Rome (AP) – St. Peter’s Square is bustling as always. Tourists line up outside the entrance controls to St. Peter’s Basilica, many taking photos and selfies. Young and old alike marvel at the huge Christmas tree and the large wooden nativity scene facing it. Souvenir stalls advertise small Vatican memorabilia on their mobile stalls.
24 hours after the news broke that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. should be very sick, nothing like a state of emergency in St. Peter’s Square. A few cameras have been installed outside the square’s barrier; German television crews film what happens in front of the cathedral and monitor visitors from their homes. Public broadcaster Rai has also set up camera rigs and broadcast vehicles – not because of Benedict, but because of Francis’ upcoming New Year’s Mass.
Positive news came from behind the mighty Vatican walls of the former Mater Ecclesiae monastery. “The pope emeritus recovered well last night, he is perfectly lucid and awake, and today his condition, although still serious, is stable,” said Matteo Bruni, spokesman for the Holy See. But Francis continues to ask for prayers for Benedict, who is being cared for by his longtime companion and private secretary Georg Gänswein, four women from a secular religious association and doctors.
“He is very sick” – with this comment on his predecessor, Pope Francis surprised the Catholic Church and some believers on Wednesday. “We heard it in the media; It touched us a lot,” says a German visitor to Saarland. He has been coming to Rome regularly for many years and has also met Benedict personally, for example at general audiences. “We hope that the state of health will improve, but we fear that it is probably not the case,” the man says and says that he prayed for Benedict as Francis had requested.
Many high clerics and dioceses around the world, from Argentina to the United States and from Canada to France and Belgium, had responded to the request. In Rome, where Benedict was also bishop as pope, and in his home country of Germany, prayers were said for the born clergyman Joseph Ratzinger.
In the Lateran Basilica, one of the five papal basilicas in Rome, a mass for Benedict will be celebrated this Friday evening, as announced by the Holy See. However, Pope Francis is not expected. The 86-year-old Argentinian had already visited Benoît on Wednesday after his statements in general audience.
As can be heard from people who know Benedict best, Francis’ speech also surprised many in the Vatican and especially around Mater Ecclesiae. Some observers suspect that the Argentine didn’t really mean that things were that bad for Papa Emeritus or that he was even dying. Rather, he wanted to ask the faithful to pray for Benedict, who was already very old and weak. The Vatican has not confirmed reports that the German was having difficulty breathing or that important vital functions were slowly declining.
“He meant a lot to me personally and gave a lot in the past,” says the German visitor from Saarland. “It touches me.” His wife also reports the sadness she feels over the developments. A man from Berlin, who is visiting Rome with his family, says: “Of course, as a German it affects you a bit.”
A married couple from Dresden report that they heard the news about Benedikt from the television news. However, the two didn’t quite understand the exact details of the Italian schedule and therefore ‘only took note’, as the man put it. “We are not religious,” adds the woman. The two stroll through the Campo Santo Teutonico, the German cemetery right next to St. Peter’s Basilica. Benoît also always enjoyed being at the cemetery, where it was very quiet and devotional on Thursdays – unlike the hectic bustle just a few hundred meters away.
More and more people line up for the Cathedral in St. Peter’s Square. A colorful mixture of languages can be heard, people speak Italian, English, Spanish and Polish. You rarely hear German. Some are sitting on the ground next to the large obelisks in the middle of the square, many are engrossed in their cell phones.
Also in 2005, Catholics were seen sitting on the ground in St. Peter’s Square – when Pope John Paul II was gravely ill at the end of his life. Hundreds of young people remained in the square even at night, singing and playing the guitar. The nuns gathered for collective prayers. The impressive and touching scenes were sometimes broadcast live around the world for hours. At that time, the situation now in the twilight years of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. do not compare.
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