Pope Francis celebrated a memorial Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for Pope Benedict XVI and the six cardinals and 147 bishops who died over the past year. Eighteen of the bishops were from the United States and five were from Canada. Also included was Australian Cardinal George Pell, former prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy, who died in January in Rome at the age of 81.

Pope Francis said Pope Benedict XVI, who died Dec. 31, 2022, reminded everyone “that faith is not primarily an idea to be understood or a moral precept to be followed, but a person to be encountered.” And added, “That person is Jesus Christ, whose heart beats with love for us, whose eyes look with pity upon our suffering.”

See Catholic News Service’s full report in the video below.