuration, in which a man in white cassock, distinctive sign of the Roman pontiff, is led to bury another man in white.
The Vatican announced, Saturday at noon, that François will chair the funeral of Benoît Thursday, January 5, at 9:30 a.m., place Saint-Pierre. Previously, from Monday morning, the faithful will be able to meditate in the basilica, where the remains of the deceased pope will be exposed from Monday morning.
If the resignation of the German Pope had stupid the Catholics, she was immediately integrated by François with the options now available to a Pope. He himself said on several occasions that he did not exclude using it if he felt that he no longer had the means to fully exercise his charge. In an interview published on December 18 by the Spanish daily ABC , the Argentinian pontiff revealed that he had even given his secretary of state, at the start of his pontificate , a letter of renunciation “in case of impediment for health reasons”.
You have 58.26% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.