Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI returned to Vatican

Pope-Emeritus Benedict XVI returned to Vatican on May 2, to take up residence in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery building. The former Pope, who has been staying at Castel Gandolfo after his resignation on February 28 returned to Vatican by helicopter. He was met at heliport in Vatican Gardens by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary of State; Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the dean of the College of Cardinals; and Cardinal Giuseppe Bertello, the president of the Vatican city-state governorate. Pope Francis then greeted his successor at the door of the Mater Ecclesiae building.

Benedict XVI will be living in a building that has housed several communities of cloistered religious. It has been renovated to accommodate the former Pontiff. His new quarters include a library—with all his books, arranged exactly as they were in his personal library before his election to the papacy—and a piano. The residence includes a guest room that will be available for visits by Benedict’s older brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger.