Not only German, but also Bavarian pope: The former pontifex Benedict XVI. always remained closely connected to his homeland. “Bavaria was a place of longing for him,” said Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) before the funeral service on St. Peter’s Square. On this Thursday, many Bavarians will now pay their last respects to “their” Pope. Impressions from Rome.
Believers traveled from the Free State to Rome in many ways to meet Joseph Ratzinger, as Benedict XVI’s real name was. was to give the last escort. The Bavarian Pilgrim Office had sent out three buses. Groups had also traveled to Rome from Benedikt’s birthplace of Marktl am Inn and from his later place of residence in Pentling. About 200 Bavarian mountain riflemen, of which Benedikt was an honorary member, left in their own buses.
It was also a moving and important day for him to escort the emeritus pope, said Prime Minister Söder. Many Bavarians wanted to do that. “We could have filled three or four planes,” said Söder. “Bayern just want to say goodbye to their Pope.”
The 170-strong delegation of the prime minister includes half the cabinet, state parliament president Ilse Aigner (CSU) and several parliamentary group leaders.
Already on Wednesday, a delegation from the Regensburg home diocese said goodbye to their honorary citizen, as explained by Sebastian Hopfensberger, deputy mayor of the municipality of Pentling. At the laid-out corpse, they were greeted by Georg Gänswein (pictured), the long-time private secretary and confidant of the Pope Emeritus, and thought of the deceased for a while. Benedikt, then still Joseph Ratzinger, lived in Pentling from 1970 to 1977.
According to their CEO Christine Spiegel, the brass band of the Unterpfaffenhofen volunteer fire brigade planned to play the Bavarian anthem after the mass on Petersplatz.