By Sarah Mac Donald - 26 August, 2014
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI celebrated Mass on Sunday morning to mark the conclusion of this year’s Schuelerkreis.
The Ratzinger Schuelerkreis is a yearly gathering of the theologian Joseph Ratzinger’s former students.
The Mass was held in the Church of the Campo Santo Teutonico within Vatican City.
The Schuelerkreis took place from 21-24 August at the Mariapoli Centre in Castelgandolfo.
This year’s gathering explored the theme of the theology of the Cross.
Theologian Karl-Heinze Menke, Dogmatic Professor at the University of Bonn, was the primary relator at the liturgy on Sunday.
Irish theologian, Fr Vincent Twomey, is the only Irish participant in these annual theological gatherings.
He studied under the then Professor Ratzinger at the University of Regensburg in the 1970s.
Last year was the first year that Benedict XVI did not take part in the proceedings but he still met 54 of his former students and members of the young Ratzinger Schuelerkreis at the concluding Mass.
