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☆ Mourners Bid a Quiet Farewell to Pope Benedict
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

VATICAN CITY—The body of Pope Benedict XVI lay before the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday, his head resting on a pair of velvet cushions, his face waxy and ashen, with rosary beads entwined through his folded hands. The twisting baroque columns of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s altar canopy towered behind. The late pope, who retired in 2013, wore a bishop’s miter but, unlike his predecessor, St. John Paul II , when he lay in state, not the woolen cloak around his neck signifying papal office.

☆ Pope Benedict’s Passing Means Conservative Catholics Lose Their Leading Light
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ROME—The death of Pope Benedict XVI has left conservative Catholics without their figurehead, amid deep divisions over how much the church should adapt to the times or reaffirm its traditional teachings against the challenge of secularism. The retired pope was for more than three decades a leader in the culture wars that have shaken the Catholic Church and wider society since the late 1960s. He was a living symbol, depending on one’s point of view, of an intolerant and punitive religiosity or of stalwart fidelity amid disorienting change.

☆ Ukraine Begins New Year With Air Raids, Explosions From Russian Attacks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Watch: Death of Retired Pope Benedict XVI Announced Pope Benedict XVI, who led the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013, died on Saturday at the age of 95. His body will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica from Monday, the Vatican said. Photo: Maurizio Brambatti/Shutterstock

☆ Thousands pay homage as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI lies in state
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

Faithful and curious, the public strode briskly up the center aisle to pass by the bier after waiting in a line that by midmorning snaked around St. Peter’s Square. Filippo Tuccio, 35, came from Venice on an overnight train to view Benedict’s body. “I wanted to pay homage to Benedict because he had a key role in my life and my education. This is why I wanted to say goodbye today.”Public viewing lasts for 10 hours on Monday in St. Peter’s Basilica. Twelve hours of viewing are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday before Thursday morning’s funeral, which will be led by Pope Francis, at St. Peter’s Square.

☆ Watch: Pope Benedict XVI’s Body Lies in State as Mourners Line Up to Pay Respects
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

NFT Artist Beeple on the Future of Digital ArtThe artist Mike Winkelmann, better known as Beeple, is one of the most valuable living artists. But now that demand for non-fungible tokens has cooled and the crypto winter has set in, what does he see as the future of NFTs? Beeple spoke with WSJ art-market reporter Kelly Crow at this year’s WSJ Tech Live event. Zoe Thomas hosts.

☆ Faithful pay respects to former Pope Benedict in St. Peter's
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/8] Faithful pay homage to former Pope Benedict in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, January 2, 2023. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneVATICAN CITY, Jan 2 (Reuters) - A steady stream of people filed into St. Peter's Basilica on Monday to pay their respects to former Pope Benedict XVI, whose body will lie in state in front of the main altar until his funeral later this week. Benedict died on Saturday at the age of 95 in the secluded Vatican monastery where he had lived since his shock resignation in 2013. His funeral will be held on Thursday in St Peter's Square and be presided over by Pope Francis. There were no signs of the huge crowds who came to pay their respects to Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, following his death in 2005.

☆ Pope Francis to Preside Over Predecessor’s Funeral, in a Vatican First
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

VATICAN CITY— Pope Francis will preside over the funeral of his predecessor Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday, bringing a historically unique situation—that of two popes residing practically side by side in the Vatican—to a similarly unusual close. The event will be in a much lower key than the last papal funeral, that of St. John Paul II in 2005, when heads of state and government flocked to Rome along with millions of mourners, some of whom waited a dozen hours or more to file past the Polish pope’s body lying in state in the basilica.

☆ Final farewell: From Sidney Poitier to Pope Emeritus Benedict a look back at the influential figures who died in 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +55 min

Other world leaders who died in 2022 include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who died in August. The final days of 2022 saw the loss of some exceptionally notable figures, including Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Here is a roll call of some influential figures who died in 2022 (cause of death cited for younger people, if available):___JANUARY___Dan Reeves, 77. A Cuban-born artist whose radiant color palette and geometric paintings were overlooked for decades before the art world took notice. A prolific character actor best known for playing villains and tough guys in “The Manchurian Candidate,” “Ocean’s Eleven” and other films.

☆ Pope marks New Year as Vatican prepares to mourn Benedict
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

Pope Francis prayed for his predecessor’s passage to heaven as he presided over a special New Year’s Day Mass Sunday in St. Peter’s Basilica, a day after Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died in retirement at the Vatican. Benedict, 95, died Saturday morning in the Vatican where he had lived since retirement. He departed briefly from reading his homily, with its emphasis on hope and peace, to pray aloud for Benedict. “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,” he said. “At the beginning of this year, we need hope, just as the Earth needs rain,” Francis said.

