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Legacy beyond religion: Pope Benedict XVI, a teacher pope with sense of humility and service on charity, hope, love and...
*update* 21 Aug, 2014 Before any international trip Pope Francis visits Benedict XVI, a key Vatican archbishop revealed, noting the good relations between the two and how Pope Francis is carrying forward Benedict's vision.
Pope Francis: "He [Benedict XVI] opened a door that is institutional, not exceptional." "Let us think about what he said, I have got old, I do not have the strength. It was a beautiful gesture of nobility, of humility and courage." "He is a man of wisdom, of nuance that is good for me to hear him. And he encourages me sufficiently too."
*update* 06 June 2013 Pope Benedict XVI is on Facebook
*update* 23 March 2013 - Together Pope and Pope Emeritus make history with most powerful message: Beauty of Humility and Harmoney goes beyond religion Historic moment: 'We're brothers': Pope meets ex-pope: they kneel, side-by-side, pray together before lunch Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus BenedictThe two men dressed in white embraced warmly on the helipad in the gardens of Castel Gandolfo [photo by Osservatore Romano
] And in a series of gestures that ensued, Benedict made clear that he considered Francis to be pope while Francis made clear he considered his predecessor to be very much a revered brother and equal.
On 19 April 2005, Benedict XVI was elected in a papal conclave, celebrated his Papal Inauguration Mass on 24 April 2005, and took possession of his cathedral, the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, on 7 May 2005. A native of Bavaria, Benedict XVI (Latin: Benedictus XVI; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger; 16 April 1927) is the 265th pope, a position in which he serves dual roles as the leader of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of the Vatican City State. He has both German and Vatican citizenship.
In 1951, ordained as a priest, Ratzinger established himself as a highly regarded university theologian by the late 1950s and was appointed a full professor in 1958.
1976–1977: After a long career as an academic, serving as a professor of theology at several German universities—the last being the University of Regensburg, where he served as Vice President of the university 1976–1977.
In 1977, he was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising and cardinal by Pope Paul VI, an unusual promotion for someone with little pastoral experience.
In 1981, he settled in Rome when he became Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, one of the most important dicasteries of the Roman Curia.
From 2002 until his election as Pope, he was also Dean of the College of Cardinals, and as such the primus inter pares among the cardinals. Prior to becoming Pope, he was "a major figure on the Vatican stage for a quarter of a century" as "one of the most respected, influential and controversial members of the College of Cardinals"; he had an influence "second to none when it came to setting church priorities and directions" as one of Pope John Paul II's closest confidants.
Pope Benedict has also revived a number of traditions including elevating the Tridentine Mass to a more prominent position. He has renewed the relationship between the Catholic Church and art, viewing the use of beauty as a path to the sacred, promoted the use of Latin, and reintroduced traditional papal garments, for which reason he has been called "the pope of aesthetics".
On 11 February 2013, Pope Benedict announced his pending resignation,
On 27 February 2013, Pope Benedict XVI Delivers Farewell Address
Effective 28 February 2013, because of "lack of strength of mind and body", he will become the first pope to resign since Pope Gregory XII in 1415, and the first to do so voluntarily since Pope Celestine V in 1294. Pope Benedict XVI is expected to move into the newly renovated Mater Ecclesiae monastery for his retirement.
Pope Benedict XVI will be known as "pope emeritus" when he retires. A Vatican official says he will take on the new name but will still be referred to as 'His Holiness'. 'Emeritus' is a title used for people who have retired from an important job. They also said he will still be known as Benedict XVI, instead of his birth name which is Joseph Ratzinger.
He will also have to dress differently, and hand back the 'fisherman's ring'.
This is a gold ring that is made specially for each pope and they wear it on the third right finger. The papal gold ring, known as the fisherman's ring will be destroyed.
Officials say he will still wear white, but without any special trimmings. He will also have to wear different shoes. He normally wears specially made red loafers, but when he retires he will wear a pair of brown shoes he received as a gift during a visit to Mexico last year.
The pope will move to another residence inside the Vatican City known as Mater Ecclesiae. He says he will spend his time praying for the Church, and he has a collection of 20,000 books, so he may spend his time reading. The pope also enjoys playing the piano and watching old black-and-white comedies - and he loves cats, there is at least one cat that lives at Mater Ecclesiae.
