A bishop has authorized and published a prayer for private devotion to Pope Benedict XVI, who died Dec. 31, 2022, at the age of 95 in Rome.

Bishop Carlos Rossi Keller of the Diocese of Frederico Westphalen in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul published the prayer in Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Italian.

“As children of the Church we must pray and ask God for his eternal rest in heaven,” the prelate said in sharing the prayer in Portuguese on his Facebook page.

“But as testimonies of his generous dedication to God and knowing that his last words were ‘Lord, I love you,’ we can also privately ask for his intercession,” Bishop Rossi explained.

In his post, the prelate stressed that “in accordance with the decrees of Pope Urban VIII, we declare that in no way is it intended to preclude the judgment of the ecclesiastical authority and that this prayer has no purpose for public worship.”

The bishop likewise noted that the graces attributed to the intercession of Pope Benedict XVI must be communicated to the Vicariate of Rome, with a letter written to the following address:

His Eminence Cardinal Vicar for the Diocese of Rome

Piazza di S. Giovanni in Laterano

6, 00184 Rome RM, Italy

The prayer for private devotion:

Eternal and Almighty God, who inspired in the heart of your servant Pope Benedict XVI the sincere desire to encounter you and announce you, becoming a humble “co-operator with the truth” and offering himself as a servant, for Christ and for the Church, make me also know how to love the Church of Christ and to be able to follow in my life the eternal truths that she proclaims. Deign, Lord, to glorify your servant, Pope Benedict XVI, and grant, through his intercession, the favor I now ask of you (mention your petition). Amen.

Pray an Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be.