The 95-year-old Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away on Saturday at 9:34 AM in his residence at the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery. He has returned to the Father’s House.
Tne AUSCP issued the following statement:
We pray with utter confidence that Pope Benedict XVI has returned to his Father’s house. We honor his life of leadership and service to the Church. We and all members of the Universal Church have benefitted from the extraordinary and historic sign of his deep humility, as he stepped down and relinquished the power that has gripped so many others.
The Association of U.S. Catholic Priests was conceived and born during the last years of Benedict’s papacy, grown up in the early years of Pope Francis, and flourishes today. We pray for the life and health of Pope Francis, with gratitude for his remarkable leadership, and for the transition in leadership that is inevitable.
Farewell, Pope Benedict!
Ad multos annos, Pope Francis!