Rome Newsroom, Jul 8, 2020 / 07:30 am
Benedict XVI watched his brother's funeral via livestream on Wednesday as his secretary Archbishop Georg Gänswein read the pope emeritus' message of remembrance at the Mass in Germany.
"When I said goodbye to him in the morning on Monday, June 22, we knew it would be his farewell to this world forever. But we also knew that the benevolent God, who gave us this togetherness in this world, will also rule in the other world and will give us a new togetherness there," Benedict XVI wrote in the message read aloud at the funeral on July 8.
"May God reward you richly, Georg, for everything you have achieved, for what you have suffered, and for what you have given to me," the pope emeritus wrote.
Msgr. Georg Ratzinger died in Bavaria at the age of 96 on July 1. While the pope emeritus was unable to attend Ratzinger's funeral in Regensburg, Benedict XVI expressed gratitude for the time he spent with his older brother during his trip to Bavaria less than two weeks before his death.