Archbishop Penacchio, Apostolic Nuncio, presided over the ceremony in Warsaw in memory of Pope Benedict XVI, who died on 31 December last year. In his homily, Archbishop Gadeski, president of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, defined Benedict XVI as “one of the most famous theologians of the 20th century and a great witness to the faith”.
(Vatican News Network) The Polish Church celebrated a Mass on January 7 to express its gratitude for the life of Benedict XVI and for the pastoral ministry of the Pope. The Mass was presided over by Archbishop Salvatore Pennacchio, nuncio of the Holy See, and Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, president of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, preached during the mass. He called Benedict XVI one of the most famous theologians of the 20th century and a great witness of faith.
Archbishop Gardeschi underlines that Benedict XVI is committed to the indissolubility of marriage, the strengthening of interreligious relations, the elimination of sexual abuse of minors in the Church and the teaching of the lay faithful in political life in the missionary sphere. “Benedict XVI loved Christ all his life. He appreciated the truth and understood that the truth is the foundation of all Gospel values,” the archbishop said.
Archbishop Penacchio, apostolic nuncio, underlined at the end of the Mass that as a priest and theologian, and later as a guide of the Catholic Church, Benedict XVI was “a collaborator of the truth” and “a master of catechesis and liturgy”. “We are filled with gratitude for the life of Pope Benedict and today we fulfill his last wish: ‘Remember me in your prayers’. We will remember him”. More than 50 bishops, government officials, lay people and religious from all over Poland took part in this thanksgiving.
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