The Catholic faithful are invited to greet Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on the occasion of his 95th birthday on Holy Saturday.
“All people who feel connected to the pope emeritus are cordially invited to send their congratulations and blessings to him on the website BenedictusXVI.com/congratulations.”
The congratulations will be collected and will be given to Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
“I know he is very happy about it,” said Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Benedict XVI’s private secretary.
Already, numerous faithful have congratulated the pope emeritus, said the media release.
“My first word can only be gratitude. I thank God that on Holy Saturday 1927 he gave us Joseph Ratzinger as a fine man, profoundly devout Christian, outstanding theologian and kind bishop and pope,” wrote Cardinal Kurt Koch wrote.
“And I thank Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI for his lifelong witness to the love of God and for his convincing theological life’s work,” he added.
On Wednesday, Pope Francis visited Benedict XVI ahead of the Pope emeritus’ birthday.
The Holy See press office said that the pope went to the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, the retired German pope’s residence in Vatican City, shortly after 6 p.m. local time on April 13.
Pope Benedict XVI was born in 1927, also on Holy Saturday, in Marktl, Bavaria. He led the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013, when he became the first pope in almost 600 years to resign.
“After a brief and affectionate conversation, and after praying together, Pope Francis returned to Casa Santa Marta [his residence],” the Vatican press office said.