Feb. 28, 2013 - Pope Benedict XVI will meet cardinals from around the world on Thursday in his final hours as leader of 1.2 billion Catholics before he becomes the first pontiff to resign since the Middle Ages. The 85-year-old pontiff stunned the globe when he announced his momentous decision in a surprise speech in Latin on February 11, saying he no longer had the "strength of mind and body" to carry on in a fast-changing modern world. "I took this step in full awareness of its gravity and novelty but with profound serenity of spirit," the pope told a cheering crowd of 150,000 pilgrims in St Peter's Square in his final public farewell on Wednesday.
The theologian pope -- a shy academic who seemed out of touch with scandals that plagued the Church in recent years -- said his eight-year pontificate had seen "sunny days" and "stormy waters" but added: "I never felt alone".
The Vatican has said that the moment the pope's powers officially expire at 1900 GMT, the ex-pontiff will officially be known by the new title of "Roman Pontiff Emeritus" although he will still be addressed as "Your Holiness".
The run-up to the exact moment that will go down in history as only the second voluntary resignation of a Roman pontiff in the Church's 2,000 years has been filled with emotion but perhaps surprisingly low-key for the Vatican. There will be a small parting ceremony with some of his staff in a Vatican courtyard at 1550 GMT and a few minutes late the pope will board a white helicopter emblazoned with the papal insignia from the Vatican grounds.
The soon-to-be former pope will see the Vatican City -- the world's smallest state -- from the sky one last time as its sovereign ruler and fly to the 17th-century papal residence of Castel Gandolfo on a rocky outcrop near Rome.
There the pope will begin a quiet life of prayer and academic research. Within a couple of months, the pope is expected to return to the Vatican and take up residence in an ex-nunnery with breathtaking views of Rome surrounded by extensive well-manicured gardens where he could bump into his successor.
Benedict has said he will live "hidden from the world" but the Vatican has said he is ready to help and could provide "spiritual guidance" to the next pope although he could not intervene directly or contradict him in public.
"I am not abandoning the cross," Benedict said on Wednesday -- a response to Stanislaw Dziwisz, secretary to his popular predecessor John Paul II who said his mentor's agonizing final years showed "you don't come down from the cross".
At a meeting with hundreds of tearful priests of Rome -- the pope's diocese -- Benedict spoke off-script about his experiences as a young reformer during the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s which changed the face of Catholicism.
"I will always be with you," he said, as they chanted "Long live the pope!"
Benedict's legacy: A teacher pope who sought to bring church back to conservative roots
VATICAN CITY – On Monday, April 4, 2005 a humble priest walked up to the Renaissance palazzo housing the Vatican's doctrine department and asked the doorman to call to the official in charge: It was the first day of business after Pope John Paul II had died, and the cleric wanted to get back to work. The office's No. 2, Archbishop Angelo Amato, answered the phone and was stunned: this was no ordinary priest asking permission to go upstairs. It was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, his boss, who under the Vatican's arcane rules had technically lost his job when John Paul died.
"It tells me of the great humility of the man, the great sense of duty, but also the great awareness that we are here to do a job," said Bishop Charles Scicluna, who worked with Ratzinger, before he became Pope Benedict XVI, inside the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In resigning, Scicluna said, Benedict is showing the same sense of humility and duty and service that he showed on that day after the Catholic Church lost its last pope. "He has done his job."
When Benedict flies off into his retirement by helicopter on Thursday, he will leave behind a church in crisis — one beset by sex scandal, internal divisions and dwindling numbers. But the pope can count on a solid legacy: While his most significant act was to resign, Benedict — in his quiet and humble way — also set the church back on a conservative, tradition-minded path.
He insisted that the 1962-65 meetings that brought the church into the modern world were not the radical break from the past as some liberals painted it but rather a continuation of the best traditions of the 2,000-year-old church.
Benedict was the teacher pope, a theology professor who turned his Wednesday general audiences into weekly master classes about the Catholic faith and the history, saints and sinners that contributed to it.
In his teachings he sought to boil Christianity down to its essential core. He didn't produce volumes of encyclicals like his predecessor, just three: on charity, hope and love. (He penned a fourth, on faith, but retired before finishing it.)
Considered by many to be the greatest living theologian today, he authored more than 65 books. Benedict spent the bulk of his early career in the classroom, as a student and then professor of dogmatic and fundamental theology at universities in Bonn, Muenster, Tuebingen and Regensburg, Germany. "His classrooms were crowded," recalled the Rev. Joseph Fessio, a theology student of Ratzinger's at the University of Regensburg from 1972-74 and now the English-language publisher of his books.
