Benedict XVI's funeral to be held on January 5 in St. Peter's Square

Pope Francis will officiate the funeral for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died today at the age of 95, on January 5, at 9:30 a.m. (8:30 GMT), in St. Peter's Square, informed Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.
 
The Vatican informed today of the death of the German pontiff, who had resigned in 2013, with a brief statement: "With regret I announce that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has died at 9:34 a.m. (8: 34 GMT) in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery of the Vatican".
 
According to Bruni, Benedict XVI left as his last wish that his funeral be "as simple as possible. Solemn but sober.
 
He also explained that at the moment of his death Benedict XVI was with his faithful secretary, Monsignor George Ganswein, and with the four women of the "Memores Domini" movement who had cared for him during the almost 10 years he lived in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, in the Vatican gardens, as they took turns not to leave him alone for a moment.
 
Bruni also revealed that the Pope Emeritus received the sacrament of extreme unction last Wednesday, December 28, when his health condition was already serious.

 The funeral chapel of Benedict XVI will take place from Monday, January 2, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican and the body will remain for a final farewell of the faithful until January 4.
 
Concern for the health condition of the German pope and theologian arose on Wednesday, December 28, when his successor, Francis, acknowledged that he was "very ill" and asked for "a special prayer" from the faithful attending his general audience. 
 
Shortly afterwards, the spokesman of the Holy See, Matteo Bruni, confirmed that Benedict XVI's situation had "worsened because of his advanced age".
 
A day later, the Holy See assured that Benedict XVI had "managed to rest well during the night, was absolutely lucid and attentive" and remained "stable" despite the seriousness of his condition.
 
A situation that continued on December 30, when he presented a "stable" condition, although he was able to attend a Mass celebrated in his room. 
 
Benedict XVI had decided to spend these moments in his stay in the monastery where he resides since his historic resignation from the papacy, announced on February 11, 2013 and consummated on the 28th of that same month, the first time in six centuries, since the time of Gregory XII.

 

Benedict XVI, a prolific pope in writing
 
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died today at the age of 95, leaves as his legacy an immeasurable collection of writings, theological reflections and even publishing successes, such as those in which he delved into the historical figure of Jesus of Nazareth.
 
Among his books, the trilogy in which he approached the life of Christ as an essay stands out, distancing himself from the typical texts of the Petrine ministry: "Jesus of Nazareth" (2007), "Jesus of Nazareth: From the Entry into Jerusalem to the Resurrection" (2011) and "The Childhood of Jesus" (2012).
 
In these bestsellers, reprinted several times, he stressed that Christ was a reality and not a myth, a "real" man, flesh and blood, who died and rose again.
 
And he pointed out that God is not a mother, thus correcting Pope John Paul I, who in 1978 maintained that the Creator was "father and mother".
 
He also exonerated the Jews of being to blame for Jesus being condemned to death, as the Second Vatican Council, in which he participated as an expert, had already done, by maintaining that it was some Jews and not the people of Israel who asked the procurator Pilate for his execution.
 
The last book of the trilogy is a look at the infancy of Jesus, born at a time "perfectly datable and to a geographical place perfectly indicated" thanks to the precise testimony of St. Luke: in the 15th year of the empire of Tiberius Caesar.
 
His virgin birth "is not a myth, but a truth" and he was born in the poverty of a manger in which, despite iconographic tradition, there was no ox or donkey, since the Gospel "does not speak of animals", which caused a great stir at the time.
 
Ratzinger defended the passage of the Adoration of the Magi, whose origin he places in Tartessos, today's western Andalusia, not in the East, but stressed that, in any case, whether true or not, it does not affect any essential aspect of the faith.
 
These super sales were only part of the bibliography of a pope who wrote three encyclicals: "Deus caritas est" (2005); "Spe salvi" (2007), "Caritas in veritate" (2009) and left on track the first of Francis, "Lumen Fidei" (2013), the last three on hope, charity and faith, the theological virtues.
 
In one of his four exhortations, he emphasized one of the regions where Catholicism is growing the most, Africa, and among other issues, such as peace, he alluded to AIDS to demand a medical response to a problem that, he reiterated, is also ethical.
 
He has thirteen "motu proprio" and hundreds of speeches as pope, some of which are as well known as the one he delivered at the University of Regensburg, in which he referred to the words of the Byzantine emperor Manuel II, who called the legacy of Mohammed and the spread of the faith with the sword "evil and inhuman".
 
These words aroused strong criticism and tensions with the Islamic world, although Benedict XVI later clarified that it was not his personal position but a historical reference and acknowledged that he understood the indignation. 
 
