Pilgrims can now pray at Pope emeritus Benedict XVI’s tomb.
On Sunday, the Vatican opened the Crypt of the Popes for pilgrims to visit.
To access the Crypt, pilgrims enter St. Peter’s Basilica and go to the central point—the Altar of Confession, which covers the remains of St. Peter. This altar is covered by Bernini’s majestic “baldacchino.”
Then, pilgrims head down a flight of stairs to reach the Crypt of the Popes, where the Pope emeritus and several of his predecessors are buried.
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Telling parents and godparents to teach their little ones to pray from the time they are small, Pope Francis baptized 13 babies in the Sistine Chapel as their older brothers and sisters looked on — or got away and ran around.
With his knee apparently improving, Pope Francis walked with a cane from his seat to a lectern to give his homily standing — something he has not done at a public Mass for months — and rolled up his sleeves and stood at the font as he poured water over the heads of the infants, children of Vatican employees.
The annual baptism Mass in the Sistine Chapel is celebrated on the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, which the Vatican and Italy celebrated Jan. 8 this year.
Pope Francis began his homily by thanking the parents for deciding to have their children baptized and asking them to remind the children throughout their lives of the date of their baptism since “it is like a birthday because baptism is a rebirth to the Christian life.”
“May they remember and thank God for this grace of having become Christians,” he said.
Baptism is the beginning of a journey, he said, and it is up to parents and godparents to support the children as they take their steps along the way.
The first task, he said, is to teach the children to pray from the time they are very small, starting with showing them how to make the sign of the cross and how hold their hands in prayer.
“Prayer will be what gives them strength throughout their lives — in good times to thank God and in the difficult times to find strength,” the pope said. “It’s the first thing you must teach: how to pray.”
They also should teach children to pray to Mary, who “is the mother, our mother,” the pope said. “They say that when someone is mad at the Lord or has distanced himself from him, Mary is always nearby to show the path to return.”
As he does every year, Pope Francis also reassured the parents, telling them not to worry if the babies cry during Mass or need to be fed or fuss because they are too hot or too cold. “Make them comfortable; everyone should be comfortable,” he said.
Later, reciting the Angelus at midday with visitors in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis focused on the meaning of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, and he quoted the late Pope Benedict XVI in doing so.
In his homily on the feast day in 2008, Pope Francis said, “Benedict XVI affirmed that ‘God desired to save us by going to the bottom of this abyss himself so that every person, even those who have fallen so low that they can no longer perceive heaven, may find God’s hand to cling to and rise from the darkness to see again the light for which he or she was made.'”
Pope Francis told the crowd in the square, “The Lord is always there, not ready to punish us, but with his hand outstretched to help us rise up.”
Too often, the pope said, people think that God administers justice like human beings do: “those who do wrong pay, and in this way compensate for the wrong they have done.”
But, he said, “God’s justice, as the Scripture teaches, is much greater: it does not have as its end the condemnation of the guilty, but their salvation and rebirth, making them righteous.”
God’s justice, he said, “comes from love, from the depths of compassion and mercy that are the very heart of God, the father who is moved when we are oppressed by evil and fall under the weight of sins and fragility.”
Jesus came into the world “to take on his own shoulders the sin of the world and to descend into the waters of the abyss, death, so as to rescue us from drowning,” the pope said.
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The Vatican’s Epiphany Mass began with this entrance procession accompanied by the hymn Adeste Fideles.
Groups from around the world dressed in traditional attire were also present for the Mass.
At the beginning of the celebration, Pope Francis invited Christians to follow the example of the Magi who went to adore the baby Jesus.
The Diocese of Brooklyn celebrated a Mass in honor of the late Pope Benedict XVI, on Thursday, January 5, 2023, at the Cathedral Basilica of St. James.
Auxiliary Bishop Neil Tiedemann was the main celebrant of the Mass, which was concelebrated by about 20 priests of the diocese.
Five deacons were also on hand, along with students from nearly all of the Catholic high schools in the diocese.
“Today, we believe that the promise that Jesus makes to us, the souls of the just, are in his hands. Benedict is with Him. We are told that we are children of God, but what we shall be we don’t know. But we will see God as He is, and we will become like Him. You and I will become like Him, but we pray this morning our brother Benedict, our shepherd, sees God as He is,” preached Bishop Tiedemann.
Currents News presents special coverage of the Funeral Mass of Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday, January 5. Anchor Christine Persichette is joined by Father Frank Tumino, Editor Emeritus of The Tablet Ed Wilkinson, and correspondents from the Vatican.
By Elise Ann Allen
ROME (Crux) — With the passing of Pope Benedict XVI, the question has been raised anew as to whether Pope Francis will now issue new protocols for a pope who steps down from office, as many have speculated.
The anomaly of the whole idea of an “emeritus pope” has been clear for the past decade, and even the details of Pope Benedict’s death and funeral arrangements are providing fresh reminders.
