Portrait of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI  (Vatican Media)

On behalf of God’s People of the Diocese of Bathurst, I give thanks for the life of Christian service that we saw in the ministry of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI; and commend him to the love of God.

I met him on several occasions, both before he became Pope and afterwards. He seemed to me a genuinely humble man, quite without pretension, despite his high office and remarkable intellectual achievements. He treated each person with respect and full attention.

Joseph Ratzinger was a significant and masterly theologian. His crystalline prose exhibited the clarity of his thought. And he was a practitioner of “theology on its knees”: seeking always to connect his thought with the truth, beauty and goodness of God.

The quality of Benedict’s teaching as Pope came from this combination of intellect, erudition and holiness. His writings will long outlive him; and continue to enlighten many seekers of wisdom.

May he now comprehend fully Christ’s promise of mercy and resurrection, which he preached so well and sought so patiently here on earth.

+Michael McKenna

Bishop of Bathurst