☆ Watch: Death of Retired Pope Benedict XVI Announced
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Covid in China: What’s Next for Travelers as U.S., Others Impose Tests As China reopens after nearly three years of isolation, the U.S. and several other countries will require travelers to show a negative Covid test. WSJ explains why some pandemic restrictions are back and what they mean for people traveling to and from China. Photo: Nicola Marfisi/Avalon via ZUMA Press

☆ Death of former Pope Benedict overshadows New Year at Vatican
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-01 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/4] Candles stand next to St. Peter's Square after former Pope Benedict died in the Vatican, in Rome, Italy, December 31, 2022. REUTERS/Guglielmo MangiapaneVATICAN CITY, Jan 1 (Reuters) - Pope Francis marked the Roman Catholic Church's traditional World Day of Peace on Sunday but the start of the new year at the Vatican was overshadowed by the death of his predecessor, Benedict. It will be the first time in many centuries that a sitting pope will preside at the funeral of his predecessor. PRAISE, BUT ALSO CRITICISM FOR BENEDICTOn Saturday night the Vatican released Benedict's two-page "spiritual testimony" written in 2006, a year after his election as pope. Francis on Saturday called Benedict a noble, kind man who was a gift to the Church and the world.

The priest sex-abuse scandal was the albatross around the neck of Pope Emeritus Benedict’s brief eight-year reign as leader of the Roman Catholic Church, according to Vatican analysts. Like his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, Benedict also apologized to the victims and then took some steps to punish the predators. They say Benedict should have known better, because, before he became pope, he ran, for 24 year, the Vatican department that dealt directly with priest sex abuse allegations — the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). “He had an inside view of what was going on,” said David Gibson, the director of the Center on Religion and Culture at Fordham University, who is the author of “The Rule of Benedict: Pope Benedict XVI and His Battle with the Modern World.” “His office dealt with these accusations. When John Paul II’s native Poland was part of the old Soviet bloc, accusations against priests were routinely dismissed as fabrications by the communist secret police to undermine the church.

☆ Pope Benedict: His life in pictures
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Jeremy Schultz | ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

The new elected Pope Benedict XVI, known as German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, greets thousands of pilgrims from the balcony of the St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, April 19, 2005. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach/File Photo

☆ Pope Benedict XVI Was a Bestselling Author
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Benedict XVI mostly maintained a low profile over the past decade, though some of his occasional recent writings have stirred controversy. ROME—In his seven-decade career as a scholar and church leader, the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wrote more than 60 books and numerous papal documents, including three encyclicals. An official adviser at the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the pivotal event in the Roman Catholic Church during his lifetime, Joseph Ratzinger was a major figure in the theological debates that followed Vatican II. He also had a large nonacademic following, largely of conservative Catholics who increasingly looked to him for guidance and reassurance in the turbulent post-conciliar period. Even after his election as pope, he continued his scholarship, writing a three-volume study, “Jesus of Nazareth,” which became a bestseller.

☆ Pope Benedict XVI Promoted Traditional Faith, Contended With Sex-Abuse Crisis
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Liam Moloney | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

VATICAN CITY—Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was a scholar and longtime senior official in the Catholic Church who sought to reinvigorate Christian faith and strengthen church orthodoxy before becoming the first pontiff to resign in nearly 600 years. A formidable theologian and arbiter of church doctrine for years under papal predecessor St. John Paul II , Benedict anchored his nearly eight-year pontificate in promoting a transcendent faith in Jesus Christ grounded in definitive truths and compatible with human reason.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s 95 years of life started in a small Bavarian village in Germany and saw him rise to the pinnacle of the Catholic Church. Along the way, Benedict, who died Saturday in the Vatican, would become many things: a conscript into the German army in World War II, a war deserter, the longest-living Pope, and the first Pope to step down in more than six centuries. This timeline shows the milestones in Benedict’s life.

☆ Pope Benedict XVI Dies at Age 95
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Francis X. Rocca | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

ROME—Retired Pope Benedict XVI, who led the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013 before becoming the first pope in nearly 600 years to resign, died early on Saturday, the Vatican said. Pope Francis said on Dec. 28 that his predecessor was very sick, and Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told reporters that Benedict’s health had deteriorated “due to advancing age.”

☆ Former Pope Benedict dies aged 95
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/3] Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives to attend a mass for the beatification of former pope Paul VI in St. Peter's square at the Vatican October 19, 2014. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/File PhotoVATICAN CITY, Dec 31 (Reuters) - Former Pope Benedict, who in 2013 became the first pontiff in 600 years to step down, died on Saturday aged 95 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican where he had lived since his resignation, a spokesman for the Holy See said. "With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. Earlier this week, Pope Francis disclosed during his weekly general audience that his predecessor was "very sick", and asked for people to pray for him. Conservatives in the Church have looked to the former pope as their standard bearer and some ultra-traditionalists even refused to acknowledge Francis as a legitimate pontiff.

