Pope Francis hailed the 'beloved' Benedict XVI on Sunday in a New Year's Day service at the Vatican, the day after his predecessor died aged 95.
Pope Francis hailed the "beloved" Benedict XVI on Sunday in a New Year's Day service at the Vatican, the day after his predecessor died aged 95.
Benedict, a conservative intellectual who in 2013 became the first pontiff in six centuries to resign, died on Saturday at his home in a monastery inside the grounds of the Vatican. A brilliant theologian, he alienated many Catholics with his staunch defence of traditional values and as pope struggled to impose his authority on the church as it battled a string of crises, including over clerical sex abuse.US President Joe Biden, a devout Catholic, praised Benedict’s “devotion to the Church”, while Russian President Vladimir Putin hailed him as a “defender of traditional Christian values”.
After the service on Sunday morning for the World Day of Peace at St Peter’s Basilica, the pontiff will address the faithful in St Peter’s Square for the Angelus prayer at 1100 GMT. Flags on the town hall flew at half-mast Saturday in Marktl, where a special mass was organised at the church where he was baptised.