"If you hear him give a sermon, he's speaking not from notes, but you can write it down and print it," Fessio said. "Every comma is there. Every pause." "I don't recall him having notes, but he would stand at the front of the class, and he wasn't looking at you, not with eye contact, but he was looking over you, almost meditating."
It's a style that he's kept for 40 years.
Benedict never wanted to be pope and he didn't take easily to the rigors of the job. Elected April 19, 2005 after one of the shortest conclaves in history, Benedict was at 78 the oldest pope elected in 275 years and the first German one in nearly a millennium.
At first he was stiff.
Giovanni Maria Vian, the editor of the pope's newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, recalled that in the early days Benedict used to greet crowds with an awkward victory gesture "as if he were an athlete." "At some point someone told him that wasn't a very papal gesture," Vian said. Benedict changed course, opting instead for an open-armed embrace or an almost effeminate twinkling of his fingers on an outstretched hand as a way of connecting with the crowd.
Crowds accustomed to a quarter-century of superstar John Paul II, grew to embrace the soft-spoken, scholarly Benedict who had an uncanny knack of being able to absorb different points of view and pull them together in a perfect, coherent whole. He traveled, though less extensively than John Paul and presided over Masses that were heavy on Latin, Gregorian chant and the silk brocaded vestments of his pre-Vatican II predecessors. Benedict seemed genuinely surprised sometimes by the popular reception he would receive — and similarly surprised when things went wrong, as they did when he removed the excommunication of a bishop who turned out to be a Holocaust-denier.
And as the pope himself told 150,000 people Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2013 in his final speech as pope: "To love the church is to have the courage to make difficult, painful choices, always keeping in mind the good of the church, not oneself."
Pope Benedict XVI's resignation on Thursday - the first by a Pope for more than 600 years - is forcing the Vatican to consider some unusual questions. Here are 10 answers.
1. He will continue to be addressed as "Your Holiness" Benedict XVI.
2. New home Benedict XVI will leave the Vatican by helicopter before he resigns at 20:00 (19:00 GMT) on Feb. 28, 2013, Thursday, but he will return in about three months to a new residence - a former convent known as Mater Ecclesiae - in the south-west corner of Vatican City. Reports suggest Vatican gardeners will continue to cultivate a 500 sq m organic fruit and vegetable garden there - the Pope is said to enjoy marmalade made from its oranges. Meanwhile - as Mater Ecclesiae is refurbished - he will stay in the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome.
3. His clothing The Pope emeritus will continue to wear papal white - rather than the black of an ordinary priest, or the red of a cardinal. However it will be a simple cassock, with none of the flamboyant hats and vestments he revived during his papacy (prompting the Wall Street Journal to ask "Does the Pope Wear Prada?") He will be giving up his trademark red shoes, wearing instead brown shoes handmade for him by Mexican craftsmen during a visit to the country last year.
4. His ring The papal gold ring, known as the fisherman's ring, will be smashed with a specially designed silver hammer when the Pope leaves office. No change here from normal practice. "Objects strictly tied to the ministry of St Peter must be destroyed," the Vatican says. His personal seal will also be defaced.
......
On Monday Feb. 11, 2013 Benedict XVI announced he would resign Feb. 28, 2013 Thursday – "...After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths, due to an advanced age, are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry…"
Full Text Of Pope's Final General Audience Speech (Vatican Radio’s English translation of the Pope’s remarks) - Pope Benedict XVI held the final General Audience of his pontificate on Feb. 27 in St Peter’s Square.**
Pope Benedict XVI's resignation on Thursday - the first by a Pope for more than 600 years - is forcing the Vatican to consider some unusual questions. Here are 10 answers.
*update*
Pope Saint Celestine V (1215 – 19 May 1296) in 13th century voluntarily resigned the 13th of December 1294. He was elected pope in July of 1294 in the Catholic Church's last non-conclave papal election ending a two-year impasse. Within weeks of issuing the decree, Celestine resigned, stating his desire to return to his humble, pre-papal life. Realizing his lack of authority, he consulted with Cardinal Benedetto Caetani (his eventual successor) about the possibility of resignation.[5] This resulted in one final decree declaring the right of resignation, which he promptly exercised after five months and eight days in office. In the formal instrument of renunciation, he recited as the causes moving him to the step: "The desire for humility, for a purer life, for a stainless conscience, the deficiencies of his own physical strength, his ignorance, the perverseness of the people, his longing for the tranquility of his former life".[6] Having divested himself of every outward symbol of papal dignity, he retired to his old solitude.
