As is now the tradition at each consistory, the new cardinals created on August 27, 2022, accompanied by Pope Francis, visited Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at his residence in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the heart of the Vatican Gardens.
After receiving the blessing of Benedict XVI and Francis, and praying the Salve Regina together, the new cardinals went to the Apostolic Palace or Paul VI Hall for courtesy visits.
All 19 cardinals who participated in the ceremony – Ghanaian Cardinal Richard Kuuia Baawobr, 63, was unable to attend for health reasons – took part in the meeting.
Although he is 95 years old and very weak, Benedict XVI continues to receive visits. According to his entourage, he speaks with a very reduced voice, but he has kept a full intellectual lucidity. His longevity as pope emeritus, more than nine and a half years, has exceeded the duration of his pontificate.
After having personally participated in the consistory of February 22, 2014, in St. Peter’s Basilica, Benedict XVI has made it a habit, during consistories convened by his successor Pope Francis, to receive the new cardinals in his residence for a brief time of exchange and prayer.
