SW News: A Holy Mass was held in the Vatican one month following Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's passing away at 95 on December 31, 2022. Msgr. Georg Gänswein, the secretary to Benedict XVI, presided over the Mass, which was concelebrated by other priests, including Fr. Federico Lombardi SJ, the president of the Joseph Ratzinger Foundation.
In his homily, Gänswein said Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was one of the greatest and most influential theologians of all time. Pope Emeritus lived trusting abandonment profoundly throughout his entire life, looking to the Virgin Mary, as he said during his General Audience on 19 December 2012. “Yet those who — like Mary — open themselves totally to God, come to accept the divine will, even though it is mysterious, although it often does not correspond with their wishes, and is a sword that pierces their soul, as the elderly Simeon would say prophetically to Mary when Jesus was presented in the Temple (cf. Lk 2:35).”
On April 16, the day St. Benedict Joseph Labre, a French saint to whom he had a special attachment, passed away, Joseph Ratzinger was born.
Bishop Gänswein underlined the need for "three hearts linked in one: a heart for the love of God, a heart for zeal for one's neighbor, and a heart that bears testimony to the beauty of faith" about the spirituality of St. Benedict Joseph Labre.
On January 31, 2023, the Holy Mass was held a short distance from Benedict XVI's grave—which is close to St. Peter's tomb.
On the occasion, the Holy See also released a stamp in his memory.
The stamp was created by the Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the Holy See and is available at their post office until March 4, 2023. It features a photo taken in 2009, while the Pope was on vacation in the Aosta Valley in the North of Italy. The press release states that the stamp would highlight the German Pontiff’s dedication to the Virgin Mary. The stamp intends to be a sign of the fragrance of gratitude toward the late pontiff, as mentioned by Pope Francis in his homily for the Solemn Requiem Mass on January 5th.
The phrase "Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, 1927 - 2022, Vatican City" is placed next to a picture of Our Lady and the figure of Benedict XVI.
The stamp, printed in Belgium, costs 1,25 € (around $1.36) and only 105,000 copies were produced