ROME – On the afternoon of Christmas Eve, as Pope Francis rested in his modest residence before evening Mass, the gendarmes closed their doors. offers visitors winding walking paths through the gardens of the Vatican in case Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, though feeble, steps out of his convent to pray.
In the nearly decade since Benedict stunned the Roman Catholic Church and the world by becoming the first pope to retire in nearly 600 years, an awkward and intriguing arrangement has pervaded the house. worship. Two popes, past and present, traditionalist and reformist, both cloaked in white and vested in moral authority, co-exist on the same small platform.
That strangeness, unheard of in the modern era of the church, continued after the death of Benedict on Saturday morning, when the church fell into a rare situation again, with a living pope elected. preside over the funeral of his predecessor.
Matteo Bruni, the Vatican spokesman who delivered what he called “sad news” about the pope’s death, said Benedict XVI’s funeral will be celebrated on the morning of January 5 and ” apparently presided over by Pope Francis.” A brief statement on Saturday morning made sure to refer to Benedict as “pope emeritus” – in both Italian and English – to avoid any confusion. He declined to answer questions. “I don’t think now is the time for questions so we have time for some sadness in our hearts.”
The timing is also inappropriate because no one knows exactly what will happen and what the first funeral of an emeritus pope will look like.
“The question is very complicated,” said Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, a historian of the papacy.
Those complications were immediately inevitable. Mr. Bruni said the funeral would be “simple” and “formal but sober,” in line with Benedict’s wishes. But Benedict, retaining his papacy title, as an emeritus pope, is not a simple cardinal, and it is not clear if he receives the full procedural pomp and circumstance afforded to him. whether a pope has died in office or not, among other things.
Two official delegations will be present, namely Germany and Italy. But will other countries send representatives? Benedict’s Fisherman’s Ring – the seal used for papal documents – has been destroyed, so it doesn’t have to be. But is his office and bedroom closed?
When a pope dies, cardinals from all over the world come together to mourn, but also to vote in the conclave to elect his successor. “Clearly that is not the case in this case,” said Paravicini Bagliani, adding that the cardinals who have arrived will only do so “as mourners.”
The Vatican said Benedict XVI’s body will be displayed for the faithful during a final “goodbye” at St Peter’s Basilica on Monday morning. Until then, his remains will be at the Monastery of Mater Ecclesiae, where he lived for nearly 10 years after becoming pope.
Benedict expressed his wish were buried in the Vatican caves, below the basilica, in the niche where Saint John XXIII and Saint John Paul II were buried before transferring their remains to the basilica chapels. The Vatican on Saturday confirmed he will be buried in the caves, but has yet to announce the exact location.
All decisions, according to The Seismograph, a website with deep Vatican sources, rest with Francis alone.
“At this moment, I naturally think of dear Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who left us this morning,” Francis said during a church service in St. Peter’s on Saturday. “We are deeply moved to remember him as a noble, very kind person. And we feel such gratitude: gratitude to God for giving him to the Church and to the world; gratitude to him for all the good he has accomplished, and above all, for his witness of faith and prayer, especially during the last years of his remembered life.”
Francis’ medieval forebears took a less benevolent approach to their doomed predecessors.
When Celestine V resigned in 1294 to live as a monk, his successor, Pope Boniface VIII, partly out of fear of rival claims, sent him to prison and deprived him of papal funerals upon his death. in 1296. When Gregory XII abdicated in 1415, the last pope to step down before Benedict, he returned as a cardinal and received the funeral rites reserved for a cardinal when he died two years later. In 1802, Pius VII presided over the funeral of his predecessor, Pius VI, who had been brought back to the Vatican after his death in 1799 in exile.
The uncertainty surrounding Benedict’s death rites stemmed from a decision that caused confusion in his later years. After Benedict resigned, he promised to “hide himself from the world,” a vow he almost always kept. But to the chagrin of many, he took the title of Pope Emeritus, kept his white robe and followed the ideological conservatives who tried to make him a center of power. to replace.
Marco Politi, a veteran Vatican analyst, said: “Celestine V took off her cloak in front of the audience to send a message. He added that Benedict himself had intended to become “Brother Benedict” and live as a monk, but his partisans persuaded him to accept the honorary title, which is more common. in the Eastern Churches. “Benedict still wears the same clothes even in public photos and this has created misunderstanding and confusion.”
Sometimes he also mutilates Francis. In a 2019 essay, he – or the assistants who wrote his name – asserted that sexual abuse was a symptom of the 1960s sexual revolution, secularization and moral erosion. which he considers liberal theology. That undercuts Pope Francis’ view that it is the result of an unhealthy abuse of power by clerics who claim to be on their own.
And as Francis seemed to be pondering whether to lift restrictions on The priest is married in remote areas, as had been suggested by his bishops, Benedict staunchly defended the church’s teachings on celibate priest in a 2020 book. Francis ultimately rejected the proposal, a decision welcomed by conservatives.
That strange duality, which inspired the film “Two Popes” and captured the public’s imagination, has become a new anomaly at the Vatican for nearly a decade. As Francis faces obstacles to his own health, some wonder if the pope emeritus will survive. If Francis unexpectedly retires, will there be three popes in the Vatican?
For his part, Francis, as pope and bishop of Rome, has repeatedly left the possibility of retirement on the table. But he suggested that he would avoid confusion by taking the title as former bishop of Rome “rather than the pope emeritus” and spent his last days hearing confessions and visiting the sick.
Confusion over the pope years still cast a shadow over some of the faithful who arrived in St Peter’s Square on Saturday.
Chiara Darida, 73, a retired teacher, said: “I still don’t really understand how it works. She wasn’t sure if all the city’s bells would ring, and whether heads of state and caravans of pilgrims would flock to Rome.
“It’s a new situation, it’s never happened before,” she said, adding that “there was some confusion.”
Sister Priscila Danieli Da Silva, a student of choir directing for sacred music who had been waiting to enter St. Peter’s Basilica, found it exciting.
“A pope celebrates another pope’s funeral!” she said, adding that the event marks an example of how, in a changing world, the church is changing too. “It’s a whole new thing.”
In presiding over the funeral, Pope Francis not only honored Benedict but also gave himself an important speech platform. The papal funeral is usually celebrated by the rector of the College of Cardinals. Benedict, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, held that role in 2005 and used that role at John Paul II’s funeral to deliver a powerful and unequivocal speech defending his traditions. The church led many cardinals to elect him as pope.
Ultimately, Benedict’s legacy is his stunning resignation, in a seemingly natural remark made speaking Latin at a regular meeting with the cardinals. It broke with his beloved church tradition, palpable in the lace of his clothes and the Latin of his ceremony, and set a modern precedent.
It also sets the stage for nine surreal years of popes cohabitation that some have missed.
“We had two of them and it was an enrichment,” said Maria Teresa Walis, 31, a lawyer who went to St Peter’s Square to mourn Benedict. “It’s the end of an era.”
Report contributed by Elisabetta Povoledo and Emma Bubola in Rome, and Gaia Pianigiani in Siena.
