Two topics dominated the most read CWR pieces of 2021: vaccines and liturgy. This year’s list centers around the Vatican: the Vatican bank, the Vatican Publishing House, Pope Francis, the Synod, synodality, the German church, […]
The future Supreme Knight Patrick E. Kelly greeting Pope Benedict XVI, April 5, 2008. / L’Osservatore Romano
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 1, 2023 / 15:03 pm (CNA).
Following the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Saturday at age 95, major… […]
Benedict XVI holds his final general audience, Feb. 27, 2013. / Mazur/www.thepapalvisit.org.uk (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Denver, Colo., Jan 1, 2023 / 13:00 pm (CNA).
The death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI prompted his former students and other Catholi… […]
Reception of Pope Benedict XVI from Federal President Christian Wulff at Schloss Bellevue on Sept. 22, 2012, in Berlin, Germany. / Credit: vipflash / Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 1, 2023 / 12:12 pm (CNA).
The last words of Pope E… […]
Benedict XVI greeted a fluffy black cat named Pushkin during his visit to the Birmingham Oratory established by St. John Henry Newman. / Courtesy of the Birmingham Oratory
Rome Newsroom, Jan 1, 2023 / 12:10 pm (CNA).
The late Benedict XVI was k… […]
New cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan (L), Archbishop of New York, receives the biretta cap from Pope Benedict XVI in Saint Peter’s Basilica on February 18, 2012 in Vatican City, Vatican. / Franco Origlia/Getty Images
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 1, 2023 / 11:33 am (CNA).
Since the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, members of the College of Cardinals from the United States have offered tributes to the late pope who they remember as a “scholar” and “true disciple.”
Here is a round-up of statements from the U.S. cardinals:
Cardinal Timothy Dolan called Benedict XVI “a good shepherd and Holy Father.” In an interview with Newsmax Dolan shared that he met Benedict XVI “innumerable times” and was “always impressed with his ability to listen,” adding that “he knew the biblical, that before you can be a teacher you’ve got to be a listener.”
Dolan compared Benedict’s passing to losing a grandparent or elderly parent, saying “we knew it was coming,” but that “it’s still a shock when it comes.”
In a statement, Dolan said, “The human family grieves the passing of this erudite, wise, and holy man, who spoke the truth with love.”
Dolan called to mind Benedict XVI’s pastoral visit to the Archdiocese of New York in 2008 and shared his personal sense of loss at the former pope’s death, saying, “he was so encouraging, and appointed me Archbishop of New York and nominated me a Cardinal.”
Dolan said Benedict’s legacy will be that of “faith and reason” and called for every parish in his archdiocese to offer a Mass for Benedict’s soul, concluding, “may the angels lead him into paradise!”
Read Dolan’s full statement here.
Cardinal Blase Cupich stated that “Pope Benedict XVI taught us that belief in God means completely placing our trust in Divine Providence.”
“Throughout his life as a scholar and as a churchman, he showed us what it means to fulfill the ancient command to love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind,” said Cupich.
“I think he will be remembered as a man who was single-focused on serving others and serving God,” Cupich told ABC 7.
Read Cupich’s full statement here.
Today we join Pope Francis and Catholics across the world in mourning the death of Pope Benedict XVI who has gone home to the God he served faithfully. pic.twitter.com/LAmDSyW3IA
— Cardinal Cupich (@CardinalBCupich) December 31, 2022
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo said that “it is with deep sadness and hope in the Resurrection that we mourn the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.”
DiNardo called Benedict a “true pastor of souls and son of the Church,” saying the former pope “shepherded the Church with great love.”
“His keen intellect invigorated the New Evangelization,” said DiNardo, and inspired “countless men and women to spread the Gospel by the example of their lives.”
“May the Lord now welcome this faithful servant into the heavenly liturgy of the Wedding Feast of the Lamb,” DiNardo said.
Read DiNardo’s full statement here.
“Today, a loving God called Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI home to his eternal reward for a lifetime of dedicated service to the Church,” said Cardinal Sean O’Malley.
“Perhaps the most moving experience for me was accompanying survivors of clergy sexual abuse to a meeting with the Holy Father in Washington, D.C. during his 2008 pastoral visit to the United States,” O’Malley said. “Pope Benedict XVI recognized the pain experienced by survivors and all persons impacted by the abuse crisis.”
“I will miss Pope Benedict,” said O’Malley. “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.”
Read O’Malley’s full statement here.
