NORWALK—In his homily during the Diocesan Mass celebrated for the Repose of the Soul of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at St. Matthew Church in Norwalk, Bishop Frank J. Caggiano recalled a chance encounter he and a few of his priestly friends had with the Pope Emeritus in St. Peter Square in the Vatican.
The bishop’s friends had gone to greet Benedict, who didn’t quite return their greetings, appearing deep in thought. He and his friends then attempted to move on, ready for breakfast, when one of them felt a tap on his back. It was Benedict, who had realized he’d accidentally ignored their greetings, and was eager to return them, saying, “Cari fratelli, buongiorno”—Italian for “Dear brothers, good morning.”
“I was deeply touched, because we are talking about a man who had the burden of the Church on his shoulders in many ways,” the bishop said, recalling the encounter. “And yet in that moment of such quiet, such ordinariness, revealed the heart of a man who I believe to be a saint—who made it his business to love not just the mighty, but the ordinary, to make it his business to befriend all who crossed his path.”
The Diocesan Mass was celebrated in the evening of the day that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was laid to rest in the Vatican.
The bishop noted there was much he could say about the Pope Emeritus, calling especially upon his celebrated legacy as a theologian, who would take the time to explain the most complicated mysteries of the Catholic faith in a way ordinary people could understand. He also remembered Benedict’s commitment to fight against evil in any way he could—whether it was deserting his involuntary conscription into the Hitler Youth during World War II or committing to cleansing the “filth” from the Church as Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith.
The bishop characterized the Pope Emeritus as “a man who courageously taught the truth in a world of relativism, a world that does not want to accept the truth … he never minced words, but always, always walked with a heart that accompanied those who could not fully live the truth.”
But perhaps most important, Bishop Caggiano noted, was Benedict’s connection to Christ himself.
“Every moment of his life, every aspect of his life was consumed to seek an ever-deeper friendship with Jesus Christ,” the bishop said. “He knew that Christ alone gave his life meaning, purpose and destiny. He came to understand that Christ, his Savior and Redeemer, as he is our Savior and Redeemer, s the only life worth pouring our life for him.”
And there was perhaps no greater evidence of this lifelong love and longing for Christ than what were reported as Benedict’s final words, spoken shortly before his death on December 31—“Signore, ti amo,” Italian for “Lord, I love you.”
To close his remarks on the Pope Emeritus, the bishop recalled the words Christ spoke on the evening of his Last Supper: “There is no greater love than this: than to lay down your life for a friend.”
“For 95 years—71 of them as a priest—for decades of service as a bishop and for the years he served as successor of Peter, we have come to pray for the soul of someone who poured out his life for Christ,” Bishop Caggiano said. “And if that is not a sign of his friendship with the Lord, I honestly do not know what could be.”
By Rose Brennan