Special to The Message
Bishop Joseph M. Siegel of the Diocese of Evansville has provided The Message with the following statement on the passing of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI:
“While we grieve the passing of Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI, we also rejoice in the hope that he will share in the glory of heaven with Jesus, Mary and Joseph, and all the angels and saints. He was a faithful servant of God and the Church throughout his life and ministry as a theologian, diocesan bishop, as a close collaborator of St. John Paul II as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and especially as Pope. He would be the first to ask that we continue to remember him in our prayers, and so I ask that he be remembered at Masses throughout the diocese. Through the prayers of Mary, the Mother of God, may the Lord grant him a rich reward for his labors in His vineyard.”