Pope Benedict Visits Celestine's Coffin (who died on May 19, 1296 and his remains are in a glass coffin in a basilica in the town of L’Aquila) More than 700 years later, in April 2009, Pope Benedict visited L’Aquila, which was hit by a devastating earthquake. George Ferzoco says during his visit, the pontiff went to Celestine’s coffin, which was not damaged by the earthquake.
“After praying for some time at the coffin that contains Celestine’s body, Benedict did something that was incredibly symbolic and gave a sign as to what may well have been on his mind,” said Ferzoco. “He removed from around his neck a kind of scarf called the pallium. And the pallium is one of the great indicators or symbols of the power of the pope. And what he did was, on removing this pallium, he placed it on the casket containing Celestine’s body - and left it there.”
Ferzoco said many papal scholars missed the unmistakable signs. “It’s pretty obvious, when you see this and note that he visited Celestine’s remains twice in the space of a year or so. If he had not already been thinking about resigning, this certainly would have got him started. And perhaps it’s not a coincidence that he resigned at about the same age as Celestine.”
Many faithful have welcomed Benedict’s gesture as a sign of humility and humanity He surprised many on Feb. 11 when he announced that, feeling his age and diminishing strength, he would retire, a dramatic step that sent the Vatican hierarchy spinning. He reassured the faithful on Sunday that he was not “abandoning” the church, but would continue to serve, even in retirement. In an emotional and unusually personal message on Wednesday, his final public audience in St. Peter’s Square, Benedict said that he sometimes felt that “the waters were agitated and the winds were blowing against” the church.
On Monday, Benedict met with three cardinals he had asked to conduct an investigation into a Vatican scandal in which hundreds of confidential documents were leaked to the press and published in a tell-all book last May, the worst security breach in the church’s modern history. The three cardinals compiled a hefty dossier on the scandal, which Benedict has entrusted only to his successor, not to the cardinals entering the conclave, the Vatican spokesman said earlier this week.
On Thursday, Panorama, a weekly magazine, reported that the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, had been conducting his own investigation into the leaks scandal, including requesting wiretaps on the phones of some members of the Vatican hierarchy. That would be taking a page from the playbook of magistrates in Italy, where wiretaps are extensive.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said on Thursday that in the context of an investigation into the leaks, magistrates of the Vatican, not the secretary of state, “might have authorized some wiretaps or some checks,” but nothing on a significant scale. The idea of “an investigation that creates an atmosphere of fear of mistrust that will now affect the conclave has no foundation in reality.”
A shy theologian who appeared to have little interest in the internal politics of the Vatican, Benedict has said that he is retiring “freely, and for the good of the church,” entrusting it to a successor who has more strength than he does. But shadows linger. The next pope will inherit a hierarchy buffeted by crises of governance as well as power struggles over the Vatican Bank, which has struggled to conform to international transparency norms.
Many faithful have welcomed Benedict’s gesture as a sign of humility and humanity, a rational decision taken by a man who no longer feels up to the job.
Benedict will now hold the title of “Pope Emeritus.” For the next several months he will reside in Castel Gandolfo, the popes’ summer residence. He will then move inside the Vatican, to a convent that is being refurbished.
Benedict is only the 2nd pope to resign in the Church's 2,000-year history, and in his final hours as pope on Thursday he took the unprecedented step of pledging allegiance to his successor."Among you there is also the future pope to whom I promise my unconditional obedience and reverence," the pope said earlier on Thursday in final remarks to cardinals in an ornate Vatican hall.
Benedict XVI, "I will simply be a pilgrim on the last stop of my pilgrimage on this earth."CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy—For the first time in the past six centuries of Roman Catholicism, a pope appeared at his balcony—high above the throng—not to greet the faithful, but to bid them farewell.
Just before 5 p.m., Benedict XVI was televised exiting his apartments, accompanied by Archbishop Georg Gänswein, his longtime personal secretary, and passing into a courtyard packed with Vatican staff. One by one, tearful priests bowed before the pope, kissing his hand. Benedict XVI's driver wept as he said goodbye before helping the pontiff into the black sedan that ferried him to the helipad.
The pope departed Vatican City in dramatic fashion, whisked by a white helicopter over the sun-kissed dome of St. Peter's basilica. At the striking of 8 p.m., the official hour of the papacy's end, Church officials sealed the papal apartments and elevator. The papal ring, which bears the image of St. Peter as a fisherman and the seal of his authority, was broken. Bells tolled.
