Retired Pope Benedict XVI is assisted by his private secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sept. 28, 2014 (CNS photo/Paul Haring) Wuerzburg (KNA): Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, the former secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, has said he is still suffering from the loss of his superior and companion one year ago.
“The memory of the anniversary of his death awakens sadness, pain and melancholy in me,” Gaenswein told the catholic weekly newspaper Die Tagespost.
Gaenswein said he did not believe the key dates in Benedict’s life were a coincidence. “Born on Holy Saturday, died on the Octave Day of Christmas: providence can be discerned in this,” he said. ”The birth, suffering, death and resurrection of the Lord are reflected in the dates of Joseph Ratzinger’s life.” Pope Benedict XVI was born on April 16, 1927 and died on December 31, 2022.
The archbishop said Benedict had been preparing for his death since he relinquished the papacy in 2013. This process had consisted less of special activities, but rather in “doing the work of the day more consciously and entrusting the remaining time of his life more intensively to God’s guidance.”
The former head of the church had lived in God, for God and for Christ, said Gaenswein. “He also died with this inner attitude.”