Floods of faithful in the Vatican to pay homage to Benedict XVI – rts.ch

Tens of thousands of faithful marched on Monday under the gold of Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome. They gathered in front of the remains of Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday at the age of 95 and whose funeral will be celebrated Thursday by Pope Francis.

A long queue snaked all day through St. Peter’s Square surrounded by Bernini’s colonnade, attended by numerous media and a thousand members of the police.

At 7:00 p.m., the date the doors of the huge basilica closed, the Vatican had counted the participation of 65,000 people. The faithful will be able to gather again on Tuesday and Wednesday from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Framed by two Swiss guards

The body of the pope emeritus rests on a catafalque stretched in golden yellow fabric, framed by two Swiss guards in ceremonial dress standing guard, in front of the main altar of the basilica dominated by a bronze baldachin with twisted colonnades.

The deceased pope is dressed in red (the color of papal mourning) and wearing a white miter adorned with a golden braid, a rosary in his hands.

After passing through a metal detector portal, worshipers and tourists enter the world’s largest church through the central aisle, most photographing the body of the former pope with their smartphones. Some pray or make the sign of the cross.

>> The details of Valérie Dupont in the 12:45 p.m.:

Valérie Dupont, correspondent in Italy, describes the crowd that comes to meditate on the remains of Pope Benedict XVI / 12:45 / 1 min. / today at 12:45

A large candle is lit behind him and many candles are burning in the background. Several cardinals and members of the Curia are present, including the private secretary of the pope emeritus, Bishop Georg Ganswein, who receives handshakes as a sign of condolence.

The body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI currently rests in St. Peter’s Basilica. [Andrew Medichini – AP Photo]

Unpublished funeral

The funeral celebrated by Francis for his predecessor, at the head of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013, will constitute an unprecedented event in the two-thousand-year-old history of the Catholic Church, and will put an end to the unusual cohabitation of the two men in white.

>> Read also: Pope Francis salutes again the memory of the “beloved” Benedict XVI

The ceremony, “solemn but sober” according to the Vatican, will be held Thursday from 9:30 a.m. in Saint Peter’s Square (to be followed live on RTS 2), where the funeral of his predecessor John Paul II had attracted a million people in 2005. The first German pope in modern history will then be buried in a crypt in the basilica.

ats/asch