MADISON — I join my prayers to those of millions around the world, as we mourn the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. We are all grateful for his generous service to the Church, as a priest, theologian, professor, bishop, cardinal, and for his leadership of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith during the pontificate of Pope Saint John Paul II, and his fruitful years as our Holy Father, the pope. His leadership of the Church at the time of Pope Saint John Paul II’s death, the funeral, and the days leading up to the papal conclave particularly stands out.
As a brilliant intellectual, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had an extraordinary ability to articulate the nuances of the Catholic faith in coherent and understandable forms without oversimplifying or diluting the integrity of belief. We are all grateful for his erudite writings, his love for the liturgy, his appreciation of beauty as a form of evangelization, and his devotion to the saints. In Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, we saw a remarkable convergence of the soul, intellect, heart and will of a man radically convicted of the truth of the Gospel and fully dedicated to serving the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church.
Coupled with his prominent role of leadership within the Church and his intellectual brilliance was a profound humility, woven as a unifying thread in every aspect of his life. He knew who he was before the Lord, without pretense or artifice. This humility grounded him through the trials, difficulties, and controversies of his varied and demanding life, poured out for Christ and the saving truth of our beautiful Catholic faith. May Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI know the eternal reward of his heroic earthly labors. May he rest in eternal peace, beholding the mystery of God, whom he loved and served in this life without reserve.
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.