Farewell to Benedict XVI: Thousands of people come to the Vatican to lie in state

Thousands of people come to the Vatican to be laid out

The retired Pope was laid out in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome two days after his death. A nurse is said to have heard his last words on his deathbed.

Published: 01/01/2023, 15:43Updated 31 minutes ago

People wait in line to enter St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican where the body of the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is buried. is laid out. (January 2, 2023)

Photo: Alessandra Tarantino (Keystone)

On the occasion of the laying out of the deceased former Pope Benedict XVI. thousands of believers flocked to the Vatican in St. Peter’s Basilica. As early as dawn, a long queue of people who wanted to personally say goodbye to the former head of the Catholic Church formed on St. Peter’s Square. The event was accompanied by a large security presence, numerous media representatives from all over the world were on site.

“I’ve been here since 6 a.m.,” Italian nun Anna-Maria told the AFP news agency. She thinks it’s “normal to come and pay homage to him after everything he’s done for the church.”

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. died on New Year’s Eve at the age of 95. On New Year’s Day, he was first laid out in the chapel of the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican, before his body was brought to St. Peter’s Basilica in a private ceremony early Monday morning.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. died at the age of 95.

Video: Tamedia

In St. Peter’s Basilica, the public can personally say goodbye to the Bavarian-born clergyman between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. On Tuesday and Wednesday, visitors are allowed access from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is free and requires no reservation.

The first photo after his death

The Holy See had on New Year’s Eve morning after the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. published the first photos of his body. In the pictures from the chapel of the Vatican monastery Mater Ecclesiae he can be seen with a red liturgical robe. He also wears a traditional headgear, a miter. Joseph Ratzinger – Benedikt’s real name – holds a rosary in his clasped hands.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. is laid out in the chapel of the Vatican monastery Mater Ecclesiae.

Photo: Vatican Media (Keystone, AP)

Next to him in front of the chapel altar are a decorated Christmas tree and a crib, as can be seen in the photos published on Sunday. In his speeches on Sunday and via Twitter, his successor Pope Francis mentioned him and called him a “faithful servant” of the Church.

More details about Last Words

Following the death of the Pope Emeritus, there are more details about his last words on his deathbed. A nurse who does not speak German heard her around 3 a.m. early Saturday morning, the Vatican’s own media portal Vatican News wrote on Sunday evening. According to his private secretary Georg Gänswein, Benedikt whispered, but it was still understandable. He said “Lord, I love you” in Italian.

“Those were his last understandable words because he couldn’t express himself afterwards,” said Gänswein, who said he wasn’t with Benedict at the time. The nurse told him about it shortly afterwards. The Argentine newspaper “La Nación” had previously reported, citing informed sources, that Benedict’s last words were “Jesus, I love you”.

Benedict XVI had died. on Saturday morning at the age of 95. He is to be laid out for the public in St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday before being buried on Thursday, January 5th.

The death of a head of the Catholic Church entails well-defined ceremonial procedures. In the case of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. However, the Vatican protocol also enters new territory. An overview:

A deceased pope is honored with a nine-day period of mourning, which bears the Latin name “Novemdiales”. Normally, after the death of a pope, the cardinals must also elect his successor. This is not applicable since Benedict resigned from office on February 11, 2013, making room for his successor, Pope Francis.

From Monday morning, Benedict’s body will be laid out in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome so that the faithful can say goodbye to him.

The funeral service for Benedict will take place on January 5 in St. Peter’s Square and will be led by the incumbent Pope Francis – an unprecedented event in the history of the Catholic Church, which came about after Benedict’s resignation in 2013.

In 2005, around a million people took part in the funeral service for the charismatic John Paul II on St. Peter’s Square. Numerous heads of state and crowned heads paid their last respects to the longstanding head of the church. At that time, Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, led the funeral ceremony. Shortly thereafter, the cardinals elected him the new Pope Benedict XVI.

According to Vatican rules, a pope must be buried four to six days after his death. Benedict is to be buried in the Vatican Grottoes of St. Peter’s Basilica after the funeral service on Thursday.

The Benedict biographer Peter Seewald made it public in 2020 that the pope emeritus would like a burial there in the former grave of his predecessor John Paul II. After John Paul’s beatification in 2011, his body was reburied in a chapel in the aisle of St. Peter’s Basilica.

A ring is specially made for each pope as a sign of his power. The head of the church uses this so-called fisherman’s ring as a seal for documents. After his resignation, Benedict’s signet ring was made unusable with an “X”. The piece of jewelery is taken from the finger of a deceased pope and then broken.