Vatican City, Aug 22, 2008 / 09:34 am (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI remembered the late Bishop Wilhelm Emil Egger of Bolzano-Bressanone, an expert on the Bible who had been named special secretary for the Synod on the Word of God.  He described the late prelate as a “beloved friend” and “learned pastor who the Church has lost, a kind and pious man who tirelessly brought the good news of Christ to people.”
 
The L'Osservatore Romano published a letter the Holy Father wrote for the funeral of Bishop Egger, which took place on Thursday at the Cathedral of Bressanone.  In his letter, the Pope noted that “love for the Word of God and the sanctification of Sunday are now the particular testimony of Bishop Egger, which will help the faithful and parish communities to make the encounter with the God of love the center of their lives.”
 
After expressing his closeness to the diocese in prayer, the Pope underscored in his letter Bishop Egger’s “profound relationship with the Sacred Scriptures, which molded his entire life and from which he learned. Thus the celebration of the Eucharist constituted the central moment of his spiritual life, and therefore he celebrated Sunday Mass in a profoundly pastoral way with the faithful of his diocese.”
 
In recalling the last pastoral letter of Bishop Egger entitled, “Called to Follow Love,” the Holy Father said this title “aptly expresses the life of this man of the Church as a Christian, a religious and a bishop.  His example is an invitation to each one of us to open ourselves to the love of God and enliven it with consistent effort in order to bring out in our own lives the authentic ‘following of love’.”

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