For one thing, there was no symbolic smashing of the “fisherman’s ring,” as Pope Benedict’s was already destroyed when he became the first pope to resign from the papacy in 600 years in 2013. No death bells tolled at his passing, and no formal announcement was made by a Vatican official, although the Vatican’s regular bells, which usually toll every quarter of an hour, have been silent since Pope Benedict’s passing at 9:34 a.m. on New Year’s Eve.
Only around 60,000 people are expected to attend Pope Benedict’s funeral, compared to the 300,000 that attended the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005, though an estimated 65,000 people paid their respects to Pope Benedict on Monday, his first day of lying in state in St. Peter’s Basilica, with Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni among the first to enter.
Pope Benedict will lay in state for just three days, rather than the traditional four to six for a reigning pope, and only Germany and Italy have been invited to send official delegations for his Jan. 5 funeral, which will be presided over by Pope Francis.
Leaders of other countries have been advised that they are free to attend if they wish but in a private, rather than official, capacity. So far, several have confirmed their informal attendance or announced plans to attend, including Queen Sofia and minister Félix Bolaños of Spain; King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium; Polish President Andrzej Duda; Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda; Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa; Bavarian Governor Markus Soder; and Hungarian President Katalin Novak.
Since Pope Benedict’s historic resignation in 2013, some experts have argued that clearer rules are needed for a retired pope to prevent any confusion about who is actually in charge and to ensure there is no chance that the pope emeritus can interfere with the reign of his successor.
For instance, some canonists and experts have argued that the title he chose, “pope emeritus,” was confusing, as was his choice to continue wearing the white cassock associated with the papacy and to be addressed as “His Holiness.”
Pope Benedict XVI’s longtime personal secretary, German Archbishop Georg Gänswein, said in a recent interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that Pope Benedict himself chose to be called “pope emeritus” because he was “faced with a decision so exceptional, to return to cardinal would not have been natural.”
Gänswein insisted, however, that Pope Benedict was always aware that “there was always only one pope, and he is called Pope Francis.”
His writings and public comments in retirement on issues such as clerical sexual abuse and priestly celibacy, as well as the Second Vatican Council, have frequently been spun as opposition to his predecessor or attempts to influence Pope Francis’ decision-making. Veteran Italian journalist Luigi Accattoli recently cataloged at least 30 such instances when Pope Benedict departed from his vow to remain “hidden from the world,” often at Pope Francis’ request.
Many so-called Catholic “traditionalists” have continued to make Pope Benedict XVI their papal point of reference, refusing to recognize Pope Francis’ authority. A common toast among traditionally-leaning clergy in Rome after Pope Francis’ election, for example, was to “Benedict our pope, and Francis our bishop.”
While Pope Francis in the past has said that he believes additional protocols for the office of a retired pope are necessary and that the status quo between him and his predecessor worked because Pope Benedict was both “saintly and discreet,” in a more recent interview he said he had no plans to issue such protocols himself.
Speaking to ABC Español in mid-December, Pope Francis was also asked whether he had any plans to issue a decree outlining the role of a pope emeritus.
In his response, Pope Francis said no, stating, “I didn’t change a thing, I didn’t even think about doing it,” adding that, “Perhaps the Holy Spirit has no interest in me worrying about those things.”
Now that Pope Benedict XVI has passed, the question is whether or not Pope Francis will reconsider that position or whether he plans to leave that to his own successor, as any issuance of new norms could be interpreted as critical of Pope Benedict’s actions.
Beyond Pope Francis’ own intentions, there’s also an active debate among canonists about whether it’s even possible for one pope to issue rules that would limit the choices of another. While Pope Francis could issue rules now to govern his own situation, should he elect at some future point to retire, experts say the binding force of those measures would expire with his papacy.
By Jessica Easthope
The Tablet was there to cover it all, the nose of an Al Italia jet came around the corner and into a private hangar in a remote area of John F. Kennedy International Airport. Ed Wilkinson, Editor Emeritus of the Tablet first saw the Holy Father from behind the lens of his camera.
“It only lasted for about ten minutes and it was supposed to be a non-event but for those of us there it was really thrilling,” he said.
Before he made it to New York, he met with survivors of clergy sex abuse in Washington D.C. The closed-door meeting was a first step in acknowledging the evil and restoring trust in the Church.
“When the Holy Father came and he met with some of the victims it was a sense that we were acknowledging this was a very harmful time and very sinful and he was very emphatic he said anyone who committed sexual abuse should not be a priest, he said there is no place in the priesthood for someone who abuses a child,” said Wilkinson.
“I was really proud that he did that,” said Bishop Emeritus Nicholas DiMarzio. “It definitely helped, you could see that he suffered through that area of his worked, every time he spoke about it he said it was terrible, it was a scandal, it should have never happened and should never happen again.”
The pope’s fast paced days in the big apple were marked by some iconic moments, like when he prayed for the souls lost on September 11, 2001 at Ground Zero in a city whose wounds of that day were still fresh, even seven years later.
