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King Philippe (62) and Queen Mathilde (49) will attend the funeral of the late emeritus Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday. They sat next to each other during the funeral ceremony on Sint-Pietersplein and said goodbye together. Benedict, born in Germany as Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, passed away on December 31. He resigned in 2013 for health reasons, becoming the first pope in regarding 600 years. He then lived in a monastery in the Vatican City and rarely appeared in public. The funeral began Thursday morning following the coffin was carried from St. Peter’s Basilica to the square in front. Many thousands of people had gathered here.
