“Our Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has gone to heaven. In this moment, as we mourn his loss, we celebrate his life, because it was a life given in service to Jesus Christ,” Los Angeles Arc…
Southern California clerics paid tribute to former Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday, Dec. 31 after the 95-year-old’s death was announced by the Vatican.
Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez will lead a special Mass in the Archdiocese “for the faithful to commemorate the life and death of Pope Benedict XVI,” a spokesperson said Saturday, with details to be released later.
“Our Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has gone to heaven. In this moment, as we mourn his loss, we celebrate his life, because it was a life given in service to Jesus Christ,” Gomez said.
“I know there will be more for me to reflect on about this beautiful man and great figure in the Catholic Church of our times. But in this moment, I find myself giving thanks to God for his witness and recalling the words that he spoke in his inaugural homily: ‘The purpose of our lives is to reveal God to men. And only where God is seen does life truly begin.