Cardinal Joseph Tobin shared his prayer for the former pope, saying, “May the Angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs greet you at your arrival and lead you into the holy city, Jerusalem. May the choir of Angels greet you and like Lazarus, who once was poor, may you have eternal rest” (In Paradism). May he rest in the peace of Christ.”
“May the Angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs greet you at your arrival and lead you into the holy city, Jerusalem. May the choir of Angels greet you and like Lazarus, who once was poor, may you have eternal rest” (In Paradism). May he rest in the peace of Christ. pic.twitter.com/du3HzSr0QN
— Joe Tobin (@CardinalJWTobin) December 31, 2022
“The death of Pope Benedict is a moment of both sadness and gratitude,” said Cardinal Robert McElroy, who was appointed a cardinal just this May.
McElroy called Benedict a “theologian of immense depth” as well as a “caring pastor” and a “prayerful servant who unswervingly sought to follow the pathway to which God was calling him.”
“In faith we know that he goes to the loving embrace of the God whom he had served with sacrifice and courage, brilliance and wisdom, humility and kindness for his entire life,” said McElroy.
Read the full statement here.
“It was my honor to serve him as Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura,” said Cardinal Raymond Burke, prefect emeritus of the Apostolic Signatura and archbishop emeritus of the Archdiocese of St. Louis. “In my meetings with him, while he was still Roman Pontiff and after his abdication, I was always impressed by his extraordinary intelligence and knowledge, coupled with Christ-like meekness.”
Burke said that Benedict’s teaching regarding the sacred liturgy will remain “a lasting and living heritage.”
“He was an especially gifted teacher of the Catholic Faith with a particular appreciation of the highest and most perfect expression of the Faith: Sacred Worship,” said Burke.
Burke called the former pope’s passing “sad,” saying that Benedict had “continued to be a source of many graces for the Church, especially by the offering of his prayers and sufferings for so many needs of the Church in our time.”
Read Burke’s full statement here.
“I had the privilege of knowing Pope Benedict for many years, going back to his time as a cardinal of the Church — Cardinal Ratzinger,” said Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop emeritus of Philadelphia.
Rigali recalled his participation in the election of Benedict XVI, saying, “it was a privilege to participate in the election of Pope Benedict. I can remember when I went up to the pope and knelt before him to show my respect and offer to him my pledge to be faithful and obedient, the first thing that Pope Benedict said to me was, ‘Happy Birthday, your eminence.’ It was my 70th birthday. Pope Benedict remembered that, and that is a memory I will always carry with me.”
Read more of Rigali’s statements here.
Cardinal James Stafford, who participated in the former pope’s election, called Benedict XVI “a true disciple,” Denver Catholic reported.
“Pope Benedict XVI was dedicated to the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth,” said Stafford, archbishop emeritus of the Archdiocese of Denver.
Stafford shared, “In afternoon walks in the Vatican Gardens I sometimes encountered Pope Benedict. I thought that here was a true disciple ‘who walks with Jesus and is thus caught up with Him into communion with God.’” Concluding, “May he rest in peace!”
Read more of Stafford’s statement here.
Pope Benedict XVI wearing brilliant red shoes arrives to attend a Inter-religious Gathering at the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center on April 17, 2008 in Washington, DC. / TIM SLOAN/AFP via Getty Images
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 1, 2023 / … […]
Pope Francis’ Angelus message on Jan. 1, 2023, marked the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. An estimated 40,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the event. / Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Jan 1, 2023 / 08:31 am (CNA).
Let Mary, the Mother of God, be your guide in the New Year, Pope Francis said on Sunday, the first day of 2023.
In his Angelus address before a crowd of an estimated 40,000 people in St. Peter’s Square Jan. 1, the pope said: “As we contemplate Mary in the stable where Jesus was born, let us ask ourselves: What languages does the Holy Virgin use to speak to us? How does Mary speak?”
“What can we learn from her for this year that is dawning?” he added. “We can say: Virgin Mary, teach us what we should do this year.”
The pope’s message preceding the Angelus prayer was delivered on the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. Pope Francis also celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica earlier in the day to mark the feast day.
At the beginning of his Angelus message, Pope Francis remembered his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who died on Dec. 31 at the age of 95.
Echoing his words at Mass Sunday, he invited Catholics to invoke the Virgin Mary’s intercession for Benedict. “Let us all join together, with one heart and one soul, in thanking God for the gift of this faithful servant of the Gospel and of the Church,” he said.
His Angelus reflection focused on the “language of Mary,” specifically her tenderness and care for the Baby Jesus.
