In his homily, Francis quoted the words spoken in the same square by Ratzinger the day he began his Petrine ministry: “Being a shepherd means loving, and loving also means being willing to suffer in order to give the sheep the true good, the food of the God’s truth.” 120 cardinals were present, including about fifteen from Asia. The remains were buried in the Vatican Grottoes in the same tomb where John Paul II was.
Vatican City () – The wooden coffin in the square of Saint Peter’s Basilica, surmounted by the book of the Gospels. This is the image that marked the funeral rite this morning of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who headed the Church between 2005 and 2013, before secluding himself for almost ten years in silent prayer in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae monastery after his resignation from the Petrine ministry. Nearly 200,000 people paid tribute to his remains in recent days and another 50,000 packed the square this morning.
Pope Francis presided over the rite assisted by the dean of the Sacred College, Card. Giovanni Battista Re. He was accompanied by 120 cardinals from around the world, of whom approximately 15 from Asia, among them the ninety-year-old emeritus bishop of Hong Kong Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, the patriarch of the Chaldeans Luis Sako and the patriarch of the Maronites Bechara Rai, the major archbishops of the Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankar Churches, Card. Felipe Neri Ferrao, Archbishop of Goa and President of the Latin Rite Bishops’ Conference of India, and the young Mongolian Cardinal Giorgio Marengo. There was also a large presence of ecumenical representations, including that of the Moscow Patriarchate.
Near the coffin were the secretary mons. Georg Gänswein and the Memores Domini who have been close to Benedict XVI all these years. Together with them, the official delegations of the Italian State and the German State, nationality of origin of the Pope emeritus.
In his homily, Pope Francis – inspired by the words of Jesus on the cross “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” – invited to recognize in the life and death of Joseph Ratzinger the “continuous surrender into the hands of his Father. Hands forgiveness and compassion, healing and mercy, hands of anointing and blessing, which led him to also give himself into the hands of his brothers”. Of the pastor, Francis underlined the traits of “grateful dedication to the service of the Lord and his people”, the “prayerful dedication, which is formed and refined silently in the midst of the crossroads and contradictions that the pastor must face”, the “dedication sustained from the consolation of the Spirit, who always precedes him in the mission”.
In the central homily he quoted a passage from the words that Benedict XVI pronounced in that same square on April 24, 2005, at the Mass for the beginning of his pontificate: “To be a shepherd – said Joseph Ratzinger, recently elected to the throne of Peter – means to love, and to love also means to be willing to suffer. To love means: to give the sheep true goodness, the nourishment of God’s truth, of God’s word, the nourishment of his presence”.
“We too, firmly united to the last words of the Lord and to the testimony that marked his life – Francis added – want, as an ecclesial community, to follow in his footsteps and entrust our brother to the hands of the Father: may these hands of mercy find their lamp lit with the oil of the Gospel, which he spread and to which he bore witness during his life”.
“The faithful people of God, reunited, accompanies and entrusts the life of who has been their shepherd – said the pontiff -. Like the women of the Gospel at the tomb, we are here with the perfume of gratitude and the ointment of hope to show you, once again, the love that is not lost; we want to do it with the same anointing, wisdom, delicacy and dedication that he has been able to offer over the years. We want to say together: ‘Father, into your hands we deliver his spirit.’ Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom – concluded Pope Francis – may your joy be perfect in hearing his voice definitively and forever “.
At the end of the funeral rite, Pope Francis stopped to pray in silence and touched the coffin of Benedict XVI with his hands for the final blessing, while the cry “Santo subito” rose from the crowd in Saint Peter’s Square, like It had already happened with John Paul II. Preceded by the procession of cardinals, the remains then entered the basilica where, in private, they were buried in the Vatican Grottoes. By his express will they will rest in the same tomb that – until it was transferred on the occasion of the beatification in 2011 – was the burial of Saint John Paul II.
