28 March, 2024
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Benedict XVI buried as supporters urge sainthood

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Pope Francis has led the funeral of former Pope Benedict, tenderly touching the coffin of his predecessor as he stood supported on a cane before tens of thousands of mourners, with some calling for the late pontiff to be made a saint.

Pope Benedict’s death on Saturday brought to an end a decade of the former and present pope living side-by-side in the Vatican and it was the first time in more than 200 years that a pontiff had led the service for his predecessor.

His death was a loss for conservatives who yearned for a return to a more traditional Church symbolised by Pope Benedict, who shocked the world in 2013 by becoming the first pope in 600 years to resign instead of reigning for life.

At the end of Thursday’s funeral in St Peter’s Square, some people shouted in Italian “Santo Subito!” (Make him a saint now!).

It was the same phrase used at the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005, although by many more people then.

Three of the last five popes have been made saints, but only about a third of all pontiffs have been canonised in the Church’s 2000-year history.

While many leading figures have praised Pope Benedict since his death, criticism has also been aired, including by victims of clergy sexual abuse, who have accused him of seeking to protect the Church at all costs.

Pope Francis sat for most of the service because of a knee ailment, including while he read the homily, in which he mentioned Pope Benedict by name only once at the service attended by 50,000 people in a fog-shrouded square.

He rose at the end as Pope Benedict’s coffin was carried away for a private burial inside St Peter’s Basilica.

Bowing his head in silent prayer, Pope Francis briefly touched the casket.

At 86, Pope Francis, who has been using a wheelchair but has shown no signs of slowing down, with trips planned for Africa and Portugal in the coming months, is a year older now than Pope Benedict was when he retired.

Pope Francis himself has made clear that he would not hesitate to step down some day if his mental or physical health prevented him from carrying out his duties but Vatican officials always doubted he could do this while Pope Benedict was still alive.

An account of Pope Benedict’s papacy, along with other items, including Vatican coins minted during his reign, was tucked into his coffin.

The account, written in Latin, says Pope Benedict “fought with firmness” against sexual abuse by clergy in the Church.

Even though Pope Benedict largely avoided public appearances after his resignation, he remained a standard-bearer for Catholic conservatives, who felt alienated by reforms ushered in by Pope Francis, including cracking down on the old Latin Mass.

After the service, the coffin was wrapped in red ribbons in the form of a cross.

Workers later put it in a zinc casket and soldered that shut, Vatican pictures showed.

Both were then put into a wooden casket, which was lowered into a crypt.

People from all over the world, many from Pope Benedict’s native Germany, had arrived in the early hours to say farewell, including a few heads of state and some European royals.

“It is a sad but meaningful day. I wanted to be here so much that I can feel it in my heart,” said an Italian woman who gave only her first name, Marianna.

Dorotea Dadaeki, a Rwandan woman living in Rome, said: “I told myself that I had to come and attend holy Mass to accompany him in prayer.”

Xavier Mora, 24, a Spaniard preparing for the priesthood, said he had studied Pope Benedict’s theology and had “great affection and esteem for him”.

The post Benedict XVI buried as supporters urge sainthood appeared first on The New Daily.

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