The funerals of Pope Benedict XVI, who died on December 31, are celebrated this Thursday, January 5, 2023 in Saint Peter’s Square under the authority of his successor Francisco. An unprecedented image that invites us to question ourselves about the future of the papal office.
Text: R.F.I.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to flock to St. Peter’s Square on Thursday morning for the funeral of emeritus pope Benedict XVI. A funeral presided over by his successor Francis, a first in the recent history of the Church.
“An unusual period that comes to an end”
The ceremony – “solemn but sober”, according to the Vatican – takes place in the presence of numerous heads of state and government. The mass will be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals, since Pope Francis is in a wheelchair due to knee problems.
Next, the coffin of Joseph Ratzinger, on which 195,000 faithful have gathered in three days, will be transferred to the Vatican grottoes, under the basilica, where John Paul II and John XXIII were buried before their beatification.
The funeral of Benedict XVI, whom one of his biographers, Bernard Lecomte, called “the last European pope”, marks the end of an era. The question now is what the future holds for Francis.
“It is an unusual period that is coming to an end, since we will have had, for a few years, an acting pope, and an emeritus pope a few hundred meters from Saint Peter, since he lived in that small monastery in the Vatican gardens. . When Benedict XVI resigned, the whole world wondered if you could have two popes, he was really unusual and he even annoyed certain people. Then there were some problems, but luckily, Pope Francis felt a great friendship for Benedict XVI, the two men got along very well and Pope Francis perfectly assumed this ambiguity, which will undoubtedly be less if one day Pope Francis resigns.” says Bernard Lecomte, journalist and author of Benedict XVI, the last European pope.
*Read also: CEV convenes Eucharist for #7 Jan for the death of Benedict XVI
The resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, a precedent
The coexistence of the emeritus pope and his successor in office, both dressed in white, had created an unprecedented situation. Now the possibility arises that Argentine Pope Francis, alias Jorge Bergoglio, will also resign.
Benedict XVI led the way with his resignation, the first in 700 years since Pope Celestine V’s in 1294, showing that he was humane and fallible. The pontiff considered that the onerous task of leading the Catholic Church in Rome in the 21st century could not be carried out without his full physical and mental faculties.
«Benedict XVI has completely disconnected the pontifical function of personality. He said: ‘Listen, I’m a pope because I’m a pope, and on the other hand my name is Ratzinger and I’m Ratzinger, that’s all.’ They are two different things and we should not confuse them. This opens the way for Pope Francis to resign in the coming years,” says Isabelle de Gaulmyn, editor-in-chief of the French daily La Croix and a former Rome correspondent.
*Read also: Pope Francis intervened Caritas International for alleged deficiencies in management
Could Pope Francis go too?
Francisco has left the door open to this possibility because he has already signed a letter of resignation in case of health problems. But this will not happen immediately: the Holy Father will start a trip at the end of January to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. The head of the Catholic Church postponed these two visits last June due to his health problems.
Francis will then travel to Portugal in August and is expected to conclude the Synod’s work in 2024. The Vatican’s view on the long-standing and thorny question of priestly marriage will be debated, as well as the place of women and Church government. .
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