Vatican City, Jan 13, 2005 / 22:00 pm
This morning in the Vatican Basilica, the Holy Father presided at the funeral of Cardinal Jan Pieter Schotte, C.I.C.M., who died on Monday at the age of 76.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, dean of the College of Cardinals, celebrated Mass along with other cardinals.
In his homily, the Pope highlighted how the late cardinal "was a man of peace. He made the value of peace one of the central points of his long and intense service to the universal Church and, especially, to the Holy See.”
Such was his conviction that a Christian must bear witness to peace that he chose as his episcopal motto 'Parare viam Domino pacis', a recognizable reference to St John the Baptist, Patron of the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, to which he belonged."