Retired Pope Benedict XVI has said he hopes to soon join a beloved professor friend in 'the afterlife', in a sign that the 94-year-old pontiff is not only accepting his eventual death but welcoming it.
Here is an amazing thing, a letter written by a man who is still the pope over the Roman Catholic Church, Benedict, and in this letter written about the passing of an old friend Benedict talks about 'meeting friends' in the 'afterlife'. Not a word, not one word about Jesus Christ whose shed blood makes Heaven possible, this from the man the Vatican says is Jesus Christ incarnate, Vicarius Filii Dei, on this earth. What does this show you? It shows you Benedict is just as lost and headed for Hell as any other unregenerated sinner.
"And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD." Jeremiah 9:3 (KJB)
Let me ask you, if you were old and well-nigh to death, would you be talking about the 'afterlife' so you could be reunited with your friends? Or, would you be shouting about getting ready to meet Jesus face to face in a place called Heaven? For the Bible believer, our blessed hope is not a place it's a Person, it is Jesus Christ still bearing the wounds of our salvation in His glorious body! How could the 'vicar of Christ' miss this by a country mile? Because he thinks like a lost man, and he writes like a lost man who wants the 'afterlife' mentioned no where in the Bible. Pray for Benedict to get saved, before he actually does die. He's not going to care very much for the 'afterlife'.
Retired Pope Benedict hopes to soon join friends in ‘the afterlife’
FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS: Benedict penned an Oct. 2 letter to a German priest, thanking him for letting him know of the passing of the Rev. Gerhard Winkler, a Cistercian priest and academic colleague of the former Joseph Ratzinger.
“Of all my colleagues and friends he was the closest to me,” Benedict wrote, according to the letter reproduced in German media. “Now he has reached the afterlife, where many friends certainly await him. I hope I can join them soon.”
Benedict became the first pope in 600 years to resign when he renounced the papacy in 2013, saying he didn’t have the strength of body and mind to guide the Catholic Church.
Throughout the papacy of Pope Francis, Benedict has lived in a converted monastery in the Vatican gardens, occasionally greeting visitors and writing, but by and large keeping to his vow to live “hidden to the world.” READ MORE
Full translation of the letter:
Reverend Father Abbot,
The news that you shared with me about the passing of Professor Gerhard Winkler, O.Cist., has deeply affected me. Among all my colleagues and friends, he was the closest. His cheerfulness and his deep faith have always drawn me. Now he has arrived on the other side, where surely many friends already await him. I hope that I can join their company soon. In the meantime, I am united in prayer with him and the monastic community of Wilhering .
Heartfelt greetings and blessings,
Yours in the Lord,
Benedict
How Benedict imagines Heaven
In the Last Testament, the book-interview with Benedict XVI, he reflected on Heaven:
- Q: The believer trusts that ‘eternal life’ is a life fulfilled.
- Benedict: Definitely! Then he is truly at home.
- Q: What are you expecting?
- Benedict: There are various dimensions. Some are more theological. St. Augustine says something which is a great thought and a great comfort here. He interprets the passage from the Psalms ‘seek his face always’ as saying: this applies ‘for ever’; to all eternity. God is so great that we never finish our searching. He is always new. With God there is perpetual, unending encounter, with new discoveries and new joy. Such things are theological matters. At the same time, in an entirely human perspective, I look forward to being reunited with my parents, my siblings, my friends, and I imagine it will be as lovely as it was at our family home.
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