Before 2022 ended, in fact during the very last day of the year, we lost another public figure known to millions all over the world.
However, the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI may not have garnered enough attention because of two things; first, people all over the world were busy looking forward to the new year and, second, he really wasn’t the sitting pope anymore.
Of course that doesn’t mean we should mourn his death any less.
History may not remember Pope Benedict favorably. In all likelihood the first and perhaps the only thing people will unfairly remember him is that he was the first pope to resign in 600 years.
He also has the difficult position of being squeezed in between two very popular popes; his predecessor, the charismatic Pope John Paul II who had one of the longest reigns as pope, making him the most travelled, visible, and famous, and Pope Francis who is well-known and well-liked among the youth.
But we should also not forget that it was Pope Benedict who tried to bring about unity among the different Christian churches in the world that have been separated by doctrine or belief.
He was also the one who strengthened ties between the church and art and promoted traditional Catholic practices.
Of course he was not without his controversies. For one he sought to promote the use of Latin during the Mass as a form of returning to the true form of the sacrament, something that some people agreed with while others didn’t because of its tendency to alienate people, especially the youth.
While his predecessor was more circumspect with his speeches, Pope Benedict did not mince his words with his frequent criticisms of how he thought the modern world had rejected God and Christianity, as well as his scathing views on abortion and homosexuality.
Whatever people remember him for we should not forget that at one time he was the successor of St. Peter and the leader of all the Roman Catholics in the world.
He did what he could do, given all his skills and faced with the challenges of a world that was quickly becoming more distracted by earthly concerns and more detached from Christian doctrine.
With his passing, in the words of his predecessor, let him go to the house of the Father.