"The Catholic Church and the world in general lose a figure who made a significant contribution to the positive and remarkably constructive role that the Catholic Church has been playing in the world, in favor of a humanism that is increasingly necessary in these times, in the relationship between Peoples , Nations and Individuals", wrote João Lourenço in the message sent to Pope Francis.
The head of state said, in the message that the Presidency replicated on the social network Facebook, that he therefore received the news of the death of Benedict XVI this Saturday with regret.
João Lourenço, who is in Brasilia for the inauguration of Lula da Silva as the new President of Brazil, offered condolences to the Pope and also "to Catholics throughout the world".
The funeral of Benedict XVI, who died at the age of 95, will take place on Thursday, in St. Peter's Square, in the Vatican, at 9:30 am local time, in a celebration presided over by Pope Francis.
The mortal remains of the pope emeritus will be displayed in St. Peter's Basilica, in the Vatican, so that the faithful who want to can pay him a last goodbye from this Monday, January 2nd.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI shook the Church by resigning from the pontificate for health reasons, on February 11, 2013, two months before celebrating eight years in office.
Joseph Ratzinger, who was pope between 2005 and 2013, was born in 1927 in Marktl am Inn, in the German diocese of Passau, becoming the first German to head the Catholic Church in many centuries and a representative of the most dogmatic line of the Church.
The sexual abuse of minors by priests and the "Vatileaks", in which case confidential documents of the pope were revealed, were themes that agitated his pontificate. Benedict XVI called the abuses a "heinous crime" and apologized to the victims.
