Pope Francis rang in 2023 with prayers for his late predecessor at a special New Year’s Day mass.
Francis delivered the invocation during his homily at St. Peter’s Basilica, where Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will lie in state for three days beginning Monday.
Benedict, 95, died in retirement on New Year’s Eve at the iMater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City, where he resided following his resignation. He was the first pope in some six centuries to step down from the papacy in 2013.
“Today we entrust to our Blessed Mother our beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, so that she may accompany him in his passage from this world to God,” Francis said.
He again remembered Benedict later Sunday while addressing thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square, saying “in these hours, we invoke her intercession, in particular for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who, yesterday morning, left this world.”
“Let us unite all together, with one heart and one soul, in giving thanks to God for the gift of this faithful servant of the Gospel and of the church,” Francis said from a window of the Apostolic Palace.
The 86-year-old pope will preside over Benedict’s funeral mass at the basilica on Thursday — a rare spectacle because the death of a pope normally kickstarts the process of choosing a new church leader in a papal conclave.
Rome Prefect Bruno Frattasi, an Interior Ministry official, estimated in remarks to Italian state television that no fewer than 25,000 to 30,000 were expected to visit Benedict’s coffin Monday.
Pope Francis will preside over Benedict’s funeral mass Thursday, marking an unprecedented event in modern times. AP
Francis arrived at mass in a wheelchair as he grappled with knee pain. The pontiff appeared weary a day after mourning Benedict at his monastery following the death.
The pope had grieved for “quite some time” at Benedict’s home, according to Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.
Pope Francis delivers his blessing as he recites the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023. AP
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was the first pope in 600 years to step down. APFrancis had applauded Benedict’s 2013 retirement due to frailty, and has said he would also consider the rare papal maneuver for himself.
The first mass of the year in Vatican City was celebrated by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the country’s secretary of state. It’s theme was hope and peace, per Catholic church tradition.
“At the beginning of this year, we need hope, just as the Earth needs rain,” Francis said during his homily as he decried Russia’s war against Ukraine and prayed for its victims.
With David Propper, AP wires