The Gospel of Luke describes the shepherds’ encounter with the Holy Family, and how they saw the infant Jesus “lying in the manger.”
“This verb ‘to lay’ means to carefully place, and tells us that the language proper to Mary is maternal: She tenderly takes care — this is the language of Mary — to tenderly take care of the Child. This is Mary’s greatness,” he said.
He described a noisy scene: the angels celebrating Christ’s birth and the shepherds running to meet Jesus with everyone loudly praising God.
Instead, “Mary does not speak,” Francis said, “she does not steal the show — we like to steal the show! On the contrary, she puts the Child in the center, she lovingly takes care of him.”
The pope recalled a line of poetry from the Italian writer Alda Merini, which says that Mary “even knew how to be solemnly mute, […] because she did not want to lose sight of her God.”
All mothers do the same, he said: “After having carried the gift of a mysterious prodigy in her womb for nine months, mothers constantly put their babies at the center of their attention: They feed them, they hold them in their arms, they tenderly lay them down in the crib.”
The Mother of God’s language is “a language of a mother,” he added.
Mary, Pope Francis said, “reminds us that, if we truly want the New Year to be good, if we want to reconstruct hope, we need to abandon the language, those actions and those choices inspired by egoism, and learn the language of love, which is to take care.”
He continued: “This is the commitment: to take care of our lives, of our time, of our souls; to take care of creation and the environment we live in; and even more, to take care of our neighbor, of those whom the Lord has placed alongside us, as well as our brothers and sisters who are in need and who call for our attention and our compassion.”
The Vatican has released photographs of the body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died on Dec. 31, 2022, at age 95. / Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Jan 1, 2023 / 05:28 am (CNA).
The Vatican on Sunday shared the first photos of Pope Emeritus Be… […]
Pope Francis offers Mass for the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God in St. Peter’s Basilica on January 1, 2022. / © Daniel Ibáñez/EWTN/Vatican Pool
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 1, 2023 / 04:00 am (CNA).
Jan. 1 marks more than the start of a new year — it is also the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, and the World Day of Peace.
The two celebrations are connected because, as St. Paul VI wrote in 1974, Mary is the Queen of Peace.
“In the revised ordering of the Christmas period it seems to us that the attention of all should be directed towards the restored Solemnity of Mary the holy Mother of God,” he wrote in his encyclical Marialis Cultus. “This celebration, placed on January 1 in conformity with the ancient indication of the liturgy of the City of Rome, is meant to commemorate the part played by Mary in this mystery of salvation.”
He added: “It is likewise a fitting occasion for renewing adoration of the newborn Prince of Peace, for listening once more to the glad tidings of the angels (cf. Lk. 2:14), and for imploring from God, through the Queen of Peace, the supreme gift of peace.
“It is for this reason that, in the happy concurrence of the Octave of Christmas and the first day of the year, we have instituted the World Day of Peace.”
The solemnity of Mary as the Mother of God concludes the octave of Christmas, or the eight days following Christ’s birth. While her title as “Mother of God” dates back to the 3rd or 4th century, the Greek term “Theotokos” (“The God-bearer”) first became Catholic doctrine at the Council of Ephesus in 431.
This year, the solemnity — a holy day of obligation — falls on a Sunday.
At the same time, the Catholic Church also recognizes Jan. 1 as the World Day of Peace, a tradition first celebrated by St. Paul VI in 1968.
“We address Ourself to all men of good will to exhort them to celebrate ‘The Day of Peace,’ throughout the world, on the first day of the year, January 1, 1968,” he declared at the time. “It is Our desire that then, every year, this commemoration be repeated as a hope and as a promise, at the beginning of the calendar which measures and outlines the path of human life in time, that Peace with its just and beneficent equilibrium may dominate the development of events to come.”
This day, he stressed, not only belongs to Catholics but also to all people of peace.
“It would hope to have the adherence of all the true friends of Peace, as if it were their own initiative, to be expressed in a free manner, congenial to the particular character of those who are aware of how beautiful and how important is the harmony of all voices in the world for the exaltation of this primary good, which is Peace, in the varied concert of modern humanity,” he said.
This celebration, he added, does not detract from the Solemnity of Mary.
“Such an observance must not change the liturgical calendar, which reserves New Year’s Day for veneration of the divine motherhood of Mary and the most holy Name of Jesus,” he urged, “indeed, those holy and loving religious remembrances must shed their light of goodness, wisdom and hope upon the prayer for, the meditation upon, and the fostering of the great and yearned-for gift of Peace, of which the world has so much need.”
© Catholic World Report