Inauguration of Benedict XVI
The day after his election, Pope Benedict XVI approved new procedures for the inauguration. He was formally inaugurated as Supreme Pontiff on April 24, 2005. The ceremony began with the Pope and the cardinals kneeling at the Tomb of Saint Peter beneath the high altar of Saint Peter's Basilica — the popes are, according to Catholic dogma, the successors of Saint Peter, the first head of the Church in Rome — to give him homage, and ask his prayers. Pope Benedict said, "I leave from where the Apostle arrived." The Pope and the cardinals then went in procession to Saint Peter's Square for the inauguration Mass, while the Litany of the Saints was chanted, asking their help for the new Pope.
Read more about this topic: Papal Inauguration
Famous quotes containing the word benedict:
“The mere fact of leaving ultimate social control in the hands of the people has not guaranteed that men will be able to conduct their lives as free men. Those societies where men know they are free are often democracies, but sometimes they have strong chiefs and kings. ... they have, however, one common characteristic: they are all alike in making certain freedoms common to all citizens, and inalienable.”
—Ruth Benedict (1887–1948)