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The late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will be laid to rest in the former tomb of Pope St. John Paul II underneath St. Peter’s Basilica, TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports.
TNG reports the Solemn Requiem Mass for the repose of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, presided over by Pope Francis, was celebrated at St. Peter’s Square on Thursday.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s coffin was closed in a ritual held Wednesday evening.
As per tradition, the Pope Emeritus’ pallia, coins and medals minted during his pontificate, and a “rogito” summarizing the highlights of his papacy, were also placed inside the casket.
Following the Requiem Mass, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s coffin will be transported through the Basilica and to the Vatican crypt for burial, in the first tomb of John Paul II.
He will be buried in the traditional triple coffin, with caskets made of cypress wood, zinc, and oak.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's coffin is carried to St. Peter’s Square. pic.twitter.com/gLtgjQkt0h
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— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) January 5, 2023
Meanwhile, in his homily at the Requiem Mass, Pope Francis commended his predecessor into the loving hands of God the Father, and prays that his joy may now be complete as he contemplates the Lord face to face.
“Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever!
“Like the women at the tomb, we too have come with the fragrance of gratitude and the balm of hope, in order to show Him once more the love that is undying,” Pope Francis said.
The coffin of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is carried into St. Peter’s Basilica, where the Pope Emeritus will be laid to rest in the former tomb of Pope St. John Paul II underneath the basilica. pic.twitter.com/dou15IjboA
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— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) January 5, 2023
TNG reports former Pope Benedict XVI died at his Vatican residence, aged 95, almost a decade after he stood down because of ailing health.
He led the Catholic Church for less than eight years until, in 2013, he became the first Pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415.
Benedict spent his final years at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery within the walls of the Vatican. His successor, Pope Francis said he had visited him there frequently.
Born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany, Benedict was 78 when in 2005 he became one of the oldest popes ever elected.
For much of his papacy, the Catholic Church faced allegations, legal claims and official reports into decades of child abuse by priests.
Earlier this year the former Pope acknowledged that errors had been made in the handling of abuse cases while he was archbishop of Munich between 1977 and 1982.