Tributes Pour in on First Anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI's Death

Pope Francis and Archbishop Georg Gaenswein lead tributes, while Cardinal Gerhard Mueller suggests Benedict would have opposed same-sex blessings.

Pope Francis and Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, former private secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, led tributes on the first anniversary of Benedict's death, praising his love, wisdom, and deep faith.
Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, the Church’s doctrinal chief under Benedict, stated that the late Pope would not have approved the recent declaration allowing Catholic priests to bless same-sex couples.
Gaenswein expressed hope that Benedict might one day be declared a saint, and Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni praised Benedict as a 'great man of history and a giant of reason, faith and the positive synthesis between the two.'
Francis reaffirmed that the papacy is generally a job for life, acknowledging the issues that arose from having two popes living side by side in the Vatican after Benedict's retirement.
Benedict's decision to retire has been praised as courageous by Francis, who has also stated he might follow in his footsteps.