Wales’ First Minister attends Memorial Vespers service for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI

The First Minister of Wales, the Rt Hon Mark Drakeford MS, has attended a service of Memorial Vespers in Cardiff’s Catholic Cathedral joining the faithful as they gathered to pray for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI who died on New Year’s Eve aged 95.

Archbishop Mark O’Toole, Archbishop of Cardiff and Bishop of Menevia, led the service and used his sermon to pay a warm tribute to Benedict XVI in the presence of ecumenical and interreligious guests as well as local dignitaries.

“He did not want to be served but to serve,” said Archbishop O’Toole. “He was a faithful and humble servant of the Gospel. “He gave out all the wealth of his heart, and intellect, and serving in this way, he has left us rich fruit, especially in the corpus of his writings, homilies, papal audiences, as well as his sensitive attention to the person in front of him.”

The Memorial Vespers for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI took place in Cardiff Cathedral at 6pm on Tuesday, 3 January 2023.

LINK TO FULL SERMON:

Pictured in the photo, from left to right, are:

Rosaleen Moriarty-Simmonds, High Sheriff of South Glamorgan
Karsan Vaghani, representative from the Hindu Council of Wales
Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales
Archbishop Mark O’Toole, Archbishop of Cardiff, Bishop of Menevia
Morfudd Meredith, Lord Lieutenant of South Glamorgan
Representatives from the Hindu Council of Wales