Pope Francis went to the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery on October 13, 2018, to visit the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, on the eve of the Canonization of the Blessed Paul VI, Oscar Romero, Francesco Spinelli, Vincenzo Romano, Maria Katharina Kasper, Nazaria Ignacia of Saint Teresa of Jesus and Nunzio Sulprizio.
The visit was reported the Vatican Press Office.
Benedict XVI will not be able to be present at the canonization ceremony, due to his advanced age and «weakness», it was reported October 11, 2018, by the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu.
Benedict XVI was created a cardinal by Paul VI in his last Consistory on June 27, 1977, 13 months before his death.
