Nothing to do with April 2005, when George W. Bush, his father George senior and his predecessor Bill Clinton, the Iranian Khatami and the Afghan Karzai, Jacques Chirac and Kofi arrived for the funeral of John Paul II in Rome Annan, Lula and Tony Blair. 159 delegations, 157 cardinals, 700 archbishops, over six thousand accredited journalists. Karol Wojtyla had governed for over a quarter of a century, had had an impact on the fall of the Iron Curtain, had governed until his last breath, and big names from all over the world mobilized for him.
An impossible, and also inappropriate, comparison with Benedict XVI, who has not been Pope for ten years. A refined theologian, an intellectual far from the politique politicienne, who, however, with his doctrinal firmness over the years has thrilled conservative political circles, traditionalist Catholics and the “devout atheists”. Matteo Salvini with the “My Pope is Benedict” t-shirt was only the latest in a long line of politicians who looked to Ratzinger as a bulwark against ethical relativism and secularization.
An influence that also emerges in the geography of the leaders who are arriving in Rome in these hours for the funeral presided over by Pope Francis tomorrow, with a rich representation of sovereign governments and, also to respect the will of the Vatican and the Pope Emeritus of a funeral “simple and solemn”, a reduced presence of other countries.
Unlike what happens when a reigning Pope dies, the Vatican Secretariat of State has not sent invitations to the chancelleries of countries with which the Holy See has diplomatic relations. He did it only with Italy and Germany, the two countries of Joseph Ratzinger. In San Pietro there will therefore be the German president Frank Walter Steinmeier, the chancellor Olaf Scholz, as well as the governor of Bavaria Markus Söder, Sergio Mattarella and Giorgia Meloni will be present.
The Italian premier, who has always been a great admirer of the German Pope, “a giant of faith and reason”, will meet several well-known faces of the European right in the churchyard of St. Peter’s. In fact, the Polish president Andrzej Duda and the premier Mateusz Morawiecki will be present at Ratzinger’s funeral, along with the Hungarian president Katalin Novàk and in all probability the premier Viktor Orbán, who already landed in Rome yesterday to pay homage to the exposed body of Benedict XVI in the Vatican basilica.
Crowned heads such as Queen Sofia of Spain and King Philip of Belgium will also be present at the funeral. The Portuguese president Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa and the Slovenian Nataša Pirc Musar will come again to Rome. Emmanuel Macron will send Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. Joe Biden will be represented by Ambassador to the Holy See Joe Donnelly.