“In spite of the fact that he said all these Masses the most moving moment was when he went to Ground Zero, people sensitivities were still raw and to see him go down there and pray on a kneeler it was a moving part of the trip,” Wilkinson said.
But it was cheers not even the Yankees themselves could bring on that brought the Pope into Yankee stadium to say Mass for 57,000 people, all erupting in applause for the Holy Father.
“You just got a sense of the immensity of the event and the Holy Father was waving to everyone and he had his papal cross and there was a huge crowd and and he was very well accepted,” said Wilkinson.
And another first, on his trip to New York City, Pope Benedict became the first Pope to enter a Jewish place of worship, he made an unprecedented visit to the Park East Synagogue on the eve of Passover. He made the arrangements himself.
“It wasn’t something anyone here thought of or arranged, he put that in, and he was always inter-religious,” said Bishop DiMarzio.
His departure was more like a party, 1,000 people, including then Vice President Dick Cheney and the second lady saw the Holy Father off. He thanked Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio by name.
“Just kindness, he exuded kindness in every way,” he said.
During his visit to New York, Bishop DiMarzio said a Pope who was misunderstood and had a reputation for being a harsh enforcer, couldn’t have been more gentle.
By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Jan. 5 funeral Mass for Pope Benedict XVI will be a papal funeral with a few changes to fit with the fact that he was not the reigning pope and has not left behind a “sede vacante.”
“The liturgical celebration follows the model of a funeral service for a supreme pontiff, broadly speaking,” Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, told reporters Jan. 3.
While based on a traditional papal funeral, he said, it will have “some new elements that give the rite its originality and some missing elements, which are those that are more pertinent to a reigning pontiff.”
For example, there are no final prayers offered by representatives of the Diocese of Rome and of the Eastern Catholic churches, since those prayers are specific to the death of a reigning pope, who is bishop of the Diocese of Rome and is in communion with the leaders of the Eastern-rite churches.
Bruni spoke to reporters in the Vatican press office after the booklet for the funeral Mass was published by the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff.
The Mass booklet features a color reproduction of Caravaggio’s “Deposition” or entombment of Christ — a 17th-century masterpiece housed in the Vatican Museums.
Some differences can be seen in some of the prayers and the readings, Bruni said.
The first reading will be taken from the Book of Isaiah (29:16-19) in which the Lord says there will be a day when the deaf will hear the words of a scroll “and, after gloom and darkness, the eyes of the blind will see. But the lowly will rejoice in the Lord even more and the poorest exult in the Holy One of Israel.”
In comparison, the first reading at St. John Paul II’s funeral Mass was “Peter’s Speech” from the Acts of the Apostles (10:34-43), which speaks of the apostles’ mandate to preach and testify that everyone who believes in Christ “will receive forgiveness of sins through his name.”
The second reading for the Jan. 5 Mass is from the first letter of St. Peter (1:3-9) which praises God’s mercy giving the faithful “a new birth” as his children and “by raising Jesus Christ from the dead, so that we have a sure hope and the promise” of eternal life in heaven.
The second reading at St. John Paul’s funeral was from the letter of St. Paul to the Philippians (3:20-4:1) about the faithful’s “citizenship in heaven.”
The Gospel reading for Pope Benedict’s funeral Mass was to be from St. Luke’s account of Jesus’ final moments on the cross and telling the “good thief” who recognized him as the Christ, “today you will be with me in paradise.” The Gospel reading for St. John Paul’s funeral Mass was from John (21: 15-19) when Jesus told Peter to feed his sheep.
The only other notable changes are in the prayers of the faithful. They include petitions for “Pope Emeritus Benedict, who has fallen asleep in the Lord: may the eternal Shepherd receive him into his kingdom of light and peace,” followed by a prayer “for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and for all the pastors of the church: may they proclaim fearlessly, in word and deed, Christ’s victory over evil and death.”
Pope Benedict had wished his funeral to be simple, Bruni had said, emphasizing it would be “solemn, but sober.” Pope Francis will preside over the funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square and Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, will be the main celebrant at the altar.
Some traditions connected with the death and burial of a pope will be followed, Bruni said, such as three objects being deposited in the pope’s casket before he is buried: his palliums, coins and medals minted during his pontificate, and a “rogito” or scroll that summarizes in Latin the highlights of his papacy.
Responding to questions about whether Pope Benedict XVI would be buried with a pastoral staff or a papal ferula, which is a staff topped with a cross, Bruni said the ferula is only held by a reigning pope and that no pope is ever buried with either item.
After public viewing of his body ends the evening of Jan. 4, Pope Benedict will be placed in a traditional cypress casket, following a traditional ritual, Bruni said.
Before the funeral, the casket will be carried into St. Peter’s Square and the faithful will be asked to join the recitation of the rosary before Mass.
After the funeral, again following tradition, the casket will be sealed and wrapped with ribbons, then it will be placed inside a zinc casket that will be soldered and sealed, and then that will be placed inside a casket made of wood.
The moment of his burial in the grotto of St. Peter’s Basilica, where other popes are buried, will be private, Bruni said.