“Jill and I join Catholics around the world, and so many others, in mourning the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,” President Joe Biden said in a written statement. Read more condolences from world leaders:
Pope Francis presides over the first Vespers and the 'Te Deum' in St. Peter's Basilica Saturday, Dec. 31, 2022. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who will be remembered as the first pope in 600 years to resign, has died, the Vatican announced Saturday. He was 95.
"Only God knows the value and the strength of his intercession, of his sacrifices offered for the good of the Church,'' Francis said softly. “Jill and I join Catholics around the world, and so many others, in mourning the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,” Biden said in a written statement."I had the privilege of spending time with Pope Benedict at the Vatican in 2011 and will always remember his generosity and welcome as well as our meaningful conversation.
Starting on Monday morning, the faithful will be able to file by his body in St. Peter's Basilica, and viewing will also be held on Tuesday and Wednesday. Benedict “prayed in silence, as one should do," said Fabrizio Giambrone, a tourist from Sicily who recalled the late pontiff as a ”very good person" who lacked the “charisma” of his predecessor, St. John Paul II, and of his successor, Pope Francis.
The American Jewish Committee in a statement from New York praised Benedict for having"continued the path of reconciliation and friendship with world Jewry blazed by his predecessor, John Paul II.” The organization noted that the German-born Catholic church leader had “paid homage in Auschwitz” to the victims of the Holocaust and had made an official visit to Israel.