BENEDICT XVI. The funeral of Benedict XVI takes place this Thursday, January 5 in the morning. What is the program ? On which channels to follow the celebrations?
[Mis à jour le 4 janvier 2023 à 22h51] The funeral of former Pope Benedict XVI takes place this Thursday, January 5, 2023. For the occasion, the French television channels are on deck, France 2 in the lead. The public service channel did not hesitate for the occasion to turn its entire program schedule upside down. A special edition, live, hosted by Julian Bugier, will be offered from 9:15 a.m. to 11:25 a.m. Unsurprisingly, the continuous news channels BFM TV, Franceinfo, LCI and CNews will also be mobilized to follow the funeral of ex-Pope Benedict XVI.
Five days after his death on Saturday, December 31, 2022, and after his remains have been on display in St. Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican, since Monday, before being placed in a cypress coffin, as tradition dictates. , late Wednesday afternoon, Benedict XVI will be buried this Thursday, January 5. Exceptionally and not least, it is Pope Francis himself who will preside over the burial of Benedict XVI. In detail, at 8:50 a.m., the coffin must be brought to St. Peter’s Square in order “to allow the faithful to pray the rosary on the coffin of the pope emeritus”, specifies the Vatican. At 9:30 a.m., the ceremony presided over by Pope Francis will begin.
Note that “the prayers [ont toutes dû être] remodeled”, Benedict XVI was no longer in office at the time of his death. As a result, certain texts, present in normal times for the funeral of a pope, will be absent. According to The cross, the penitential act and then the Kyrie should open the ceremony. Then come four acts: a passage from the book of Isaiah, Psalm 22, then an extract from the First Letter of Saint Peter, as well as a passage from the Gospel of Saint Luke. To conclude, Pope Francis will deliver the homily. The mass booklet is to be found here. The dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, who will still be in charge of the celebration of the ceremony, even if it will be presided over by Pope Francis, should deliver the final farewell speech which will close the ceremony. of these funerals which are intended to be “solemn, but sober”.
The coffin of former Pope Benedict XVI will then be taken to the Vatican Grottoes, located under St. Peter’s Basilica. A priori, the cameras should not be invited, but BFM-TV reports that the cypress coffin will then, as tradition dictates, be placed in a lead coffin and then in a third oak coffin. Ex-Pope Benedict XVI is set to be laid to rest where John Paul II was originally buried, before it was moved in 2011.
Born on April 16, 1927 in Marktl in Bavaria to parents fundamentally opposed to Nazism, he joined the hitler youth in 1941. He thus refused to join the Waffen SS in 1944, and expressed his desire to join the seminary. He was assigned to the Wehrmacht that same year, and deserted shortly before the German surrender. It will be worth to him to be interned during six weeks in a camp of prisoners of war with Aibling. Once released, he began his training as a priest and was ordained on June 29, 1951 by Cardinal von Faulhaber. In 1977, he was appointed cardinal priest of Santa Maria Consolatrice al Tiburtino by Pope Paul VI. A theologian recognized by his peers, he was appointed Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, President of the International Theological Commission and of the Pontifical Biblical Commission by the Pope. John Paul II in 1981.
Joseph Ratzinger continued his ascent and became cardinal-bishop in 1993. He entered the College of Cardinals and became its dean in 2002. April 19, 2005, Cardinal Ratzinger is elected to succeed John Paul II, and becomes the first German pope since Victor II, in the 11th century. Known for its conservatism, the pontificate of Benedict XVI marked public opinion with certain positions. He is particularly opposed to the wearing of condoms, homosexuality or abortion. In his Regensburg speech in 2006, he provoked controversy by linking the Muslim religion to violence. But Benedict XVI also distinguished himself for his fight against anti-Semitism and pedophilia in his Church.
After a pontificate of almost eight years, Benedict XVI announced, on February 11, 2013, that he would resign from his functions, which was a first in the history of the Vatican. To justify his resignation, Pope Benedict evokes his fatigue and his vitality which are dwindling with the weight of his office and his many trips. He wears, since the day of his waiver official, on February 28, 2013, the title of “His Holiness Benedict XVI, Roman Pontiff Emeritus”. The pope emeritus has since lived in retirement in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, located in the gardens of Vatican City. In March 2013, Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio succeeded him under the name of Pope Francis. This new, more open pontificate contrasts considerably with that of Benedict XVI.
Since his renunciation in 2013 at the age of 86, Benedict XVI had made only rare official appearances, during the canonization of the popes John XXIII and John Paul II for example. Despite fragile health, he had continued to receive visits, in particular those from his brother, the priest Georg Ratzinger, as well as those from Pope Francis. On June 28, 2016, a celebration was organized for his 65 years of priesthood. Living in the Vatican, he had made an appearance during the appointment of cardinals at the end of August 2022. On December 29, 2022, his successor, Pope Francis, declared that he was “seriously ill”. Two days later, on December 31, 2022, the Vatican announced his death at the age of 95.
Benedict XVI: key dates
- April 16, 1927: Birth of Joseph Ratzinger, 265th pope under the name of Benedict XVI.
- Joseph Alois Ratzinger was born on April 16, 1927 in Marktl, Bavaria. A former philosophy teacher, this erudite theologian, with an intellectual reputation, became a cardinal in 1997. He was elected pope on April 19, 2005 under the name of Benedict XVI, thus succeeding John Paul II. His pontificate is marked by very traditional positions, notably on homosexuality and the right to abortion. He actively participated in the beatification of his predecessor.