Watch these videos - we can even hear Benedict XVI greeting Pope Francis at the very start... I did not think we would be privileged to see these images... Although expected to happen, the unprecedented nature of the event, with these images, has become even more overwhelming..
video.repubblica.it/dossier/il-nuovo-papa/l-abbraccio-tra-i-due-papi/123289/121...
video.repubblica.it/dossier/il-nuovo-papa/papa-francesco-incontra-ratzinger-le-prime-immagini/123273/121...
The visit of the Holy Father Francis
to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at Castel Gandolfo
Translated from
March 23, 2013
At 11:45 this morning, the Holy Father Francis left the Domus Sanctae Marthae for the Vatican heliport, where he took the brief flight to visit Pope emeritus Benedict XVI in Castel Gandolfo.
After a flight of about 15 minutes, the helicopter landed at the heliport of the Pontifical Villas in Castel Gandolfo where he was welcomed by Benedict XVI.
Also present were Mons. Marcello Semeraro, Bishop of Alban, and Dott. Saverio Petrillo,, director of the Pontifical Villas.
The Holy Father and Benedict XVI rode together in a car to the Apostolic Palace. After a moment of prayer at the Palace chapel, they met at in the library starting at 12:30 p.m. Their meeting lasted 45 minutes.
Afterwards, they were joined at lunch by Monsignors Georg Gaenswein and Alfred Xuereb
[who has been named private secretary to Pope Francis].
After lunch, Pope Francis, accompanied by Benedict XVI, returned to the heliport, from which he left at 2:42 pm for the Vatican.
Following is the account provided by Vatican news director Fr. Federico Lombardi about the event:
The helicopter landed in the Castel Gandolfo heliport at 12:15, and the car with the emeritus Pope approached the helicopter.
The Holy Father Francis stepped out, accompanied by Deputy Secretary of State, Mons. Angelo Becciu, Mons. Leonardo Sapienza [regent of the Pontifical Household), and Mons. Alfred Xuereb.
As soon as the Pope stepped down, the emeritus Pope approached him. and there was a beautiful embrace between them.
After brief greetings to the other persons who came to welcome the Pope - the Bishop of Albano and the director of the Pontifical Villas - Francis and Benedict got into a car. Francis sat on the right, where the Pope always sits, and Benedict XVI sat to his left.
Also riding with them was Mons. Georg Gaenswein, Prefect of the Pontifical Household. The car took them up to the elevators to the Apostolic Palace.
The two protagonists of this historic meeting went up to the papal apartment, where they first stopped at the private chapel for a moment of prayer.
In the chapel, the emeritus Pope indicated the place of honor for the Pope, but Pope Francis said, "We are brothers", and preferred that they both kneel together at the same kneeler.
After the prayer, they proceeded to the private library where they began their private meeting at 12:30. It is the library where the Pope normally receives important visitors at Castel Gandolfo.
Pope Francis brought a beautiful icon of Mary as a gift for the emeritus Pope. Their meeting ended at 1:15, thus lasting 45 minutes.
Regarding the habits they wore, it was as we had announced from the start - the emeritus Pope was in a simple white cassock without a capelet or sash, whereas Pope Francis wore the papal capelet and sash.
They were joined at lunch by the two secretaries - Mons. Gaenswein and Mons. Xuereb - therefore the strictly private meeting between the Pope and his predecessor was that in the library.
The emeritus Pope will accompany Pope Francis to the heliport, when he returns to Rome. [Apparently, this briefing was given while the two were having lunch.]
I must remind you that although this was their first meeting in person [since Pope Francis was elected], Pope Francis has acknowledged his predecessor several times - first at the Loggia of Benedictions when he first came out to be presented to the world, and then in two telephone calls (on the night of the election itself, and on the Feast of St. Joseph, to extend his best wishes on the name day of the emeritus Pope). So they have spoken to each other before their physical encounter today.
Let us also recall that the emeritus Pope manifested his unconditional reverence and obedience for his successor at his farewell meeting with the College of Cardinals on February 27.
With this meeting today - which was one of most elevated and profound communion - he would therefore have had the opportunity to renew his pledge of reverence and obedience to his successor. Just as Pope Francis would have renewed his expression of gratitude from himself and from the whole Church for the ministry carried out by Pope Benedict during his Pontificate.
Pope Francis tells Benedict:
'We're brothers'
By NICOLE WINFIELD and PAOLO SANTALUCIA
CASTEL GANDOLFO, March 23, 2013 Italy (AP) — Pope Francis has traveled to Castel Gandolfo to have lunch with his predecessor Benedict XVI in a historic and
potentially problematic melding of the papacies that has never before confronted the Catholic Church.
The Vatican said the two popes embraced on the helipad. In the chapel where they prayed together, Benedict offered Francis the traditional kneeler used by the pope. Francis refused to take it alone, saying "We're brothers," and the two prayed together on the same one.
Outside the villa, the main piazza of Castel Gandolfo was packed Saturday with well-wishers hoping to catch a glimpse of history: two popes breaking bread together and presumably discussing the future of the Catholic Church. They chanted "Francesco! Francesco!"
Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said he understands Benedict offered his pledge of obedience to the new pope, while Francis thanked Benedict for his ministry. He said they both wore white, though Benedict was in a simple cassock without the traditional sash and cape worn by Francis.
