Bishop Oscar A. Solis celebrates memorial Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

Friday, Jan. 13, 2023

SALT LAKE CITY — On Jan. 4 at the Cathedral of the Madeleine, Bishop Oscar A. Solis presided at a memorial Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died Dec. 31. Concelebrating the Mass were Msgr. Colin F. Bircumshaw, vicar general; Fr. Langes Silva, judicial vicar; Fr. Kenneth Vialpando, vicar for clergy; and several other priests of the diocese. Deacon Jeremy Castellano and Deacon Guillermo Mendez assisted. 

The readings were Lamentations 3:17-26 and Matthew 16: 13-19.

An abridged version of Bishop Solis’ homily follows.

“My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, we gather today with sadness on the passing away of Pope  Benedict XVI on Dec. 31, 2022, at the age of 95. I am thankful for you for coming to celebrate this memorial Mass together with our priests from our diocese, and deacons to represent the unity and communion of the Diocese of Salt Lake City with the Church in Rome. We join the millions of people praying for the former Vicar of Christ, who exhibited tremendous faith in God and love for the people of God he served with personal devotion and sacrifice. We lovingly and gratefully remember his significant contribution to the mission of the Church during his papacy. 

The readings we heard proclaimed in today’s Mass enlighten us on the important legacy of Pope Emeritus Benedict’s in carrying out the divine mandate he received as the Successor of Peter and as the head of the universal Catholic Church. In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, we hear the confession of St. Peter to Jesus, recognizing him as the Messiah, the Son of the living God. This is of utmost importance. The Lord Jesus confirmed and conferred upon Peter the primacy and authority of the task to exercise his supreme authority over the Church.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church [881] states: “The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the ‘rock’ of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head. This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church’s very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope.” So, Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Catholic Church, and it was through Saint Peter’s faith and love for him – the recognition of who he was – that Jesus founded his church. 

Christ therefore built his church upon St. Peter as the first leader, the first pope. And for more than 2,000 years, the primacy and authority of Peter has been handed on to his successors in an unbroken line of succession to the present day. Pope Benedict was one of those faithful Church leaders, who exercised his papal ministry in accord with Peter’s tradition of fidelity, enthusiasm and love for God mentioned in the Gospel.

Joseph Aloysius Ratzinger grew up during the rise of Nazism in Germany. After the war and finishing his theological studies, he was ordained a priest on June 29, 1951 together with his brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger. Pope Paul VI appointed him archbishop of Munich in early 1977 and in the same year he named him a cardinal.

Cardinal Ratzinger was considered one of the greatest theologians and great Catholic thinkers of his time. He had a lasting influence on the modern Church during the Second Vatican Council, and Pope John Paul II named him as Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in 1981. He also played a special role in preparing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which was published in 1992. 

On April 19, 2005, he was elected pope and took the name Benedict XVI. His election was one of the shortest conclaves in modern history. I still remember that time and experience when we were watching the conclave and all of a sudden the white smoke came out and everybody was rejoicing, surprised to hear that Pope Benedict, the former Cardinal Ratzinger, was elected pope. I was surprised and was so jubilant. … 

Pope Benedict was a good teacher and articulate defender of Catholic teaching at a time the Church was facing the challenge of the rising tide of ideological aggression and intolerance of religious belief. His talks and writings highlighted the Church’s fundamental truth and important teachings against secularism and relativism. 

His papacy was marked with his efforts for ecclesiastical, intellectual, liturgical reform and spiritual renewal. He has written three encyclicals: Caritas in Veritate, Spe Salvi and Deus Caritas Est, stressing the theological virtues of love and hope. Pope Benedict reminded Catholics to evangelize, and promoted the new evangelization – the preaching and the living of the Gospel on the “digital continent,” the world of online communications and social networking. According to what I read about Pope Benedict XVI, he was the first pope to use Twitter and other [social media]. …

His resignation from the papacy on Feb. 11, 2013, shocked the world, and he quietly retired and lived a life of prayer and reflection at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Gardens of the Vatican City State. With humility, he admitted his advanced age and poor health that hampered the exercise of his sacred responsibility. He mirrored the words from the Book of Lamentation, finding peace and joy in the love and goodness of God. He said, “The Lord is calling me to ‘climb the mountain,’ to devote myself even more to prayer and meditation. But this does not mean abandoning the Church; indeed, if God is asking me to do this, it is so I can continue to serve the Church with the same dedication and the same love with which I have done thus far, but in a way that is better suited to my age and my strength.”

His retirement years spent in quiet solitude were quite productive. Recently we read what he wrote in 2016: a spiritual testament of faith and thanksgiving expressing his steadfastness, fidelity and great hope in God. Even with the great mind of a theologian, he remained a humble shepherd who radiated gentleness, simplicity and sacrifice; who always had the Church in his mind and in his heart. Interestingly, his last words as a pontiff expressed this. He said, “I ask humbly: pray for me, so that the Lord, despite all my sins and inadequacies, may receive me into his eternal dwelling.”  

My dear friends, tonight we are given a chance in order to gratefully remember Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, to remember, in loving memory and gratitude for his total giving and outstanding service to the Church as the former vicar of Christ. Til his last breath, he leaves us and left us inspiring words to reflect, to guide and empower us in living our faith. His last words before he died were very loud and clear, coming from a heart filled with deep faith in God: “Jesus, I love you.” 

We pray that God in his goodness and mercy, and through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, welcomes Pope Benedict XVI in heaven and rewards him with eternal rest and peace.