EWTN to air conference on Pope Benedict XVI one year after his death

Pope Benedict XVI on May 11, 2010. | Credit: Mazur/www.thepapalvisit.org.uk

Rome Newsroom, Dec 29, 2023 / 16:30 pm

One year after the death of Pope Benedict XVI, scholars, experts, and friends of the late pontiff will meet in Rome on Dec. 30–31 in the Benedict XVI Hall of the Campo Santo Teutonico at the Vatican to discuss his legacy.

EWTN, the Fundatio Christiana Virtus Association, and the Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation have partnered to hold the conference, which will air on EWTN throughout the day on Dec. 31 beginning at 6:30 a.m. ET (see schedule below).

Solène Tadié will be the moderator for the panels, and panelists include Father Vincent Twomey and Father Federico Lombardi, former director of the Holy See Press Office, who will discuss the topic “Benedict XVI, Memory and Legacy.”

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller and Matthew Bunson, EWTN vice president and editorial director, will later discuss “The Center of Benedict XVI’s Theology: Jesus Christ.”

Discussion about “The Death of Benedict XVI in the Light of Eternal Life” will be led by Cardinal Kurt Koch and Father Ralph Weimann.

On Dec. 31, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who served as personal secretary to Pope Benedict XVI from 2005–2022, will preside over Mass at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the first anniversary of the death of Benedict XVI.

The conference will conclude with a final session in which Gänswein will offer reflections on the last years of Benedict XVI’s life and his legacy in the Benedict XVI Hall of the Campo Santo Teutonico.

EWTN will broadcast the “Remembering Benedict XVI: Life, Teaching, Legacy” conference at the following times on Sunday, Dec. 31:

6:30 a.m. ET: “Benedict XVI, Memory and Legacy”

9:30 a.m. ET: “The Center of His Theology: Jesus Christ”

Noon ET: “Holy Mass in Remembrance of Pope Benedict XVI”

4 p.m. ET: “His Death in the Light of Eternal Life”

6 p.m. ET: “His Last Years”

Matthew Santucci is a CNA Rome correspondent based in EWTN's Vatican bureau. He grew up in Connecticut and has been living in Rome since 2020. He has a B.A. in History from Fordham and an M.A. in International Relations from Luiss Guido Carli.