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Devotees started to gather at 3am GMT, five and a half hours before the service for the German theologian who made history by retiring.
In the private ceremony where he was laid to rest, Pope Benedict's XVI's longtime secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, imparted a blessing beneath St. Peter's Basilica.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI 'spread and testified to' the Gospel his entire life, Pope Francis told tens of thousands of people gathered Jan. 5 for his predecessor's funeral Mass. 'Like the women at the tomb, we too have come with the fragrance of gratitude and the balm of hope, in order to show him once more the love that is undying. We want to do this with the same wisdom, tenderness and devotion that he bestowed upon us over the years,' Pope Francis said in his homily. The Mass
The coffin of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is carried into St. Peter's Square prior to his funeral Mass on Jan. 5, 2023. / Daniel Ibañez/CNAVatican City, Jan 5, 2023 / 03:21 am (CNA).Tens of thousands of people were present in St. Peter's Square for the funeral Thursday of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a leading theologian of the 20th century and the first pope to resign from office in nearly 600 years.Royalty, cardinals, patriarchs, government officials, and many Catholic families and religious attended the funeral on a cold and foggy morning at the Vatican. More than 3,700 priests conceleb...