The John Paul II Institute in Washington, DC, joins with the universal Church in thanksgiving for the life and the teaching of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at his passing into eternal life.
From his long collaboration with the Institute’s founder, St. John Paul II, to his own vast theological writings, to his profound example of faith and humility, Pope Benedict’s life and work are a treasure that will continue to bear fruit in the life of the Church.
We are thankful to God for the child-like simplicity, the impassioned totality, and the indefatigable joyfulness with which Benedict XVI followed Christ and served the Church. He helped all of us to perceive the luminosity of faith and to surrender to Christ’s life-giving beauty. He taught us to discover God’s love and to grow human by living in the memory of that ever-greater love. Although a note of sadness for his departure remains, the certainty that he will continue to accompany us from the house of the Father and the hope that we may one day sit together at the heavenly table give us peace. This certainty also encourages us to ask to be allowed to live more fully for the Eternal and to carry out our task more profoundly and joyfully for the sake of the Church.
At this moment, we also recall particularly the times that Benedict XVI spent with the Institute community and are grateful for his paternal care for our work:
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger: Jesus Christ: Yesterday, Today, and Forever (January 20, 1990)
We pray for Pope Emeritus Benedict, who has fallen asleep in the Lord: may the eternal Shepherd receive him into his kingdom of light and peace.
