U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says the U.S. government is "grateful to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for his leadership of and ministry to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics."
"He has been a man of action and principle, working to promote human rights and dignity in places around the globe where they are too often denied, and a voice of clarity and conviction about our obligations as stewards of a fragile planet," Kerry, himself a Catholic, said in a statement.
Remembering Pope Benedict's visit to the U.S. in 2008, Kerry states: "As I heard Pope Benedict say during the Mass he celebrated in Washington nearly five years ago, Americans remain a people of hope and America a land of freedom and opportunity."
Don't miss a thing:
Sign up to receive free NCR email alerts.
"He believes, as we do, that the qualities that have made our nation strong can also help make the world freer and more just."
"We have been honored to work with the Holy See during the nearly eight years of his papacy and look forward to continued collaboration in areas of common interest to our nation and to the Catholic Church," Kerry concludes. "We wish Pope Benedict great peace and health and we will keep him in our prayers."
NCR Comment code:
We are not able to monitor every comment that comes through. If you see something objectionable, please click the "Report abuse" button. Once a comment has been flagged, an NCR staff member will investigate.
For more detailed guidelines, visit our User Guidelines page.
For help on how to post a comment, visit our reference page.