At the 6:00 AM Mas at the Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral today, January 6, 2023, Bishop Ryan, together with the clergy of the diocese, presided at the Eucharistic celebration offered for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Bishop Ryan recalled how Pope Benedict XVI was the Supreme Pontiff who accepted the resignation of the late Bishop Tomas Camacho, appointed the late Fr. Manuel Corcuera as the Apostolic Administrator, then him as the Apostolic Administrator of Chalan Kanoa on December 28, 2010. Bishop Ryan quoted Vatican News describing the Holy Father as someone whose “Magisterium is the face of the church that does not seek power, success, and large numbers.” Bishop Ryan reminded everyone that we might be a small diocese in the Pacific, but in God’s eyes, each one of us counts. “Each of us is willed, each of us is loved, each of us is necessary.” (Inaugural Mass as Pope, 2005)
In his homily, Bishop Ryan shared about the pectoral cross that was given to him by Pope Benedict XVI on December 16, 2011, when he was the Apostolic Administrator of the diocese. This cross has always been on his altar and Bishop Ryan only used this cross on his Mass at the Cemetery last Monday upon learning about the death of Pope Emeritus and today’s Requiem Mass.