The Diplomat
Queen Sofia, the Minister of the Presidency, Felix Bolaños, and the Spanish Ambassador to the Holy See, Maria Isabel Celaá, attended yesterday in St. Peter’s Square the funeral for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, officiated by Pope Francis.
Doña Sofía and Félix Bolaños visited the day before the funeral chapel of Benedict XVI, who died on December 31, 2022, and yesterday attended the funeral Mass for the Pope Emeritus. Once the ceremony was over, the Queen Emeritus received the greeting of Pope Francis.
Thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square to participate in the funeral Mass for Benedict XVI. “Father, into your hands we commend his spirit. Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be perfect in hearing definitively and forever his voice,” Pope Francis proclaimed during the homily of the funeral celebration, in which 130 cardinals, 400 bishops and almost 3,700 priests participated, according to the Holy See. At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, the Ultima Commendatio and Valedictio took place, after which the coffin was transferred to St. Peter’s Basilica and then to the Vatican Grottoes for burial.
Yesterday’s was the first funeral of a pope held for his successor since 1802. The most recent precedent occurred with Pius VI, who, after dying in exile in Valence in 1799 as a prisoner of the French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, had a solemn funeral three years later, officiated by Pius VII, after his remains were brought back to Rome.
For his part, Félix Bolaños yesterday issued a video message addressed “especially to the Catholic community” to express “on behalf of the Government of Spain our condolences for the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.” “Benedict XVI led the Church for eight years with humility, with absolute dedication and with a deep commitment to the Catholic faith, the same commitment that made him resign from the Pontificate when he felt he no longer had the strength to continue his mission, a courageous, generous decision, unusual in 600 years, carried out with the discretion that always characterized him,” the minister continued.
“His Pontificate was not long, but his intellectual vocation, his example of courage and generosity are, without a doubt, his great legacy,” Bolaños declared. “From the Government of Spain we will continue working with the Catholic Church to find spaces of understanding, to reach agreements, always seeking the general interest,” he assured. “The Spanish delegation, headed by Her Majesty Queen Sofia, reiterates its condolences for the loss of Joseph Ratzinger, of Benedict XVI. May he rest in peace,” he concluded.
