Antonino Galofaro (in Rome), edited by Gauthier Delomez
modified to
10:15 a.m., January 04, 2023
The funeral of Pope Benedict XVI Thursday in Rome will respect an unprecedented protocol, even in the invitations. No heads of state were invited, except for the German and Italian delegations. On Europe 1, Vatican specialists take stock of this political puzzle.
With the exception of the German and Italian delegations, no head of state has been invited to the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died at 95 on Saturday December 31. These are delegations from Germany, the country of origin of Joseph Ratzinger – real name of Benedict XVI -, and from Italy where he lived for more than 40 years. For France, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin will attend the funeral, but he has not received an official invitation from the Vatican.
For the Vatican, do not dramatize the event
“The other leaders can come, but in a private capacity, they do not have the same rank or the same placement as the Italian and German leaders”, explains Loup Besmond de Senneville, permanent special correspondent for the newspaper. The cross in Rome. “The Vatican wants to clarify that it is not a pope that we are burying, it is a pope emeritus”, he informs.
For the Vatican, it is also a question of not dramatizing the event as the pope emeritus wanted. According to the specialist Cyprien Viet, it is not in the tradition of the micro-State to dramatize. “During canonizations and beatifications, heads of state can come to honor a saint from their country, but they are not officially invited,” said the journalist from the I Media news agency. “They are the ones who invite themselves and who are welcomed”, he specifies, indicating that the Vatican welcomes “everyone”.
In reality, there is no official list of personalities who will be present Thursday morning to attend the funeral of Benedict XVI.