Macau diocese to offer requiem mass for Benedict XVI

The Diocese of Macau will offer a Requiem Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in the Cathedral on January 5 at 7 p.m.

The German theologian tried to reawaken Christianity in a secularized Europe and will likely be remembered as the first pontiff in 600 years to resign from the job. He died Dec.31 aged 95.

“The Church in China held a special place in the heart of Pope Benedict. He visited the Diocese of Macau when he was Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,” the local diocese said in its social media post.

“On behalf of all the faithful of the Diocese of Macau, Bishop Stephen Lee expresses our gratitude to our late Holy Father for his pastoral care and exemplary service to the Church,” it added.

The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger visited Macau and Hong Kong in March 1993 where he met with the SARs’ bishops, Domingos Lam and John Baptist Wu.

Benedict stunned the world on Feb. 11, 2013, when he announced, in his typical, soft-spoken Latin, that he no longer had the strength to run the 1.2 billion-strong Catholic Church that he had steered for eight years through various scandals.

His dramatic decision paved the way for the conclave that elected Pope Francis. The two popes then lived side-by-side in the Vatican gardens, an unprecedented arrangement that set the stage for future “popes emeritus” to do the same.

Francis will conduct Benedict’s funeral Mass Thursday, the first time in the modern age that a current pope will eulogize a retired one. LV/AP