• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Effie Caldarola
          • John Garvey
          • Father Ed Dougherty, M.M.
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
  • CR Radio
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Pope Francis presides over the funeral Mass of Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Jan. 5, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Archbishop Lori call’s Pope Benedict’s funeral ‘noble simplicity’

January 5, 2023
By Christopher Gunty
Catholic Review
Filed Under: Feature, Local News, News, Pope Benedict XVI, Vatican

Among the more than 50,000 people in St. Peter’s Square Jan. 5 for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, who said the subdued nature of the liturgy was at the request of the retired pontiff, the first to resign the papacy in more than 600 years.

“I think Pope Benedict explicitly requested that his funeral rites be celebrated with simplicity,” the archbishop said via Zoom from Rome, shortly after the funeral. 

“I think it was a noble simplicity. It was beautiful and it allowed the liturgical prayers to speak for themselves, as he would have wished,” he said.

Pallbearers carry a casket with the body of Pope Benedict XVI into St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican for his funeral Mass celebrated by Pope Francis Jan. 5, 2023. (CNS photo/Chris Warde-Jones)

Also in attendance at the funeral was Cardinal Edwin F. O’Brien, archbishop emeritus of Baltimore and grand master emeritus of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher. 

Pope Francis presided over the Mass and Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, was the main celebrant at the altar, according to Catholic News Service. Some 120 cardinals, another 400 bishops and 3,700 priests concelebrated. More than 1,000 journalists, photographers and camera operators from around the world were accredited to cover the funeral in St. Peter’s Square.

A number of visitors told Catholic News Service that banners and flags were being confiscated by security upon entrance. Of the few flags and banners that did make it past security was a white cloth with “Santo Subito” (“Sainthood Now”) written in red and a “Thank you, Pope Benedict” written in light blue in German.

Asked whether he thought Pope Benedict will eventually be declared a saint, Archbishop Lori said, “I think there is a widespread perception of his goodness, his integrity, his lifelong discipline and his generosity in placing his abundant gifts entirely at the service of the church. People perceive this, and I think that is what lies behind those ‘Santo Subito’ signs and calls that we saw. 

“I was not surprised to see them,” he added.

The archbishop said he thinks that Pope Benedict “will be remembered as one who combined great learning, encyclopedic learning, depth of learning with pastoral, love and pastoral care – making great thoughts, deep thoughts and perceptions about the faith available to a wide swath of people.” 

Above all, the archbishop said, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, even before he was elected to the papacy, made accessible to millions of people around the world – believers and nonbelievers alike – the person of Jesus Christ, particularly through his many writings. 

In his capacity as bishop, archbishop and supreme chaplain of the Knights of Columbus, Archbishop Lori had many occasions to meet with Cardinal Ratzinger, and later as Pope Benedict. 

“He was always gentle, he always focused on the person he was with. When I received the pallium (a symbol of the office of archbishop, which Archbishop Lori received in Rome in June 2012 after coming to the archdiocese), he remarked to me of his own accord that Baltimore is the first diocese in the United States. I didn’t bring it up, he brought it up – and he said that to me several times.”

He said that as Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus, he often accompanied the Supreme Knight on visits to the pope. “It was almost as though he remembered our conversations from year to year. And no matter how tired he was, no matter how he might have been feeling or what he was going through, he gave us his undivided attention and was the soul of graciousness.”

Archbishop Lori said that this visit to Rome – which lasted only a little more than two days – was really a pilgrimage of sorts – an opportunity to thank God for raising up leaders such as Pope Benedict and a moment to renew trust in divine providence, that God is loving and caring for the church.

“It was an opportunity to realize anew the depth, the beauty, the truth and the goodness of the faith which flows from and is centered upon the person of Jesus Christ – all things that Pope Benedict’s life bore witness to,” he said.

Email Christopher Gunty at editor@CatholicReview.org.

Read More Pope Benedict XVI

‘I love you, Papa!’: Maryland Catholics recall encounters with Pope Benedict XVI

RADIO INTERVIEW: Remembering Pope Emeritus Benedict

In a turn of history, Poland is country that will miss German pope the most

Pope’s tribute to predecessor ‘refined and profound,’ says Benedict aide

Dioceses, bishops across the nation celebrate Masses in honor of Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI laid to rest today where two canonized popes were buried

Copyright © 2023 Catholic Review Media

Print Print

Primary Sidebar

Christopher Gunty

A Chicago-area native, Christopher Gunty is associate publisher/editor of The Catholic Review and CEO of its parent publishing company, The Cathedral Foundation/CR Media. He also serves as a host of Catholic Review Radio.

He has spent his whole professional career in Catholic journalism as a writer, photographer, editor, circulation manager and associate publisher. He spent four years with The Chicago Catholic; 19 years as founding editor and associate publisher of The Catholic Sun in Phoenix, Ariz.; and six years at The Florida Catholic. In July 2009, he came to Baltimore to lead The Cathedral Foundation.

Chris served as president of the Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada from 1996 to 1998, and has traveled extensively learning about and reporting on the work of the church, including Hong Kong, Malaysia, Haiti, Poland, Italy, Germany and finally in 2010 visited the Holy Land for the first time.

View all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Archdiocese dispenses with meatless obligation for St. Patrick’s Day
  • Hold the tuna casserole; pass the crab cake this Lent
  • Theater program hits new highs at Immaculate Conception
  • Trainor to retire from post as Mount St. Mary’s president in 2024
  • Movie Review: ’65’

| Latest Local News |

Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, O.S.F., dies at 81

RADIO INTERVIEW: Dining with the Saints

Archdiocese dispenses with meatless obligation for St. Patrick’s Day

| Latest World News |

Legendary communist-era priest, Father Blachnicki, was murdered, Polish authorities confirm

Do not be afraid to be a witness to God’s love, pope says

Welcoming migrants, refugees is first step toward peace, pope says

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Legendary communist-era priest, Father Blachnicki, was murdered, Polish authorities confirm
  • Do not be afraid to be a witness to God’s love, pope says
  • Question Corner: Jesus became man so I could become God?
  • Papa: Acoger a migrantes y refugiados es el primer paso hacia la paz
  • Sister Elizabeth Ellen Kane, O.S.F., dies at 81
  • Welcoming migrants, refugees is first step toward peace, pope says
  • RADIO INTERVIEW: Dining with the Saints
  • Good politics brings people together, generates care for others, pope says
  • Wyoming becomes first state to ban abortion pills

Search

Membership

Catholic Press Association of the United States and Canada

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2023 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED