On behalf of the movement of Communion and Liberation, I express our deep sadness, though full of hope, and our moved condolences for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s ascent to Heaven. He was a true giant of faith and a fervent witness to the beauty of life marked by the encounter with Christ. In a world confusedly searching for meaning in life, Benedict has indeed served the Church by showing everyone how, using his words, "the intelligence of faith has to become the intelligence of reality." His entire magisterium has been marked by the certain conviction that the adequate answer to the questions of today’s person is an event that makes Christianity present as it was on the first day, and is capable of generating a living people. In this regard, he immediately found affinity with Fr. Giussani, with whom a true and deep friendship was born that lasted a lifetime.

Even in sorrow, we are immensely grateful to God for having given us a friend and a guide on our path like him. We are certain that his witness will bear ever more fruit in the life of Pope Francis and the Church, and thus in the life of each of us. We ask the One whom he loved so much in life to welcome Benedict into the joy of Paradise, from where he can accompany the journey of the whole Church and of our Fraternity towards that holiness that he showed us by giving his life for the work of Another as a 'humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.'#BenedictXVI