Benedict XVI’s Death Points to Anglican Reunion
Pope Benedict xvi died on December 31. He was 95 years old. As pope, Benedict was leader of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City from 2005 to 2013. In 2013, he made history as the first pope to resign from office since Gregory xii in 1415. Since then, he lived in a monastery in Vatican City with the new title “pope emeritus.” The Vatican has scheduled his funeral for January 5. His successor, Pope Francis, will preside over his funeral.
His death has been met with an outpouring of praise, perhaps most remarkably from the United Kingdom:
I remember with fondness my meeting with his holiness during my visit to the Vatican in 2009. … I also recall his constant efforts to promote peace and goodwill to all people, and to strengthen the relationship between the global Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.
—King Charles iii
Pope Benedict was one of the greatest theologians of his age—committed to the faith of the church and stalwart in its defense. In all things, not least in his writing and his preaching, he looked to Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God. It was abundantly clear that Christ was the root of his thought and the basis of his prayer. … May he now rest in Christ’s peace, and rise in glory with all the saints.
—Justin Welby, archbishop of Canterbury
He was a great theologian whose UK visit in 2010 was an historic moment for both Catholics and non-Catholics throughout our country.
—Rishi Sunak, British prime minister
[T]he late pope has been called to heaven. … He was on earth, a very saintly figure. So it seems to me, without being presumptuous, that he is likely to have gone to heavenly glory.
—Jacob Rees-Mogg, former leader of the House of Commons
Reconciliation: Rees-Mogg for his part is a Roman Catholic. But the King and the archbishop of Canterbury are the supreme governor and primate, respectively, of the Church of England. The Church of England and the Catholic Church are not in communion with each other. Historically, relations have been downright hostile. Yet it looks like Britain’s leaders have all but forgotten this. An archbishop of Canterbury calling a pope “one of the greatest theologians of his age” is historic. Some of Welby’s comments suggests he sees Anglicans and Catholics as part of the same faith.
The British government respected Benedict so highly that it even ordered flags to be flown at half-mast.
A bold prediction: The Trumpet’s predecessor, the Plain Truth, wrote the following in October 1961:
The pope will step in as the supreme unifying authority—the only one that can finally unite the differing nations of Europe. The iron jurisdiction over both schools and religion will be turned over to the Roman Catholic Church. Europe will go Roman Catholic! Protestantism will be absorbed into the “mother” church—and totally abolished.
Britain’s reaction to Benedict’s death suggests this is not far off on the horizon.
To learn more: Read Chapter 3 of our booklet He Was Right.
