On Wednesday morning, Pope Francis paid homage to Benedict XVI and said that “he always wanted to accompany us in the encounter with Jesus”

These were his words at the beginning of this peculiar General Audience, where he also asked the faithful to join “those here beside us who are paying their respects to Benedict XVI.”

Before beginning his catechesis, the last one on discernment, the Holy Father recalled that Benedict XVI “was a great catechist”.

Let us join with those here beside us who are paying their respects to Benedict XVI,” Pope Francis said.

He also stressed that “his acute and gentle thought was not self-referential, but ecclesial, because he always wanted to accompany us in the encounter with Jesus.”

“Jesus, Crucified and Risen, the Living One and the Lord, was the destination to which Pope Benedict led us, taking us by the hand,” he then said.

Later, during his greetings to the pilgrims, he asked that Benedict XVI “help us rediscover in Christ the joy of believing and the hope of living”.

More than 135,000 people from all over the world came to pray before Benedict XVI on January 2 and 3.

The body of Benedict XVI, who died on December 31, 2022, has been in St. Peter’s Basilica since January 2 of this year, so that the Catholic faithful can pray for him and bid him a final farewell.

Pope Francis will preside at Benedict XVI’s funeral on Thursday, January 5, at 9:30 a.m. (Rome time), in St. Peter’s Square.

Afterwards, the Pope Emeritus will be buried in the Vatican Grottoes, in the former tomb of his predecessor St. John Paul II. 

This article was originally published on ACI Prensa.