The Cardinal and Archbishop of Montevideo, daniel sturlasacked the pope emeritus Benedict XVIwho He passed away this Saturday at the age of 95. in the Vatican. “I thank God for the life, teaching and witness of Benedict XVI”said the cardinal in a message posted via Twitter.
I thank God for the life, teaching and witness of Benedict XVI. In 2011 he elected me auxiliary bishop of Montevideo. In the photo when I was able to greet him after being created a cardinal by Pope Francis. pic.twitter.com/a0R3RVtamo
—Daniel Sturla (@DanielSturla) December 31, 2022
The condolences of the Catholic Archbishop are just one of the many that the Vatican received for the death of the pope emeritus, whose state of health It had gotten worse in recent days.. On December 28, the cardinal had announced that He was “in prayer” for the state of health of the pontiff.
Sturla recalled that it was Benedict who elected him as auxiliary bishop of Montevideo in 2011, two years before the pope left office.
In the tweet, the archbishop published a photo in which he is about to greet the pontiff, when He was “created a cardinal” by Pope Francissuccessor to the pope emeritus.
In a press conference, Sturla said that “God willing” on Monday he will travel to Rome to participate in Benedict XVI’s funeral.
The Catholic Church of Montevideo mourned the death of the pope, and stated that “the entire Catholic Church is in mourning,” according to a statement published this Saturday.
The cardinal of Montevideo said that a special mass will be held for the soul of Benedict.
The relationship of the emeritus pope with Uruguay
Sturla spoke of the link that Benedicto had with Uruguay.
He recalled that the emeritus pope named several of the country’s bishops, and assured that he knew Uruguay: “In fact, through nuncios he was close to our country,” he said.
In addition, Sturla highlighted that Benedict knew “our somewhat special reality in the context of Latin America” as a secular country. By the way, he explained that he was a Pope who was very open to dialogue with others, believers and non-believers. “In that sense, I think Uruguay would be interesting for him,” concluded.
