peter s basilica up there, um, so he ll have to go back around and up and elevator. but certainly in terms of his health . yes pope francis is a toughie. paula i mean, he s 86 years old . and so he s older than either john paul the second or benedict the 16th when they were pope, but he still keeps up very, very heavy schedule, particularly with international travel. he likes to get out. but obviously logistically that becomes more difficult. since he can t move around so well, paula again moving around the aid of the pope mobile right now, and we await that traditional blessing . delia gallagher for us in rome. thanks so much. ukrainian officials say a father and daughter were killed in new russian strikes on the city of zepa. rusia we received these images you re looking at right there short time ago, showing what s left of a building ravaged by that overnight attack . ukraine also says one woman was rescued from the rubble of a building that was heavily
it is like saying that the american leader the leader of the free world is able to travel, even where war is raging, even to a place where there is a potential danger. he is not afraid because the united states is strong enough to protect him. and then he added that it also is a huge demonstration that biden, the president of the united states, was able to make this speech here in poland. and what he said was, it was really interesting. he drew a line from president reagan, alongside and the polish pope, of course, john paul the second way back in the 80s, as being responsible for helping pull down that iron curtain. all the way now to biden, who made the connection facing off against autocracy and dictatorship. again, in that form of soviet space. so, it was very historical for the polls, who suffered, of course, you know, russian aggression in their history. it s so interesting because in the past, there has been concern from, you know, a
the 24 years where he was heading up the vatican investigation office, he was serving the agenda of john paul the second. and i think that when he became pope, he said you know, my primary role here is not as the feel ocean-in-chief or the enforcer of doctrine, my primary role here is as a pastor. and that is the attitude he adopted. and when he did undertake this historic step to actually, i don t know who in the world gives up that kind of power voluntarily right. it just does not happen that often. when he took that step, he was doing as a pastor. he had always been aware of his shortcomings. knew that he was not an administrator. he told the cardinals that in the conclave in 2005. and said look, i if you are looking for somebody to govern the church as an administrator, i m not it. but i also think that he had a pastors heart and he certainly had that. a pastor s heart kathleen and i also think that it was an
joseph rat center is the last great figure of the second vatican council. as a young theologians. he was one of the three most important intellectual figures out of the council. with john paul the second. he gave the council an authoritative interpretation. and as we bid him farewell today, we are drawn the curtain on a remarkable era in the 2000-year history of the catholic church. and there is a profound sense of that here today and people wanting to say thank you to this man who gave so much for so long. and suffered because of it. so we will see pope francis presiding at this funeral mass. and he will preach the homily again. this is not a eulogy, it is something that is based on the readings of the gospel. you will hear much of.
led to his appointment as the archbishop of munich by pope john paul the second. the man he would not just succeed but also the man he would serve for nearly a quarter century as head of the office that oversees matters of church doctrine and morality. before being elected pope. for not quite eight years, he served as pontiff. until the stunning day february 2013, when he gave us the news that shook the world. this morning, but benedict the 16th announced he would resign saying that he does not have the strength to go on. pope benedict the 16th choosing a path not seen in centuries. stepping down and clearing the way for the election of pope francis. a man who we will see at this historic funeral mass now less than 30 minutes away. i have a full team of correspondents and experts to take us through this coverage. let s get right to our reporter on the ground. nbc news foreign correspondent molly hunter who is at the vatican for us. molly, this is indeed a