Death of ex-pope would put Vatican in uncharted territory

The death of a pope usually sets in motion time-honoured traditions, but with ex-pontiff Benedict XVI in failing health the Vatican is on unfamiliar ground.

The 95-year-old Joseph Ratzinger, who was revealed this week to be seriously ill, in 2013 became the first pontiff to quit in six centuries.

Unlike when previous popes have died, there would be no need to call a conclave to elect a new pontiff, as Pope Francis -- chosen to succeed Benedict in 2013 -- remains very much in post.

But the Vatican has refused to give details in advance on what else will happen when Benedict dies.

Most commentators expect Benedict to have a funeral at the Vatican, either in St Peter’s Basilica or the huge square that sits in front of it.

“From a liturgical point of view, I think that when the funeral takes place, essentially it will be the ritual envisaged for papal funerals,” liturgical expert Claudio Magnoli told AFP.

“The substantial difference is that it could be presided over by the reigning pope (Francis), while up to now it was the dean of cardinals or a designated cardinal.”

Under rules set out in 1996, a pope must be buried between four and six days after his death.

How and when he is buried is usually decided by cardinals who gather from around the world, and who also organise the Vatican’s nine days of mourning, known as novemdiales.

The pope’s ring

They decide because the death of a pope traditionally creates a power vacuum at the top of the church.

However, no such vacuum would exist in this case, as Francis is in charge. In 2005 the body of John Paul II, the last pope to die, lay in state before a funeral mass in St Peter’s Square presided over by Ratzinger, then a senior cardinal.

An estimated one million people attended, alongside heads of state from around the world.

In 2020, media reports said Benedict had chosen to be buried in the former tomb of John Paul II, in the crypt of St Peter’s.

The body of the beloved Polish pope was moved to the upper part of the basilica when he was beatified in 2011. He was confirmed a saint in 2014.

Benedict, a conservative intellectual, was not as popular as John Paul II, who was pope between 1978 and 2005, but his funeral is still likely to draw large crowds and dignitaries.

Traditionally, when a pope dies, his “Fisherman’s Ring” -- a signet ring specially cast for each new pope which once was used to seal documents -- is also destroyed.

When Benedict left office, the face of his ring was etched with a “X” to make it unusable. Meanwhile, Former pope Benedict XVI is “lucid and alert” and his condition remains serious but stable, the Vatican said Thursday, the day after revealing the 95-year-old’s health had deteriorated.

Benedict, who in 2013 became the first pope since the Middle Ages to resign as head of the worldwide Catholic Church, has been in fragile health for many years and uses a wheelchair.

But current Pope Francis sparked alarm on Wednesday by revealing at his general audience that his predecessor, whose birth name is Joseph Ratzinger, was “very ill”.

“The Pope Emeritus was able to rest well last night, he is absolutely lucid and alert and today, although his condition remains serious, the situation at the moment is stable,” the Vatican press office said Thursday.

Francis had called for people to pray for him, before going to visit Benedict at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican grounds where he lives.

The Vatican later confirmed the ex-pope’s health had worsened “due to advancing age”, while a Vatican source told AFP Wednesday that it began deteriorating “about three days ago”.

“It is his vital functions that are failing, including his heart,” the source said, adding that no hospital admission was planned, as he has the “necessary medical equipment” at home. In response to the news, Catholic leaders from around the world said they would pray for him, from the United States to Benedict’s native Germany.

In Regensburg, where the former pope taught at the university between 1969 and 1977, a handful of faithful braved the early morning cold Thursday to attend a mass at the gothic cathedral.

“I am asking you to accompany Benedict on his final journey,” Regensburg’s auxiliary bishop told worshippers, as a large portrait of the pope emeritus sat on the altar.

In St Peter’s Square, meanwhile, the thoughts of many visitors were on the former pope.

“I’m sorry, even though he is old. The church will lose a piece of history,” said Agnese, a 40-year-old teacher.

The Vatican also announced a special mass to be held on Friday at Rome’s Basilica of St John Lateran.

Abuse scandal

In 2013, Benedict had cited his declining physical and mental health in his shock decision to stand down.

His resignation created an unprecedented situation in which two “men in white” -- Benedict and Pope Francis -- have co-existed within the walls of the tiny city state.

Benedict was 78 when he succeeded the long-reigning and popular John Paul II in April 2005.

He had previously served as the Church’s chief doctrinal enforcer, earning the nickname “God’s Rottweiler” and a reputation as a generally conservative thinker on theological issues. But his papacy was beset by Church infighting and the outcry over clerical sex abuse of children.

He became the first pontiff to apologise for the abuse that emerged around the world, expressing “deep remorse” and meeting with victims in person.

But while he took key steps to tackle the scandal, Benedict was criticised for failing to end Church cover-ups, and the issue returned to haunt him in retirement.

A damning report for the German church in January 2022 accused him of personally having failed to stop four predatory priests in the 1980s while archbishop of Munich.

‘Humble person’

Benedict has denied wrongdoing, but in a letter released after the report, asked “for forgiveness”.

Alice Ritchie writes for AFP