He was a great servant of the people of God – The Archbishop about Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

Message by Archbishop Charles Scicluna

My heartfelt tribute to a great man, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. It is also a tribute to a great and wise man of the Church. He dedicated his life to teaching, to study. In his great humility and wisdom, he was a great servent of the people of God. His experience at Vatican Council II, opened up to him his mind and his heart, to the great horizons of the Catholic world, and to the people of God around the world. He was an accessible person, quite modest in his traits, but of extraordinary depth in his teaching, and his power of synthesis.

He came [to Malta] with his humility, with his wisdom, with his candour, with his modesty. He left an indelible mark in our hearts.

We Maltese, will always remember Pope Benedict, for the great gift of canonising our saint, St George Preca, and also for his visit to the islands of Malta in 2010. He came as a pilgrim of reconciliation, at a difficult time for the Church around the world. He came with his humility, with his wisdom, with his candour, with his modesty. He left an indelible mark in our hearts.

I would like also to thank him personally, for nominating me as your bishop in 2012; and I would like to thank God for the gift of such a great teacher and shepherd. May Lord, in his mercy, grant him eternal peace. 

✠ Charles Jude Scicluna
    Archbishop of Malta

In italiano: Il messaggio dell’Arcivescovo su Papa Benedetto XVI

È per me un grande dovere di giustizia e di carità, salutare la memoria di Benedetto XVI, il Papa Emerito. L’ho incontrato nel 2002 quando sono stato chiamato a partecipare da vicino nella missione di salvaguardare le vittime degli abusi, presso la Congregazione per la Dottrina della Fede. Ho incontrato un uomo modesto, umile ma di grande saggezza, di un spessore teologico immenso, di una grande fedeltà al Papa Giovanni Paolo II.

Un grande amico con un senso modesto e gentile di umore, un anima che aveva abbracciato sin dai tempi del Concilio Vaticano II, l’immensità della Chiesa Cattolica nella sua grandezza ma anche nella sua debolezza.

Io vorrei anche ringraziare il Signore perché tramite Papa Benedetto noi maltesi abbiamo avuto un Santo canonizato, San Giorgio Preca, e rimaniamo per sempre grati per la visita di Benedetto XVI tra di noi nel 2010.

Vorrei salutare un anima grande, un pastore leale, sincero, onesto, un vero cooperatore della verità. Che il Signore gli dia la ricompensa meritata.