☆ Former Pope Benedict was first pontiff to resign in 600 years
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +14 min

[1/3] Pope Benedict XVI blesses a baby as he rides around St Peter's Square to hold his last general audience at the Vatican February 27, 2013. REUTERS/Max Rossi/File PhotoVATICAN CITY, Dec 31 - Former Pope Benedict, who died on Saturday aged 95, was the first pontiff in 600 years to resign, leaving behind a Catholic Church battered by sexual abuse scandals, mired in mismanagement and polarised between conservatives and progressives. Benedict, the first German pope in 1,000 years, had good relations with his successor, Pope Francis, but his continued presence inside the Vatican after he stepped down in 2013 further polarised the Church ideologically. Although he said he would remain "hidden from the world", Benedict did not live up to that promise and in retirement sometimes caused controversy and confusion through his writings. Ganswein's role as a middleman between Benedict and the cardinal was unclear, with many believing he had misled Benedict, the cardinal, or both.

☆ Factbox: Former Pope Benedict to have simple funeral after lying in state
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

VATICAN CITY, Dec 31 (Reuters) - The body of former Pope Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday, will lie in state in St. Peter's Basilica on Monday and remain there for three days before his funeral, which is set for Jan. 5. LYING IN STATEUntil early Monday morning, Benedict's body will remain in the small monastery within the Vatican where he lived. FUNERALBenedict's funeral will be held on Thursday, Jan. 5 in St. Peter's Square, in front of the basilica. The ceremony will start at 9:30 a.m. (0830 GMT) and will be presided over by Pope Francis. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said that following the wishes of Benedict, the funeral would be simple, solemn and sober.

☆ Global reactions to the death of former Pope Benedict
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MARKUS SOEDER, PREMIER OF THE GERMAN STATE OF BAVARIA:"We mourn the death of our Bavarian Pope. The death of Benedict XVI touches me deeply, as it does many people in Bavaria and all over the world. [1/2] Pope Benedict XVI waves as he appears for the last time at the balcony of his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, February 28, 2013. UK PRIME MINISTER RISHI SUNAK:"I am saddened to learn of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. CARDINAL VINCENT NICHOLS, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER:"I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of Pope Benedict.

☆ Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI dies at 95
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Corky Siemaszko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

"With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican," the statement said. Benedict was the longest-living pope, having surpassed Pope Leo XIII in September 2020. "We must think about what Pope Benedict said — 'It's the epoch of sin against God the Creator,'" Francis said at a gathering of Polish bishops. Unlike most priests, Benedict logged little time in parishes. In 2005, his first year as pope, he was accused in a lawsuit of having personally covered up a priest's abuse of three boys in Texas.

☆ Pope Emeritus Benedict in stable condition and participates in Mass
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +3 min

“At present his condition is stationary.”On Wednesday, Pope Francis revealed that his 95-year-old predecessor was “very ill” and he went to see him in his home in the Vatican Gardens. Francis called for prayers for Benedict, resulting in an outpouring of messages of solidarity from rank-and-file Catholics and cardinals alike. On Friday evening, the cardinal vicar of Rome, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, celebrated a special Mass for Benedict in St. John in Lateran Basilica. Referring to Benedict’s nearly 10 years in retirement from the papacy, De Donatis said that the pope emeritus “even in old age, and in illness, continues to sustain humanity totally offering oneself.”The pope emeritus was “in profound communion with Pope Francis,” the cardinal said. At the end of Mass, De Donatis said the faithful were entrusting “our Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI to the maternal care” of Jesus’ mother, “because she has promised to be near to her children in the moment of trial.”

☆ Rituals for Benedict's passing could be template for future ex popes
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Philip Pullella | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/2] Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives to attend a mass for the beatification of former pope Paul VI in St. Peter's square at the Vatican October 19, 2014. The Vatican has painstakingly elaborate rituals for what happens after a reigning pope dies but no publicly known ones for a former pope. They could be a template for other popes who choose to resign instead of ruling for life, including Pope Francis himself someday, Vatican sources say. The last pope to die, John Paul II, was buried on April 8, 2005, six days after he died. Benedict, as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, presided at John Paul's funeral in 2005 in St. Peter's Square and Francis is expected to preside at Benedict's.

☆ Pope Emeritus Benedict is 'lucid and vigilant' but still in serious condition, Vatican says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-29 | by ( Minyvonne Burke | Simeon Paterson | Minyvonne Burke Is A Senior Breaking News Reporter For Nbc News. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +1 min

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is "lucid and vigilant," the Vatican said Thursday, but still remains in serious condition. Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni said that Benedict "managed to rest well last night" and that his health "is stable at the moment." Benedict, 95, has been receiving medical care after the Holy See announced Wednesday that his health had suddenly "worsened." In 2013, Benedict became the first pope in more than 600 years to resign, citing his age and declining strength. The ex-pope has been living in the Vatican since he stepped down, and has relatively remained out of the public eye.

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