The Mater Ecclesiae Monastery was Pope Benedict XVI's home for almost a decade: from the time he resigned in 2013 until his death on December 31, 2022. It is a quiet place inside the Vatican, where the German pope spent the last period of his life.
He had many moving moments there. For example, when he celebrated his 90th birthday drinking German beer in the garden with his brother, Georg Ratzinger, who was visiting from Germany.
Almost a year after his death, Pope Francis wants the monastery to return to its original purpose: a place for contemplative prayer and a place to help the pope in his ministry.
Mater Ecclesiae was built by Pope John Paul II in 1994, when he canonically erected it in Vatican City with the document, "La vita contemplativa" (The Contemplative Life).
For this reason, Pope Francis has invited six Benedictine nuns from the Abbey of St. Scholastica in Buenos Aires to live in this monastery. They will move in during the first days of January, and the Vatican Governorate will be responsible for everything related to the monastery so close to Pope Benedict's heart.