FIRENZE-NUOVA ROMA 11 January 2022 (NRom)
Earlier today the Gallo-Russo-Byzantine Catholicos in his capacity as Supreme Pontiff of the Imperial Roman Church defined the late Pope Benedict XVI as a saint, adding him to the roll of the saints of the Church. Benedict was canonised for his importance to the autocephalous Orthodox Old Catholic Apostolic See of Saints Stephen and Mark and their efforts to re-unify eastern and western Christian traditions. His feast day was set at the day of his death, 31 December, with the rank of double. The Vatican Church, of which Benedict XVI had been Supreme Pontiff, has not at this time begun a cause for canonisation themselves, despite calls for that to begin.
