The mortal remains of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI were moved early in the morning on Jan. 2, 2023, from his former residence in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the late pope is lying in state through Jan. 4. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects. / Daniel Ibañez / EWTN
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 2, 2023 / 16:00 pm (CNA).
Some 65,000 pilgrims waited in line to pay their respects to Benedict XVI Monday, providing moving scenes of grief and gratitude on the first day the pope emeritus’ body lay in state in St. Peter’s Basilica.
Simple rituals of prayer, holy water, incense, and silent goodbyes began in darkness inside the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, where he died Saturday at age 95.
Those who had cared for him there during his nearly decade-long retirement — including his longtime personal secretary and spokesman, Archbishop Georg Gänswein — said prayers and farewells before Benedict’s mortal remains were transported in a motor coach from the monastery’s chapel to the basilica, as a small group of mourners processed behind the vehicle past brightly lit Christmas decorations in the Vatican Gardens.
Once there, pallbearers slowly bore his body inside the massive church and down the center aisle, setting it atop a platform in front of the altar. The symbolism was potent: the 265th pope lying in state almost directly above the tomb of the first, St. Peter.
Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, incensed Benedict’s body and sprinkled it with holy water, praying for Benedict’s soul. The dignitaries in attendance included Italy’s president, Sergio Mattarella, and prime minister, Giorgia Meloni.
Among the first to have a private moment there with Benedict was Gänswein, who bent down to kiss the hands of his friend and mentor.
Outside, well-wishers waited patiently in St. Peter’s Square to enter the basilica, some praying for the former pope as they shuffled forward.
At the end of their wait, after their own solemn procession down the center aisle, they saw him at last, dressed in red and gold vestments and wearing a gold miter, rosary beads in his hands. Before they reached the front of the line for an unobstructed view, some craned their necks for a clearer glimpse or stood on tip-toes to snap photos with their cell phones.
Late Monday the Vatican press office estimated that 65,000 people had made the pilgrimage throughout the day. Benedict’s body will continue to lie in state through Jan. 4. His funeral is Thursday. You can watch EWTN’s live coverage of Benedict’s death from Rome here.
The mortal remains of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI were moved early in the morning on Jan. 2, 2023, from his former residence in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the late pope is lying in state through Jan. 4. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects. Vatican Media
The mortal remains of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI were moved early in the morning on Jan. 2, 2023, from his former residence in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the late pope is lying in state through Jan. 4. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects. Vatican Media
The mortal remains of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI were moved early in the morning on Jan. 2, 2023, from his former residence in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the late pope is lying in state through Jan. 4. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects. Vatican Media
The mortal remains of Benedict XVI were moved early in the morning on Jan. 2, 2023, from his former residence in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the late pope is lying in state through Jan. 4. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects. Vatican Media
Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, presided over a brief ritual upon the arrival of Benedict XVI’s body in St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 2, 2023, sprinkling the body with holy water and offering prayers for the repose of his soul. Vatican Media
Archbishop Georg Gänswein, personal secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, bids farewell to the late pontiff while his body lays in state at St. Peter’s Basilica. Vatican Media
Italy’s Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni (third from left, front row) pays her respects to the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 2, 2023. Vatican Media
The mortal remains of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI were moved early in the morning on Jan. 2, 2023, from his former residence in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the late pope is lying in state through Jan. 4. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects. Daniel Ibañez / EWTN
The mortal remains of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI were moved early in the morning on Jan. 2, 2023, from his former residence in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the late pope is lying in state through Jan. 4. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects. Vatican Media
The mortal remains of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI were moved early in the morning on Jan. 2, 2023, from his former residence in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the late pope is lying in state through Jan. 4. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects. Vatican Media
The mortal remains of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI were moved early in the morning on Jan. 2, 2023, from his former residence in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the late pope is lying in state through Jan. 4. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects. Daniel Ibañez / EWTN
The mortal remains of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI were moved early in the morning on Jan. 2, 2023, from his former residence in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the late pope is lying in state through Jan. 4. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects. Daniel Ibañez / EWTN
The mortal remains of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI were moved early in the morning on Jan. 2, 2023, from his former residence in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the late pope is lying in state through Jan. 4. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects. Daniel Ibañez / EWTN
The mortal remains of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI were moved early in the morning on Jan. 2, 2023, from his former residence in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery to St. Peter’s Basilica, where the late pope is lying in state through Jan. 4. Thousands waited in line to pay their respects. Vatican Media
The Holy See Press Office estimated that 65,000 people paid their respects to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Jan. 2, 2023, the first day his body was lying in state in St. Peter’s Basilica. Vatican Media
Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the longtime personal secretary of Benedict XVI, embraces one of the estimated 65,000 pilgrims who came to pay their respects to the former pope on Jan. 2, 2023, the first day his body was lying in state in St. Peter’s Basilica. Daniel Ibañez / EWTN
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Warsaw, Poland, Aug 30, 2021 / 07:30 am (CNA).
