Benedict XVI, the pope who resigned over Church scandals, has died

The expad Benedict XVIa German theologian who in 2013 surprised the world by resigning to lead a Church shaken by intrigues and scandals, died this Saturday, at the age of 95, the Vatican announced.

“It is with regret that I announce that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away today at 9:34 a.m., in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery,” said the director of the Holy See’s press service, Matteo Bruni.

Shortly before 11:00 a.m. local time (10:00 a.m. GMT), the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica rang and hundreds of people came to the square to remember Joseph Ratzinger, a refined ultra-conservative theologian, who chose the name Benedict XVI after being named in front of the Catholic Church in 2005.

For the first time in the millennial history of the Church, the reigning pope, the Argentine Francis, will preside on January 5 at the funeral of a predecessor, no longer in office.

“According to the wish of the pope emeritus, the funeral will be carried out in the greatest simplicity,” the papal spokesman said.

The body of the deceased will be exposed starting Monday in the Basilica of Saint Peter, to be venerated by believers.

Before his burial he will be placed in a coffin covered by two others: the exterior, made of elm wood; the one in the middle, of lead; and the interior, made of cypress wood.

End of the coexistence of “two popes”

The death puts an end to the unusual coexistence of two popes, both in white cassocks: the brilliant ultra-conservative and unpopular theologian Ratzinger and the Argentine Jorge Bergoglio, a Jesuit who has wanted a papacy dedicated to the poor and migrants.

On Wednesday, during the general audience, Francis asked to pray for the health of his predecessor, who was “very ill” and whom he went to visit in his room.

Ratzinger, the first German pope of the modern era, replaced in 2005 the charismatic John Paul II, who had been his right-hand man for a quarter of a century as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the former Holy Office of the Inquisition. .

From that position, he had vigorously fought Liberation Theology, which in Latin America advocated the defense of the poor and had coincidences with certain currents of Marxism.

During his eight-year pontificate, his intention to align the 1.2 billion Catholic faithful against any opening on issues such as priestly celibacy, birth control or the acceptance of divorcees or homosexuals collided with a Church devoured by scandals and intrigues. .

After resigning, he promised to maintain an absolute retirement, without shadowing Francisco.

But he was involved – in some cases, involuntarily, according to observers – in the campaigns of the ultra-conservative sectors that frown on the openings of the Argentine pontiff in the social field.

And at the beginning of 2022, he was affected by accusations that he covered up four cases of pedophilia when he was Archbishop of Munich, between 1977 and 1981.

Faced with the pressure of a German report that accused him of negligence in the handling of these pedophilia cases, he broke his silence to ask for “pardon” and express his “deep” shame.

“Soon I will face the ultimate judge of my life. Although looking back on my long life I may have much to fear and be afraid of, I am in a joyful frame of mind because I am firmly confident that the Lord is not only the just judge, but also the friend and brother who has already suffered my deficiencies and is, therefore, as a judge, at the same time my lawyer”, he affirmed.

tributes

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres praised Benedict XVI’s “commitment to nonviolence and peace.”

The Bishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, spiritual head of the Anglican Church, considered that Ratzinger was “one of the greatest theologians of his time.”

The Russian Orthodox Patriarch Cyril also paid tribute to him, considering him a defender of “traditional values”.

An aspect equally highlighted by Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom the former pope was a “convinced defender of traditional Christian values.”

The Italian prime minister, the far-right Giorgia Meloni, maintained that Ratzinger was “a giant of Faith and Reason.”

The president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, defined him as a “great theologian” dedicated “at the service of others.”