Pope Benedict XVI recalled moments of 'joy and light' during his papacy, but also times of difficulty. Addressing cardinals for the last time early in the day on Thursday, the soon-to-be emeritus pope tackled the potential conflict straight on: He promised to "obey" the new pope. But in the same speech, he also urged the cardinals to act harmoniously, "like an orchestra" in guiding the Church. Now, attention shifts to the cardinals who will forge Catholicism's future through one of its oldest traditions: a secret conclave to elect a new leader.
"You know this day is different than my previous days," a smiling Benedict XVI told a crowd gathered before the facade of the papal summer residence in the medieval town of Castel Gandolfo. "I will simply be a pilgrim on the last stop of my pilgrimage on this earth."
*update* March 01, 2013
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, has begun his life of retirement After bidding a final emotional farewell on Thursday, the Pope had dinner and then watched television news broadcasts about his departure. "He really appreciated the coverage," spokesman Federico Lombardi said on Friday, adding: "A Pope can also appreciate good media work in his heart". The Vatican spokesman also revealed that Benedict - an accomplished pianist - has been playing the piano more frequently in the run-up to the resignation although the piano remained silent on the night of his departure.
*update* March 05, 2013
the Vatican became one of the first carbon-neutral states in the world as the Holy See installed solar panels on various buildings within the small territory it holds on the bank of the Tiber.
Benedict has been something of an innovator, developing Catholic moral theology to embrace a clear concern for the environment. In 2010, in an interview with Peter Seewald, Benedict said that as pope, he recognized "an inner obligation to struggle for the preservation of the environment and to oppose the destruction of creation." He applied traditional moral ideas about stewardship to contemporary environmental concerns, and has called for drastic international action to avert further damage to the climate. Additionally, and always keen to the power of symbols, the Vatican became one of the first carbon-neutral states in the world as the Holy See installed solar panels on various buildings within the small territory it holds on the bank of the Tiber.
For him, deviation from the truth as he understood it could not be seen as progress at all... Here is, perhaps, the most challenging and unique contribution Benedict made to the world of politics, not only to Catholic theology, but to the broader cultural dialogue in the West. He never stopped asking what could bolster freedom if it were ever unhinged from the truth. In his major speeches at Westminster Hall in London and at the German Parliament, the Bundestag in Berlin, the pope posed the question to Western democracies whether a formal ethics of rights was sufficient to guarantee a humane society. Benedict, perhaps the most learned public figure of his day, could pose a question of such depth. No one has really devised an adequate answer.
During the recent debate in the British House of Commons about same-sex marriage, both sides acknowledged that "Parliament is sovereign," but Benedict challenges the idea of state sovereignty. It was John Stuart Mill who said, "Parliament can do anything except turn a man into a woman," and the critics of same-sex marriage argued, essentially, that the proposal should be rejected precisely because it sought to contravene an authority even higher than Parliament, nature itself. Benedict would not have voted for same-sex marriage if he were a British MP. Politicians may see Benedict as confounding, frustrated that his commitment to social justice and equally strong commitment to traditional sexual and gender roles was inconsistent. Benedict, if given the chance, might ask if the inconsistency is in him, or in us.
Benedict has also been a tireless advocate for peace, Benedict has called for all the countries of the world to spend less on armaments and more on development...
Pope Benedict XVI Holed Up At Castel Gandolfo -
he plans to live out a life of prayer and meditation while 'hidden to the world'. After end of Benedict's papacy on Thursday, every department head in the Vatican vacated their job - except for those who are considered crucial for the smooth running of the transition period.
Before leaving, Benedict XVI said goodbye to the monsignors, nuns, Vatican staff and Swiss Guards who make up the papal household. The 85-year-old’s Italian air force helicopter circled Rome, passing over the Colosseum to give him a last view of the city. Bells rang out from St Peter’s Basilica and churches all over Rome as he flew overhead.
MONTREAL – Monique David: "There will be much to miss about Pope Benedict" There are many reasons why I will miss Pope Benedict XVI. I will miss his weekly insights he generously shared during his public audiences. These talks were always incisive, relevant and practical — bridging divine truths with earthly realities. There was always food for thought and I have often found myself meditating on these ideas for a long time after having read them. There was always someone I knew who would benefit from the wisdom encapsulated in Benedict’s weekly texts. Each talk offered the light to scan one’s conscience.
