On Dec. 21 evening, Pope Francis visited the Pope emeritus in order to exchange Christmas greetings. As he has done every year since his election, Pope Francis on December 21 made the short journey to the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, for a Christmas visit with his predecessor, Pope emeritus Benedict XVI. Pope Francis has visited the Monastery several times over the course of the past year. Most recently, in October, he called on the Pope emeritus on the eve of the canonization of Paul VI. Before that, the Holy Father made a surprise visit with the fourteen new Cardinals he had created in the Consistory of June this year.