The Sassari Gremio dei Viandanti among the beneficiaries of the latest gifts sent by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died a few days ago . «It is - explains Cristian Zedda, secretary of the association - a chalice, a paten and a silver spoon ».
Neo-Gothic style, German tradition, and provenance from the monastery of Mater Ecclesiae, Vatican City, where Joseph Ratzinger had resided since February 28, 2013, the day of his resignation from the Petrine throne. « We had paid him a tribute for the 70th anniversary of his priestly ordination and in response, a few months ago, we received these sacred objects ». Certified with a note signed by Father Georg Ganswein, "special secretary of the Holy Father". "A very determined person - recalls Zedda - and respectful of Benedetto's indications with whom he was in love, in a spiritual sense, mind you".
Cristian has just returned from Rome where he joined the crowd of faithful who, in the Vatican basilica, greeted the mortal remains of Ratzinger. «Now I am bewildered by his death but I am comforted by the certainty that he was a saint ». The gremio secretary met the former pontiff in person on several occasions: "I had the impression of a very cordial person, who looked you straight in the eye and was interested in the interlocutor even in the midst of chaos". A father figure, like a "wise grandfather", distant from the divisive profile painted in recent years. "I think he would be horrified by these controversies, he seemed full of goodness and serenity to me". And as for the alleged magnificence of the papal robes which have attracted criticism and irony, Zedda explains them thus: «He did not want to embellish himself but only to recall the solemnity of the liturgy . Take the symbol of the red shoes, trivialized by this fluid society. The meaning was to want to follow in the footsteps of Christ until death".