Benedict has been living at the papal summer villa since he resigned Feb. 28, the first pope to step down in 600 years. He has said he plans to live out his final years in prayer and remain "hidden from the world."
Benedict's dramatic departure that day — flying by helicopter from the helipad in the Vatican gardens with his weeping secretary by his side and circling St. Peter's Square in a final goodbye — is one of the most evocative images of this remarkable papal transition.
The Vatican is downplaying the luncheon in keeping with Benedict's desire to remain in private and not interfere with his successor's papacy. There was to be no live coverage of the private meeting by Vatican television, only a few still photos from the official Vatican photographer and perhaps a video released after the fact.
The Vatican said Benedict was at the helipad in the villa gardens to welcome Francis, and that the two were meeting in Benedict's library and having lunch together. Francis will then return to his makeshift home at the Vatican hotel at an unspecified time later in the day.
The Vatican spokesman promised a general comment about the meeting, but no detailed statement.
All of which has led to enormous speculation about what these two men in white might have to say to one another after making history together: Benedict's resignation paved the way for the first pope from Latin America, the first Jesuit, and the first to call himself Francis after the 13th century friar who devoted himself to the poor, nature and working for peace.
Perhaps over their primo, or pasta course during Saturday's lunch, the two popes might discuss 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.
Or maybe during their secondo, or second course of meat or fish, they'll discuss more pressing issues concerning Francis's new job: Benedict left a host of unfinished business on Francis's plate, including the outcome of a top-secret investigation into the leaks of papal documents last year. Francis might want to sound Benedict out on his ideas for management changes in the Holy See administration, a priority given
the complete dysfunctional government he has inherited.
[But not quite as 'dysfunctional' as what Benedict XVI himself inherited. 'Dysfunctional' is not the right word, anyway. A mere 2,000 men = some of them blackguards, apparently, as there are in any institution, but mostly sincere servants of Christ and the Church - have been helping the Pope administer to the needs of more than 5,000 bishops and the army of priests ministering directly to 1.2 billion Catholics. That's not dysfunctional, even if the environment within the Roman Curia has always been polluted by the bureaucratic pettiness and even skullduggery that plagues any human institution.]
Then over coffee, they might discuss the future of Monsignor Georg Gaenswein, Benedict's trusted aide who has had the difficult task of escorting his old pope into retirement and then returning to the Vatican to serve his successor in the initial rites of the office.
Gaenswein, who wept as he and Benedict made their goodbyes to staff in the papal apartment on Feb. 28, has appeared
visibly upset and withdrawn at times as he has been by Francis's side.
[Has he? I have not watched all the Francis videos so I cannot tell. But I would be surprised if the well-bred, well-mannered Mons. Gaenswein would indicate any ungraciousness at all, regardless of what he feels within.]
The Vatican has said Francis's primary secretary will be Monsignor Alfred Xuereb, who had been the No. 2 secretary under Benedict.
[Bravo! for Mons. Alfred, a logical choice as someone who already knows the Vatican routine - and since apparently Cardinal Bergoglio did not have a private secretary.]
Benedict's resignation — the emeritus pope's personal choices about his future — have raised the question of
how the Catholic Church will deal with the novel situation of having one reigning and one retired pope living side-by-side, each of them called "pope," each of them wearing papal white and even sharing the same aide in Gaenswein.
[The media, as usual, has been trying to create a problem where there ought to be none! And shockingly, someone who articulates that 'problem' today is no less than Vittorio Messori, in an article for Corriere della Sera, in which he says that having Benedict XVI live within the Vatican is an anomalous situation [to say that, as the rest of MSM has been prone to do, is to cast doubt on the common sense of both Francis and Benedict XVI!], that it would be best for everyone concerned if he went off to a monastery somewhere - he suggests the south of France because of the climate - where the needs of an 86-year-old man can also be attended to. I will translate the article later.
Francis, Benedict and the whole world know there is only one Pope at a time. No Catholic anywhere is confused. True, there were some Wojtylians who never got over the fact that another person was Pope after John Paul II died, but I certainly hope that not even the most rabid Benaddict could possibly be that refractory. It would be a betrayal of the Catholic doctrine that Benedict XVI taught so clearly and unequivocally, especially by his voluntary renunciation. The Pontificate is an apostolic mission that is transmitted in succession to different individuals, one at a time. Benedict's title and address are honorific - the way all previous Popes have been referred to, the only difference being that he is still alive. And very well aware he is now emeritus, with absolutely none of the prerogatives and powers of the regnant Pope. And I don't think anyone could possibly think that Pope Francis has had any second thoughts about his being Pope, nor about his self-assurance (for want of a better word) as the Bishop of Rome, reluctant as he is to call himself Pope (though the word which still retains its original meaning of 'father').]
After a few months in Castel Gandolfo, Benedict is to return to the Vatican to live in a converted monastery in the Vatican gardens, just a short walk from St. Peter's Basilica and the shrine devoted to the Madonna where Francis went to pray on one of his first walks as pope.
[The shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes, where Benedict used to end his afternoon 'rosary walks' with his secretary(ies).]
Pope Francis once again showed great sensitivity and utmost consideration for the emeritus Pope in not taking advantage of his first visit to Castel Gandolfo to 'take possession' of the Apostolic Palace and not greeting the crowd from the outer balcony of the Palace, as one might have expected him to do. It underscores that for him, the only purpose of going to Castel Gandolfo today was to meet with his predecessor...
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 25/03/2013 06:50]