Pope Francis joined tens of thousands of faithful in bidding farewell to Benedict XVI at a rare requiem Mass on Thursday for a dead pope presided over by a living one, ending an unprecedented decade for the Catholic Church that was triggered by the German theologian’s decision to retire.
Bells tolled and the crowd applauded as pallbearers emerged from a fog-shrouded St Peter’s Basilica and placed Benedict’s simple cypress coffin before the altar in the square outside. Wearing the crimson vestments typical of papal funerals, Francis opened the service with a prayer and closed it by solemnly blessing the casket and bowing his head.
Heads of state, royalty and clergy from around the world, along with thousands of people, arrived to observe the ceremony, despite Benedict’s request for simplicity and official efforts to keep the first funeral for a pope emeritus in modern times low-key.
Photo: AFP via VATICAN MEDIA
Many mourners hailed from Benedict’s native Bavaria and donned traditional dress, including boiled wool coats to guard against the morning chill.
“We came to pay homage to Benedict and wanted to be here today to say goodbye,” said Raymond Mainar, who traveled from a small village east of Munich for the funeral. “He was a very good pope.”
Ignoring exhortations for decorum at the end, some in the crowd held banners or shouted “santo subito” — “sainthood now” — echoing the spontaneous chants that erupted during St John Paul II’s 2005 funeral.
Only Italy and Germany were invited to send official delegations, but other leaders went in a private capacity. Benedict was born as Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger in Marktl, Germany.
Among those attending was Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen (陳日君), who was given court permission to attend the funeral. Zen was detained by Chinese authorities in May on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces after he participated in a now-silenced democracy movement. His passport was revoked when he was detained.
Also attending the funeral was Taiwan’s former vice president Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), a Catholic who had visited the Vatican on other occasions at the invitation of popes John Paul II, Benedict and Francis.
Benedict’s close confidants were also in attendance, most prominently the former pope’s longtime secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein. He bent down and kissed a book of the Gospels that was left open on the coffin before the ceremony began.
The coffin was brought to the basilica grotto, placed first into a zinc casket, sealed, then placed into an oak one.
A choir’s hymn echoed in the crypt as the casket was lowered into the ground, featuring Benedict’s papal coat of arms, a cross and a plaque noting in Latin that it contained his body.
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