BY FIONA MOTSA
MBABANE- A great loss.
Eswatini Prime Minister His Excellency Cleopas Dlamini has joined the Roman Catholic fraternity in mourning the death of Pope Benedict XVI.
Pope Benedict XVI passed away on Monday at the age 95 at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery and will be laid to rest today at St Peter’s Square.
In a speech made by the Prime Minister Cleopas Dlamini, he mentioned the Pope was a great man of God.
“We would like to send our condolences to the Vatican Church for the demise of such a great man and their leader, Pope Benedict XVI.
“The Pope played a huge role in bringing together worshippers in the name of God. It is our prayer that the Almighty God gives friends, loved ones and Catholics comfort in this time of grief,” said His Excellency.
According to NBC, an internationally renowned media house, the late Pope was considered a dominant intellectual figure in Roman Catholicism as he moved toward more conservative positions in the 40 years before he assumed the papacy.
“Pope Benedict was 78 and already frail in 2005 when he became pope becoming the oldest Pope elected in almost three centuries. He is also currently ranked the longest living Pope in history.
“He had become the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the council known during the 16th century as the Spanish Inquisition that promotes and enforces church doctrine,” reported NBC.
Yesterday, we reported that a number of emaSwati and Catholics had joined the thousands of people paying their respect, to the late Pope Benedict.
Thousands of people had lined up to pay their respects to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at St Peter’s Basilica where he lay in state for three days before a ‘simple’ funeral at the Vatican today.
Roman Catholic churches in the country, during the first service of the year, made mention of the great loss suffered by the whole Roman Catholic community.
In yesterday’s morning service at Cathedral Manzini, Father Ntshangase mentioned that they were greatly pained by the loss of their leader and further urged Catholics to pray for Pope’s soul.
