Nine years ago this very hour I was dressing for work when the announcement came across the radio. It was devastating. I truly thought he was dying or had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and would be gone within the year. I loved him, I trusted him. He was like the grandfather I never knew. As long as I knew he was there, all would be well, or at least I thought. Since that time it has been a horror for the Church, for individual faithful Catholics. It has only become worse.
When I look at him, I can't help but remember the joy I felt when he was elected.
He is still, my Pope.
Our Hopes are with Pope Benedict XVI on this 9th Anniversary of his Declaratio | From Rome
