VATICAN CITY — Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI came home to the Vatican on Thursday for the first time since he resigned Feb. 28, beginning an unprecedented era for the Catholic Church of having a retired pontiff living alongside a reigning one.
Pope Francis welcomed Benedict outside his new retirement home — a converted monastery on the edge of the Vatican gardens — and the two went into the adjoining chapel to pray together, the Vatican said.
The Vatican said Benedict, 86, was pleased to be back and that he would — as he has said before — “dedicate himself to the service of the church above all with prayer.” Francis, the statement said, welcomed him with “brotherly cordiality.”
A photo released by the Vatican showed the two men, arms clasped and smiling, standing inside the doorway of Benedict’s new home as Benedict’s secretary looks on.