An estimated 150,000 people, many toting banners saying “Grazie!” (“Thank you!”), jammed the piazza to bid Benedict farewell and hear his final speech as pontiff. In this appointment – which he has kept each week for eight years to teach the world about the Catholic faith – Benedict gave deep thanks to his flock for respecting his decision to retire.
Vatican Celebrates Pope Benedict XVI With E-Book Written In Comic Sans... it's an inspirational picture: Pope Benedict XVI, dressed in white and carrying a large gold cross, reaches down to bless a tiny baby, carried by a young mom, in front of an epic religious fresco. The photo — which appears in a 62-page e-book published by the Vatican to commemorate the career of Benedict upon his retirement...
‘The Benedict XVI generation’: Phoenix seminarian in Rome reflects on pope’s teaching, persona“Pope Benedict XVI was old and yet full of passionate life, he was weak and yet a rock of deep faith,” Camou said. ”In him I saw a man who had a strong purpose in his life, a reason to live and die..." “He spoke directly from the heart, with great affection and love. I saw a man who is a great example of true, courageous humility..."
The BBC reported that Benedict, now referred to as "pope emeritus", was elected in 2005 after four ballots, defeating Bergoglio (Jorge Bergoglio of Argentina Elected Pope Francis on Feb. 13, 2013) with 84 out of 115 votes. Although conclave deliberations are supposed to be secret, alleged vote counts were reported by the press.
New Pope Francis, who had been the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, is the first pope not born in Europe since Columbus alighted in the New World. Formerly the head of the church’s influential Jesuit order, Frances was born to Italian immigrant parents and was raised in the Argentine capital.
*update 23 March 2013*
'We're brothers': Pope meets ex-pope for historic lunchPope Francis and his predecessor Benedict prayed together before having lunch in a historic meeting Saturday. The new pontiff flew to the papal residence at Castel Gandolfo in the Alban Hills outside of Rome by helicopter Saturday. Pope Benedict XVI has been living there since he resigned Feb. 28, becoming the first pope to step down in 600 years.
Both men wore white papal outfits. Father Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman, said that Benedict and Francis had embraced at the helipad, then went to a private chapel to pray.
Pope Francis and his predecessor Benedict prayed together before having lunch in a historic meeting Saturday. NBC's Lester Holt reports. Benedict, who looked frail and walked with a cane, told Francis to kneel in front of the altar, but Francis said, "let's kneel together" and they did so, Lombardi said.
"We're brothers," Francis reportedly told the former pope as the two prayed together on the same prie dieu.
They then had a private conversation for about 40 minutes in the library, before going to lunch. Francis presented Benedict with a gift of an icon of the Virgin Mary. “When I saw this picture of the Madonna of Humility, my thoughts turned immediately to you,” Francis told his predecessor, according to Eurovision News.
Traveling from the helipad to the palazzo, Francis sat on the right-hand side of the car, the traditional place of the pope, while Benedict sat on the left. When they entered the chapel inside the palazzo to pray, Benedict tried to direct Francis to the papal kneeler at the front of the chapel, but Francis refused.
"No, we are brothers, we pray together," Francis told Benedict, according to the Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi. The two used a different kneeler in the pews and prayed together, side-by-side.
Francis brought a gift to Benedict, an icon of the Madonna, and told him that it's known as the "Madonna of Humility."
"I thought of you," Francis told Benedict. "You gave us so many signs of humility and gentleness in your pontificate." Benedict replied: "Grazie, grazie." Benedict wore the simple white cassock of the papacy, with a quilted white jacket over it to guard against the chill, but minus the sash and cape worn by Francis. Walking with a cane, he looked frail compared to the robust 76-year-old Argentine.
The Vatican downplayed the remarkable reunion in keeping with Benedict's desire to remain "hidden from the world" and not interfere with his successor's papacy. There was no live coverage by Vatican television, and only a short video and still photos were released after the fact. The Vatican spokesman said the two spoke privately for 40-45 minutes, followed by lunch with the two papal secretaries, but no details were released.
(unquote)
Wish Wise Man Benedict XVI health and best of luck, wish his prayer will bring the world more Light, Love and Harmony, more pure Heart of Wisdom - 'I'm just a pilgrim,' Benedict XVI says in public farewell.[Pope Francis, left, and Pope emeritus Benedict XVI pray together in Castel Gandolfo Saturday, in this photo provided by the Vatican paper L'Osservatore Romano]
Photos courtesy of Gabriel Bouys / AFP / Getty Images, Alberto Pizzoli / AFP / Getty Images, Tiziana Fabi / AFP / Getty Images, and CNN
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