Pope Benedict has died. A sad ending to the year. Much more about him in the days to come. Prayers for his soul and may he now be enjoying the Beatific Vision.
Requiescat In Pace: Pope Benedict XVI
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 41 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
Rest in Gods Eternal Peace Pope Benedict. He did some of Gods best work, faithful to the teachings of Christ. That is the legacy I will remember him for. May he intercede for the Church and the Faithful.
Eternal memory, eternal memory; blessed repose and eternal memory
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(Byzantine prayer book)
Thank you, Ezabelle
I loved Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger when he officiated over The Confraternity for the Doctrine of the Faith. May he help us from heaven, I pray.
God hear us.
Agreed.
A new heavenly helper for the Church Militant.
Here comes more prayers for his soul as insurance.
Hail Mary…..
🙁 May his soul Rest In Peace.
I will never forget your encyclicals, even if I had to diagram some sentences just to get an understanding! 🙂
A scholar, a teacher and a faithful evangelist; Rest In Peace.
I always liked BXVI. Seemed like a very humble and holy man. Interestingly, he was born at Easter-time in 1927 and dies during Christmas time.
I was received into the Church exactly one week before JP II died, and thus for all practical purposes Benedict XVI was “my Pope” as I sought to expand my knowledge of the Church and Her teachings as a “baby Catholic.” (Let’s just say the RCIA at my then-home parish was, to riff on today’s lead post, more Jesuit than Dominican. I pretty much needed to start over after my initiation.) I still find it moving to watch video of his initial appearance on the loggia above St. Peter’s Square after his election. Praying for the repose of his soul. Perhaps someday we will learn the full story of his abdication.
His service to the Church as Cardinal Ratzinger was greater than that of Pope Benedict XVI, in my view.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died to show papa pachamama where he is headed. Will papa pachamama have an Ebenezer Scrooge conversion? Let us pray.
Benedict XVI’s retirement allowed him to avoid the bullies and tyrants bludgeoning the faithful. Benedict was able to speak Catholism from his retirement, but not from the Chair of Peter.
May Joseph A. Ratzinger enjoy the beauty of heaven.
I was blessed to attend outdoor Mass with 400,000 faithful at Randwick Racecourse in 2008 when Pope Benedict visited Sydney for WYD. He was 3 years into his role as Pope. Throughout his visit, you could see he struggled with large crowds and the personal interactions which St PJP2 was natural with. He was himself and wasn’t trying to be someone he wasn’t. He was an introvert. He must have struggled with that aspect of the role, however I believe despite of this he rose the the task- his way. I too, like Frank, would love to understand the true reason behind his resignation.
Rest in peace.
Even in death, he’s pulling people to the Church– I spent much of the morning talking with friends, most of whom aren’t Catholic, about how much fun he must be having because he so very clearly absolutely loved the Church, and the many saints who did so many neat things– and he finally is able to know.
A great man, but not in the way most great men are, and a good man, at a time and in an office that the world didn’t believe there could be goodness. Rest in peace.
Pope Benedict’s most significant accomplishment was Anglicorum Coetibus, letting Anglicans and Episcopalians into the Church with their own liturgy (suitably modified to be in accord with Dogma and Doctrine). I hope the Anglican Usage liturgy will be adopted in English speaking countries as the standard. See here for an example:
Anglican Use liturgy was being celebrated in the Catholic Church at least as far back as the pontificate of John Paul II. Pope Benedict XVI simply created an ordinariate where they would have their own bishop.
Greg M, I didn’t know that the Anglican Usage liturgy was celebrated prior to Anglicorum Coetibus. I’m familiar with Anglican Usage parishes in Pennsylvania (Scranton, Allentown) but didn’t know of any before that.
The creation of the personal ordinariates under Anglicorum Coetibus was a significant expansion of what JP2 had begun. It permitted entire parishes, priests and faithful together, to convert formally from Anglicanism to full communion with Rome, without being absorbed into existing diocesan structures, hence the establishment of Ordinariate bishops. Anglican Usage under JP2’s 1980 Pastoral Provision allowed the Anglican liturgy and allowed Anglican priests to be ordained as Catholic priests, but subject to existing Catholic dioceses, and individual faithful still had to convert on their own through diocesan procedures.
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