In his 5 April 2007 homily, Pope Benedict XVI (1927-2022) conceded that "Jesus celebrated the Passover without a lamb and without a temple," his ground being that "according to John, Jesus died on the Cross at the very moment when the Passover lambs were being sacrificed in the temple," and so could not "have celebrated the Passover meal in person."
With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran, the Pope suggested that Jesus, "in accordance with the Qumran calendar.... celebrated the Passover with his disciples.... at least one day earlier.... without a lamb", as He substituted his own flesh and blood for the lamb. The Pope was even enlightened enough to quote the vegan St. John Chrysostom's query about how "the blood of an animal [could possibly] purify people, save people or have power over death."
Pope Benedict XVI was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013.
Georg Meinecke, a famous German lawyer, published in 2008 a whole book on this sermon -- Papst Benedikt XVI: Jesus von Nazareth aß kein Osterlamm [Pope Benedict XIV: Jesus of Nazareth Ate no Easterlamb] (thanks to Ms. Tanya Tiger Lilly for this information).
This article's link: https://www.hkbnews.net/post/pope-benedict-xvi-conceded-that-jesus-did-not-eat-the-easter-lamb-by-dr-chapman-chen
Link to the original homily: https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/homilies/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20070405_coena-domini.html
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