A “companion and role model”, a theologian, priest and bishop, with whom he was connected for years. This is how Cardinal Christoph Schönborn describes Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died on December 31, 2022 at the age of 95. The St. Pölten diocesan bishop Alois Schwarz also emphasized in a broadcast that the emeritus pontiff was one of the “greatest teachers of theology who encouraged people to live ‘friendship with Jesus'”.
Benedict XVI, born Joseph Ratzinger in Bavaria. was the head of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013. In 2013 he became the first pope to resign since the 13th century.
Bishop Schwarz, Benedict XVI. among other things during his ad limina visit to Rome in 2005, also emphasized the “own way of the Pope Emeritus of leading us to the beauty of faith”. Benedict XVI I knew that “the beauty of faith is the beauty of love crucified by Jesus of Nazareth”.
Pope Benedict also visited Austria very often – as a popular holiday home. He also gave many lectures here.
Unforgettable visit to Vienna and Mariazell
A highlight was the visit of Benedict XVI. in Vienna and Mariazell in September 2007. “An Austria without the Christian faith would no longer be Austria,” he said at the time in the Vienna Hofburg. Bishop Schwarz recalls that it was from here that he extended the programmatic invitation to “Look at Christ” to the whole world. As a great scholar and friend of the people, the emeritus pope led in sensitivity and in the intellectual search for the truth of the faith.
The funeral ceremony for Benedict XVI. is scheduled for Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica. Pope Francis will preside over the ceremony.