This morning, April 15, 2021, Pope Francis attended the private funeral of Monsignor Felix del Blanco Prieto, His Holiness’ former Apostolic Almoner.
The funeral was held at 12 noon by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, at the Altar of the Chair in Saint Peter’s Basilica, reported the Holy See Press Office.
Monsignor Blanco, 84, died last Saturday, April 10 in Rome’s Gemelli Polyclinic. He was Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Almoner from 2007 to November 3, 2012.
A Life of Service
According to “Vatican News,” in his homily, Cardinal Parolin recalled the figure of the Spanish Prelate, who was born in Mogrovejo, Cantabria on June 15, 1937. “By the will of the heavenly Father, Monsignor del Blanco had the immense grace of belonging to Christ,” a belonging that began with Baptism, continued with his priestly Ordination in 1961, and Episcopal Ordination in 1991, and was expressed “in a life conceived and spent as service.”
A service he carried out “essentially” for the Holy See, first as a collaborator of the then Secretary of State, Cardinal Agostino Casaroli, and then as Nuncio, mainly in Africa, “arousing esteem and good will everywhere,” highlighted the Cardinal. He was Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Almoner from 2007 to 2012, “exercising charity to the poor “ in the Pope’s name.
Testimony of Kindness
“During his long life, rich in meetings and experiences,” he met with people of different ambits and cultures, giving testimony of “kindness, understanding, and patience in his relations with his neighbor,” said the Secretary of State.
Monsignor del Blanco tried to transmit “the truth and the authentic good of people, with the respectful delicacy, which springs from charity” and he leaves an important legacy: the testimony of total belonging to Christ, which was translated into his constant search for the Kingdom of God above all, in the faithful fulfillment of his duty and in his example of unbreakable trust in God in any circumstance of life, including times of suffering and sickness.”
