It’s an emotional day in the Vatican. In December 2022, the health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had deteriorated. (✝95) worsened. On New Year’s Eve morning, the sad news went around the world that the former head of the Catholic Church had died. After his death, the Bavarian native was honored in many places – including today, on the first anniversary of his death: a mass was held for him in honor of Benedict.
Bild reports that the 95-year-old’s close confidant, Archbishop George Gänswein, held the approximately one and a half hour mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday morning. The service was very touching for the archbishop – he cried several times. According to George, Benedict was a “shining example,” as he explained in his sermon: “We remain united with Benedict XVI. With sincere gratitude to God for the gift of his life, the richness of his teaching, the depth of his theology […] this simple and humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.”
Benedikt, whose real name was Joseph Ratzinger, was an important companion of Georg. He paid tribute to Benedict shortly after his death. “He was and remained completely human even on the throne of Peter,” Georg was quoted as saying by Bild. He emphasized that the deceased was “not a papal actor and even less a papal automaton.”