A Catholic layman will represent the Church in Poland at the official opening of the synodal process leading to the 2023 synod of bishops meeting in Rome…. […]
Vatican City, Nov 9, 2017 / 02:54 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Former trafficking victim Rani Hong, who was kidnapped and sold into slavery at seven years old, is speaking out, saying we’ve raised awareness, but now it’s time to put our knowledge into action to help victims.
“As we all learn together, we need to move forward, beyond just raising awareness,” she said. “Now it’s time to act on behalf of children around the world.”
Kidnapped from her village in southern India, she said that when she first started telling her story as an adult, people didn’t always believe her, “because they couldn’t believe that the issue of slavery still exists today.”
But now, several years later, she said people have become much more educated on the issue, and after education should come action. “I want people all around the world to be able to take concrete action to make a difference in a child’s life.”
Hong’s story begins in India when she was a young child. A well-respected woman in the community approached her mother offering to clothe, feed, shelter, and educate her daughter during a difficult time. So she went down the street to live with the woman, her mother and family visiting every day.
But one day, Hong said, she was gone. The woman was in fact recruiting children in the streets of India and had sold her across the border into another state.
Held in a cage to teach her submission, she said in a Vatican press conference Nov. 6: “I did not know the language, I did not know anybody. I was disoriented and afraid and alone. I was crying for my mother and nobody came to rescue me.”
“We’re talking about a human being, myself, being captive. This is what the industry of human trafficking does,” she told journalists. By the time she was eight years old she had become sick and near death from the beatings and starvation she had endured to get her to submit to her trafficker.
Since she was no longer considered valuable for forced labor and her trafficker wanted “one more profit,” Hong was sold into illegal international adoption.
Statistics tell us that today human slavery is a 150-billion-dollar industry, Hong said, with around 40 million people enslaved around the world. And “no country is exempt.”
“We’re talking about buying and selling people,” she emphasized.
From there she was adopted by a woman in the United States and this is where she was able to start to heal and slowly start building her life again, she said. Amazingly, through what she terms “a miracle of God,” she was also able to find her birth mother and family in India in 1999.
It was finding her birth family, she noted, that inspired her to do something to help, with her faith in God giving her the strength to heal and to be able to share her story.
“My faith helped me to get stronger. And every day it’s a challenge. Every day I have to make a choice to do something and to have faith” that we can make a change, she said.
Now she and her husband, also a survivor of child slavery, have a non-profit organization called the Tronie Foundation, which works with business partners to help ensure supply chains do not use slavery and forced labor.
One practical initiative they’ve developed is the “Freedom Seal,” which helps consumers identify products from manufacturers independently audited to ensure fair labor practices.
Hong also speaks to lawmakers about creating and implementing laws to protect victims, help survivors, and prosecute traffickers. In 2011 she was appointed UN special advisor to the global initiative to fight human trafficking.
She was also invited to the Vatican to participate in a Nov. 5-6 workshop centered on helping former victims and run by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. She said being at the Vatican was a “huge step forward,” and hopefully inspired the academy and others to take on the issue with even more force.
“Because today, I speak for those without a voice,” she underlined. “The millions of children around the world who are not here and able to tell their story.”
Material from EWTN News Nightly and Vaticano was used in this article.
Rome Newsroom, Jan 27, 2021 / 07:04 am (CNA).- A Vatican official has encouraged Catholics to apply the Church’s social teaching to evaluate proposals for a “Green New Deal.”
Respectful farewell. In Paradisum Deducant te Angeli.