Pope Benedict Quotes on Death & Dying (7 Quotes)

With this liturgical assembly we enter into Holy Week, to live the Passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This evening, our thoughts turn with emotion to the moment of the death of our beloved pontiff, but at the same time the heart, as it were, is urged to look forward.

Let us put our hands today again at (God's) disposition and pray that he takes our hands to guide us. Let his hand take ours so we won't sink, but will serve life which is stronger than death, and love which is stronger than hatred.

God comes down and becomes a slave he washes our feet so we can be at his table. The bath in which he washes us is his love, ready to confront death. Only love has the purifying force that takes away our filth and elevates us to God.

It is a symbol evoking a reality that touches the depths of the person ... the light of goodness that vanquishes evil, of love that overcomes hatred, of life that defeats death.

It requires us to recognize and protect the sanctity of life from the first moment of conception until natural death. It requires us to acknowledge the indispensable role of stable marriage and family life for the good of society.

A year from his death, this great pope has left us an immense heritage.