Memorial mass held in Idaho Falls to remember Pope Benedict's passing - East Idaho News
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Memorial mass held in Idaho Falls to remember Pope Benedict’s passing

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Pope Benedict, the first pope to resign in 600 years, passed away on Dec. 31 at age 95. His funeral was held in the Vatican Thursday morning. | File photo from CNN

IDAHO FALLS – People around the world are paying their respects to Pope Benedict XVI Thursday, who passed away on Dec. 31 at age 95.

His official cause of death hasn’t been released, but the Vatican said shortly after his passing that his health had taken a turn for the worse “due to advancing age.”

Crowds gathered in the Vatican Thursday morning as his coffin was placed in the square outside St. Peter’s Basilica. Pope Francis presided at the funeral, opening with a prayer and closing it by solemnly blessing the casket and bowing his head, according to the Associated Press.

The AP reports leaders and clergy from around the world were in attendance, along with thousands of people.

RELATED | Benedict XVI, first pope to resign in 600 years, dies at 95

Locals also gathered to honor Pope Benedict during a memorial mass at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Idaho Falls. Dozens of people attended the hour-long service. It opened with a prayer and a processional song, where the priests, deacons and other clergy walked down the aisle to the altar.

In a typical mass, the celebrant, or person leading the service, reverences the altar with a bow or a kiss, according to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. He makes the sign of the cross and greets those in attendance with words of scripture. The congregation sits, stands and kneels numerous times as part of the ceremony before taking communion.

students attending mass
Students at Holy Rosary Catholic School attending mass several years ago. | Courtesy photo

Carina Van Pelt, the principal at Holy Rosary Catholic School, tells EastIdahoNews.com students watched parts of Pope Benedict’s funeral in class Thursday to learn how the church honors its leaders.

“When someone dies, you learn more about their life than when they were alive,” Van Pelt says. “There’s some wonderful things we’ve learned about him, unfortunately after his passing, but I think it’s really important for the kids to learn about this and see what we do in our faith to honor a deceased pope.”

About 160 kids between kindergarten and sixth grade attend the school.

Benedict XVI’s papal inauguration took place in 2005. He became the first pope to resign in 600 years when he stepped down in 2013. Father Francis Flores with the Pope St. John Paul II Parish in Idaho Falls says Benedict’s resignation has an impact on the papacy and the office of future popes because it opens the door for other popes to do the same.

He describes Benedict as “a renowned theologian who was very confident in how he presented and taught the faith.”

“It was remarkable that at his funeral mass in Rome, a pope officiated at the funeral of another pope. That’s never happened in the 2,000-year history of the church,” Flores says.

His death impacts millions of Catholics around the world, including the 5,000 members of the Idaho Falls parish.

“The pope is an important person for us. He’s the visible sign of unity for the church. We have great hope of salvation, but at the same time we’re saddened by his death because he was our pope for about eight years,” Flores says.

The Idaho Falls parish, which oversees Catholic congregations in Idaho Falls, Rigby, Iona, Mud Lake, Roberts and Shelley, is one of a number of parishes in eastern Idaho.

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