Today we join Pope Francis and Catholics across the world in mourning the death of Pope Benedict XVI who has gone home to the God he served faithfully.

Throughout his life as a scholar and as a churchman, he showed us what it means to fulfill the ancient command to love God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. As the last pope who attended the Second Vatican Council, he has served as a bridge to the future, reminding us all that the reform and renewal of the Church is ongoing. Resigning in 2013, the Year of Faith, Pope Benedict XVI taught us that belief in God means completely placing our trust in Divine Providence. Today we pray as Pope Francis did earlier this year, “May St. Joseph help us to live the mystery of death in the best possible way. For a Christian, the good death is an experience of the mercy of God, who comes close to us even in that last moment of our life.”

Lord, let your perpetual light shine on your servant Joseph Ratzinger, Pope Benedict XVI, and may he rest in peace.