The last book published surprised everyone and was written by four hands already when he was ill through letters sent to the atheist mathematician Piergiorgio Odifreddi and some of his friends in which he reflects on "Faith and Science", one of Benedict XVI's favorite topics.

 

The most remarkable phrases of Benedict XVI, as pope and as emeritus
 
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the first to resign from the pontificate in the modern history of the Catholic Church, spoke out on a number of important issues during his nearly eight-year papacy and later, as pope emeritus.
 
The following are some of his most important quotes:
 
The pope's phrases
 
01.05.2005.- "I hope that there will be no lack of work, especially for young people, and that working conditions will be ever more respectful of the dignity of the person," he said in his first prayer from the Apostolic Palace.
 
31.07.2005.- He expressed his satisfaction for the abandonment of the arms of the Northern Irish independence group IRA and urged to "take new steps" in the world to achieve "a just and lasting peace".
 
01.01.2006.- In his first mass of the New Year he said that in the face of "terrorism, nihilism and fanatical fundamentalism" it is necessary "a true impulse of courage and faith in God and in man to choose to walk the path of peace".
 
At the German University of Regensburg, he reproduced a dialogue between the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Paleologus with a Persian, to whom he said that in Muhammad only "bad and inhuman things were seen, such as his order to spread the faith using the sword". This quote, which the Pope clarified in later days, provoked protests in the Islamic world.
 
04.05.2007.- In his first pastoral visit to America he affirmed that "Latin America is the continent of hope".
 
19.07.2008.- He asked for forgiveness in Sydney (Australia) for the cases of pederasty and assured that "those responsible must be brought to justice".
 
12.02.2009: He described the Jewish genocide as a "crime against God and humanity" and affirmed that "the minimization of this terrible crime is intolerable and totally unacceptable".
 
In reference to AIDS, he said in Yaoundé (Cameroon) that it cannot be fought with money alone "nor with the distribution of condoms, which, on the contrary, increase the problem". According to Vatican analysts, it was the first time that a Pope publicly pronounced the word "condom".
 
The renewal of the Church must begin with those in charge and extend to the rest," he said at the Vatican, adding that any reform must be made "from within the Church and never against the Church.
 
11.06.2010.- At the closing of the Year for Priests and in reference to the victims of pederasty he said: "We also ask forgiveness insistently to God and to the people affected, while we promise that we want to do everything possible so that such abuse never happens again".
 
01.01.2012.- At the first Mass of the year in St. Peter's Basilica he said that after the tragedies of two world wars "educating young people in justice and peace" is a duty incumbent on every generation.
 
11.02.2013.- "After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that, due to advanced age, I no longer have the strength to adequately exercise the Petrine ministry," he said in Latin and surprised with his resignation, the first by a pope in the modern history of the Church.
 
The phrases of the pope emeritus
 
04.07.2015.- "My theological path would not even be imaginable" without "the great saint" John Paul II, he said in a message sent to the authorities of the Pontifical John Paul II University of Krakow and the Academy of Music of that city.
 
18.04.2017.- "My heart is full of gratitude for the ninety years that the good God has given me. There have been trials and difficult times, but He has always guided me and pushed me so that I could continue my journey," he said on his 90th birthday.
 
07.02.2018.- In a brief letter in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera he thanks the concern of the faithful for his state of health "in this last stretch of the road."
 
13.04.2019.- He breaks his silence in an 18-page document in which he reflects on the Church and sexual abuse. He speaks of a misunderstood interpretation of the Second Vatican Council, of the moral collapse of society and of some members of the Church, which have provoked the cases of child abuse and says: "The freedom of the pope emeritus is something that should concern all Catholics, regardless of their opinions."
 
04.05.2020.- In the final chapter of a book by journalist Peter Seewald, published in Germany, and in reference to homosexual marriage he says: "A hundred years ago it would have seemed absurd to everyone to talk about homosexual marriage. Today anyone who opposes it is socially excommunicated".
 
08.02.2022.- He publishes a long-awaited letter read to the media by his secretary, Georg Gänswein, in which he asks forgiveness for the abuses: "Once again I can only express to all victims of sexual abuse my deep shame, my great sorrow and my sincere request for forgiveness," he says in response to the report on the sexual abuse of minors in Germany, in which it was claimed that he was aware of four cases of pedophile priests when he was archbishop of Munich.
 
"I will soon face the ultimate judge of my life. Although looking back on my long life I may have many reasons for fear and trepidation, nevertheless, I am in a joyful frame of mind because I firmly trust that the Lord is not only the just judge, but also the friend and brother who has already suffered my shortcomings himself and is therefore, as judge, at the same time my advocate," the letter concludes.