Of course they go to Rome, “we come not only for birthdays, but also for funerals, that’s how it is with us,” says Martin Haberfellner, the governor of the Bavarian mountain riflemen. With probably five buses, the shooters will set off, once again, perhaps for the last time, to meet Pope Benedict XVI. to pay their last respects at the funeral mass on St. Peter’s Square.
“We’re used to that,” says Haberfellner. They’ve visited former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger many times since he was elected pope in 2005 and even more often after his resignation in 2013. Nevertheless, it is a challenge to organize the trip in a few days, “but for many shooters it is an affair of the heart”.
The Pope and the mountain riflemen, that was a long and close connection. Benedict XVI was deeply connected to his Bavarian homeland, he valued the traditions, the customs, the devotion to Mary, the old Catholic Bavaria, everything for which the mountain riflemen stand in a picture-perfect way, who see themselves as protectors of Bavarian folk culture. Benedikt was an honorary member of the Tegernsee company.
Governor Haberfellner has already visited Benedict around twelve times, he says, most recently on his 95th birthday in April. “He was frail,” he says, “but awake and interested.” They talked about his youth in Traunstein and about people he had known before. He always experienced Benedict as “friendly and warm,” says the governor, and as “quite normal.”
Introduction by Pope Benedict XVI. In 2005 the mountain riflemen arrived in the Vatican, a year later there was a big pilgrimage and of course they also came to say goodbye in 2013. And in between for birthdays and anniversaries, after the resignation even more often than before, because the pope emeritus simply had more time. Every time they were a popular photo motif on St. Peter’s Square. “Yes, we have a certain recognition value,” says Haberfellner. Even without guns, they stay at home, the bureaucratic effort would be too great if the shooters wanted to march up with their weapons.
Prime Minister Markus Söder, who wants to fly to Rome with a Bavarian delegation, will also take part in the requiem. Representatives from politics, church and society will be there, it is said, who exactly, that is just being put together. “It is a great honor, also for many who will be there, to take part in the requiem,” said Söder on Monday after he had written a book of condolences in the Munich Residenz.
For last-minute travelers, the Bavarian Pilgrims’ Office offers trips with participation in the funeral mass. There will probably be three buses, says a spokesman, since the news of Benedict’s death on New Year’s Eve there have been inquiries. Trips to Rome are part of the Pilgrim Office’s standard program, but there was a “Benedict peak” during the pontificate. A spokesman says Pope Francis is also proving to be a magnet, but the Bavarians were particularly fond of visiting their Bavarian Pope.
The Pilgrims’ Office sent nine buses to the Vatican for the inauguration in 2005, and a special train with 1,000 people for the 85th birthday. And Bayern came again to say goodbye. For the last general audience of Pope Benedict in 2013, 400 people traveled to Rome with the pilgrims’ office.
In the meantime, the enthusiasm that had flared up at the beginning of the pontificate has subsided, after the resignation things became quieter about the emeritus anyway. On Thursday, however, things could get quite Bavarian again on St. Peter’s Square. One last time maybe. “We will never go to Rome then,” says Bergschützen boss Martin Haberfellner.