When Pope Benedict came to the United States for a visit to Washington and New York spanning six days in mid-April 2008, some news accounts called the pace of his schedule “grueling.”

Across the U.S., Catholic bishops called on the faithful to unite in mourning for retired Pope Benedict XVI, who died on the eve of the new year.

Catholic leaders around the world who had been praying for retired Pope Benedict XVI reacted with sorrow to news of his death Dec. 31 but expressed gratitude for his years of service to the Catholic Church as a theologian and pope.

Responding to the Dec. 31 death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Archbishop William E. Lori said he gives thanks for the “life, witness, and ministry of this ‘humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.'”

The last three archbishops of Baltimore have all had connections to Pope Benedict XVI, who died Dec. 31.