Pope Francis - A
reigning pope and Benedict a former pope have met for the first time in at
least 600 years, as Pope Francis travelled south of Rome for lunch with his
predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
More pictures
after the cut........
CASTEL GANDOLFO,
ITALY The two men in white embraced and showed one another the deference owed a
pope in ways that surely turned Vatican protocol upside down: A reigning pope
telling a retired one, “We are brothers,” and insisting that they pray side-by-side
during a date to discuss the future of the Catholic Church.
Pope Francis
travelled Saturday from the Vatican to this hilltown south of Rome to have
lunch with his predecessor, Benedict XVI, an historic and potentially
problematic melding of the papacies that has never before confronted the
church.
In a season of
extraordinary moments, starting with Benedict’s resignation and climaxing with
the election of the first Latin American pope, Saturday’s encounter provided
perhaps the most enduring images of this papal transition as popes present and
past embraced, prayed and broke bread together.
“It was a moment
of great communion in the church,” said the Vatican spokesman, the Rev.
Federico Lombardi. “The spiritual union of these two people is truly a great gift
and a promise of serenity for the church.”
Benedict, 85,
has been living at the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo since he stepped down
Feb. 28 and became the first pope to resign in 600 years. From the moment he
was elected, Francis, 76, made clear he would go visit him, refusing in a way
to let Benedict remain “hidden from the world” as he had intended.
Wearing a white
quilted jacket over his white cassock to guard against the spring chill,
Benedict greeted Francis on the helipad of the Castel Gandolfo gardens as soon
as the papal helicopter landed. They embraced and clasped hands. And in a
series of gestures that followed, Benedict made clear that he considered
Francis to be pope while Francis made clear he considered his predecessor to be
very much a revered brother and equal.
Travelling from
the helipad to the palazzo, Benedict gave Francis the seat on the right-hand
side of the car, the traditional place of the pope, while Benedict sat on the
left. When they entered the chapel inside the palazzo to pray, Benedict tried
to direct Francis to the papal kneeler in the front, but Francis refused.
Taking
Benedict’s hands and drawing him near, Francis said, “No, we are brothers,”
Lombardi said. The two used a longer kneeler in the pews and prayed
side-by-side, the papal kneeler facing the altar left vacant.
It was a gesture
that, 10 days into Francis’ papacy, is becoming routine: a shunning of the
trappings of the papacy in favour of a collegial and simple style that harks
back to his Jesuit roots and ministry in the slums of Buenos Aires.
Francis also
brought a gift for Benedict, an icon of the Madonna.
“They told me
it’s the Madonna of Humility,” Francis told Benedict. “Let me say one thing:
When they told me that, I immediately thought of you, at the many marvelous
examples of humility and gentleness that you gave us during your pontificate.”
Benedict
replied: “Grazie, grazie.”
Outside the
villa, the main piazza of Castel Gandolfo was packed with well-wishers bearing
photos of both popes and chanting “Francesco! Francesco!” But the crowd soon
dissipated after Francis’ helicopter left 2.5 hours later, without either pope
coming to the balcony as many had hoped.
The Vatican
downplayed the remarkable reunion in keeping with Benedict’s desire to stay out
of the spotlight so as not to interfere with his successor’s papacy. There was
no live coverage by Vatican television, and only a short video and still photos
were released after the meeting. No details of the pair’s private talks or
lunch were released.
All of which led
to enormous speculation about what these two men in white might have said to
one another. That the former Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was second only to
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in the 2005 conclave that elected Ratzinger pope —
considered then to be the “anti-Ratzinger” candidate — only added to the
popular imagination about what two men with such radically different styles,
backgrounds and priorities might have chatted about over lunch.
Perhaps during
their primo, or pasta course, they discussed the big issues facing the church:
the rise of secularism in the world, the drop in priestly vocations in Europe,
the competition that the Catholic Church faces in Latin America and Africa from
evangelical Pentecostal movements.
During their
secondo, or second course of meat or fish, they may have discussed more
pressing issues about Francis’ new job: Benedict left a host of unfinished
business on Francis’ plate, including the outcome of a top-secret investigation
into the leaks of papal documents last year that exposed corruption and
mismanagement in the Vatican administration. Francis might have wanted to sound
Benedict out on his ideas for management changes in the Holy See
administration, a priority given the dysfunctional government he has inherited.
Benedict’s
resignation — and his choices about his future — have raised the
not-insignificant question of how the Catholic Church will deal with the novel
situation of having one reigning and one retired pope living side-by-side.
Before Benedict
announced his decision to be known as “emeritus pope” and “Your Holiness,” one
of the Vatican’s leading canon lawyers, the Jesuit Rev. Gianfranco Ghirlanda,
penned an article suggesting that such a title would be inappropriate for
Benedict since in renouncing the papacy he had “lost all the power of primacy”
conferred on him by his election. The Vatican had originally said Benedict
would likely be known as “emeritus bishop of Rome” precisely to avoid confusion
with the new pope.
But Benedict
went ahead with the title and chose to keep wearing the white cassock of the
papacy, albeit without the sash and cape worn by Francis, leading to questions
about both his own influence on the future pontiff and whether Catholics more
favourable to his traditional style might try to undermine his successor’s
authority and agenda by keeping their allegiance to the old pope.
Clearly aware of
that potential, Benedict in his last meeting with his cardinals on Feb. 28
pledged his “unconditional reverence and obedience” to the then-unknown future
pope, who was nevertheless in the room.
Lombardi said he
understood Benedict had repeated that pledge of obedience to Francis on
Saturday. Asked how the popes addressed one another, Lombardi demurred, saying
he didn’t think they addressed one another as “Your Holiness” or “Pope,” saying
the exchange was too familiar and warm for such titles.
The two men
couldn’t be more different in style and background: The Argentine-born Francis
has made headlines with his simple gestures — no papal regalia, simple black
shoes, paying his own hotel bill — and basic message that a pope’s job is to
protect the poor.
As archbishop of
Buenos Aires, the man now known as Pope Francis worked in the slums,
celebrating Masses for prostitutes and drug addicts. He plans to celebrate Holy
Thursday Mass this week at a juvenile detention centre, where he will wash the
feet of 12 inmates in a show of humility echoing that of Jesus.
The German-born
Benedict is an academic, one of the world’s leading theologians who spent more
than 30 years in the frescoed halls of the Vatican where he was first its chief
doctrinal watchdog and then its pope. His primary concern was to remind
Christians in Europe of their faith and bring back a more traditional Catholic
identity, and with it the brocaded style of the papacy. His Holy Thursday
Masses included the traditional foot-washing, but it involved clerics at the
St. John Lateran basilica.
While there is a
difference in style, there is a “radical” convergence in their spirituality,
according to Civilta Cattolica, the Italian Jesuit magazine whose articles are
approved by the Vatican before publication.
“They are two
figures of the highest spirituality, whose relationship with life is completely
anchored in God,” the magazine wrote. “This radicalness is shown in Pope
Benedict’s shy and kind bearing, and in Pope Francis it is revealed by his
immediate sweetness and spontaneity.”
The Associated
Press
