The solemn funeral procession concluded with a liturgical moment of ‘Farewell’, by which the Pope Emeritus was handed over to God. Ratzinger’s body was buried in the Vatican palaces.
There were about 50 thousand believers who attended the funeral of Benedict XVI. The Vatican press office notes the assessment of the gendarmerie.
A moment of prayer and emotion: Before Benedict XVI’s coffin left St Peter’s Basilica, Francis stood up and placed his hand on the coffin. For a few moments, but the entire procession stopped for Bergoglio’s last farewell to Joseph Ratzinger.
The funeral rites of Pope Emeritus Joseph Ratzinger conclude after the final ‘Amen’ pronounced by Pope Francis. The crowd of believers in the square shouted “Holy now!”
“Blessed, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be full in hearing His voice sure and forever”. The Pope, who arrived in St. Peter’s Square in a wheelchair, attended the funeral of Benedict XVI, asking him to “commit our brother into the arms of the Father: let these merciful hands light his flame.” With the oil of the gospel, he thought and testified during his life”.
A rosary was recited before the funeral of Benedict XVI. Ratzinger’s coffin was placed in the church. An open gospel was placed over the coffin.
A long and moving round of applause greeted the arrival of Benedict XVI’s casket carried on chairs in St. Peter’s Square.
St. Peter’s Square is already packed early on a foggy day. German flags fly in the sky and competition for seats is tight. The first block in front of the church is already full. Several banners reading “Danke Benedikt” and a river of people are still preparing to pass through the barriers so that the Pope Emeritus can access the square to say his final farewell.
Thousands of faithful arrived in St. Peter’s Square at dawn, perhaps earlier, to attend Benedict XVI’s funeral.
At 6.30 the queue from the Porta Santa Anna side is already very long. All of the area around the Vatican is cordoned off until the end of Via della Conciliazione, and you have to take a long detour to access the gates where the security checkpoints are. In fact, the Della Conciliacione can’t even be crossed on foot. A large number of security forces and fire brigade and police vehicles can be seen in nearby squares. One lakh people are expected to attend the festival.
ANSA Institute
A red zone with accesses managed by orderlies, a thousand agents in the field and a no-fly zone in the Piazza San Pietro area. 100,000 people await the Pope Emeritus’ funeral, time and arrival (ANSA).
Almost two hundred thousand people paid their respects in three days (195 thousand) to the Pope Emeritus who passed away on December 31 at the age of 95. His body was exposed for 72 hours inside the Basilica Icon of Christendom. An uninterrupted stream of faithful and tourists alike is expected tomorrow as Pope Francis presides over his predecessor’s funeral. “He was a great teacher of catechesis”, Bergoglio’s words from the Paul VI Hall, where he held the traditional Wednesday General Audience. “His serious and dignified thinking – not self-referential, but ecclesial, because he always wanted to come with us to meet Jesus”.
Among the faithful lining up for the funeral of Benedict XVI
With arrangements now being completed at the Basilica Church, expectations have grown for an unprecedented funeral for the Pope Emeritus. Only the Italian and German delegations led by Sergio Mattarella and Frank-Walter Steinmeier are officially expected, but many political leaders from around the world, from the royal families of Belgium and Spain, are expected to attend the ceremony. Heads of State of Poland and Hungary. Also present will be Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the Speakers of the Chamber and Senate, Lorenzo Fontana and Ignacio La Russa. There will be considerable participation of religious leaders, from Antonij, Metropolitan of the Russian Church of Volokolamsk, to Imam Yahya Pallavicini, Vice-President of the Italian Islamic Religious Community, to representatives of Romanian Jews. Besides bishops and cardinals, 3,700 priests are also expected. More than 1,000 journalists from 30 countries will cover the event. Particular attention will be paid to the Liturgy announced by the Press Office of the Holy See, which will follow that planned for a Pope, but with corrections and filings in the areas dedicated to the ‘reigning Pope’.
Benedict XVI’s coffin will leave St Peter’s Basilica at 8.50am to allow the faithful to recite the rosary in the following minutes. Mass will begin at 9.30 and Bergoglio will preside However, they will leave the actual celebration to Giovanni Battista Ray, dean of the College of Cardinals. At the end of the ceremony, the body will leave the square and reach the Vatican Castles, where it will be buried. A private ceremony away from the cameras. In the casket are the coins and medals struck during his papacy, the cassocks he wore during his ecclesiastical ministry, and the bond, i.e., a summary of papal history.
ANSA agency
“He firmly fought against crimes committed by representatives of the clergy against children or vulnerable people, constantly calling the Church to conversion, prayer, penance and purification. (ANSA)
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