Boston space Catholics joined these from all over the world Saturday in mourning the loss of life of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the primary pontiff to resign from the job in almost 600 years.
Benedict died Saturday morning at age 95 within the Mater Ecclesia Monastery in Vatican City, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni stated in a press release. Benedict’s well being had deteriorated since Christmas, he stated.
Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley, in a press release, stated he discovered Pope Benedict XVI to be an “engaged” and “thoughtful” chief who stayed true to the mission of the Catholic Church. Pope Benedict XVI elevated O’Malley, who serves as archbishop for the Archdiocese of Boston, to cardinal in 2006.
“His fidelity to maintaining the truth and clarity of the Catholic faith, cultivating ecumenical and interfaith dialogue and reaching out to inspire the next generation of Catholics have been great gifts to us all,” O’Malley stated in his assertion.
Benedict, previously generally known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, of Germany, served because the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog earlier than changing into pope. After being elected pontiff in 2005, he continued the conservative course charted by St. John Paul II, utilizing intellectually rigorous sermons that decried how the world appeared to assume it may do with out God.
Ray Flynn, the previous ambassador to the Vatican, praised Pope Benedict XVI as soft-spoken but extremely smart.
“You paid attention to every word he said,” Flynn, a former mayor of Boston, advised the Herald Saturday. “He taught me so much and especially to know what you’re talking about and to prepare.”
Flynn stated he served as ambassador earlier than Benedict grew to become pope, however they talked usually concerning the U.S. and his work in Germany to assist his homeland recuperate from Nazism following World War II.
“He was so focused on reuniting his country and then the world,” Flynn stated of Benedict. “I never passed up an opportunity to talk to him. He’ll be missed.”
Catholics from all over the world have been surprised when Benedict introduced his resignation on Feb. 11, 2013, saying he now not had the energy to run the 1.2 billion-strong Catholic Church that he had steered for eight years via scandal and indifference.
His resolution paved the way in which for the conclave that elected Pope Francis as his successor. The two popes then lived side-by-side within the Vatican gardens, an unprecedented association that set the stage for future “popes emeritus” to do the identical.
And now Francis will have fun Benedict’s funeral Mass, the primary time within the trendy age {that a} present pope will eulogize a retired one. The mass shall be held on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Square, six hours forward of Boston.
Boston Catholic Radio 1060 AM shall be airing the mass reside.
“Pope Benedict called us to truth and beauty,” BCR Chairman Lou Murray advised the Herald. “He consistently pointed out the failures of modern dictatorship of relativism.”
It was Benedict’s devotion to historical past and custom that endeared him to members of the traditionalist wing of the Catholic Church. For them, Benedict remained even in retirement a beacon of nostalgia for the orthodoxy and Latin Mass of their youth.
Benedict relaxed the restrictions on celebrating the previous Latin Mass.
Edgar M. da Cunha, bishop of the Diocese of Fall River, in a press release recounted his experiences assembly Pope Benedict, together with when he got here to the U.S. in 2008 and met with all the nation’s bishops on the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C.
“The influence of Pope Benedict has had on the Church is great, and his legacy will live on for generations to come,” da Cunha stated. “He had an incredible gift to communicate the truth about the Church and worked determinedly to reconcile faith and reason.”
Benedict’s legacy was coloured by the worldwide eruption in 2010 of the intercourse abuse scandal, despite the fact that as a cardinal he was chargeable for turning the Vatican round on the difficulty. It was thought-about the best disaster within the Catholic Church in many years.
Benedict met with victims throughout the globe, wept with them and prayed with them. Under his management, the Vatican up to date its authorized code to increase the statute of limitations for circumstances and advised bishops’ conferences all over the world to provide you with pointers to forestall abuse.
O’Malley stated one in all his “most moving experiences” with Benedict was once they met with survivors of clergy sexual abuse in the course of the pope’s go to to Washington in 2008.
“He was then, and at all times remained, committed to the Church supporting their journey towards healing and doing all that was possible to ensure the protection of children, young people, and vulnerable adults,” O’Malley stated of Benedict.
Herald editor Joe Dwinell and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”