Pope Benedict will be buried under St Peter’s Basilica in a cypress casket along with coins, medals and a sealed lead tube holding a deed after his funeral tomorrow.
As is traditional for pontiffs, the body of the ‘Pope emeritus’ will be placed in three separate coffins, the first of cypress wood, which in turn goes in a zinc coffin and then a second wooden casket.
In his coffin will also be a written account of his historic papacy known as a rogito, the coins minted during his pontificate and his pallium stoles, the religious garment worn over the pope’s robes.
Benedict will be carried out of the Basilica today when the lying in state ends at 6pm GMT and he will be taken into St Peter’s Square for the funeral tomorrow, which starts at 8.30am GMT.
Pope Benedict will be buried under St Peter’s Basilica in a cypress casket along with coins, medals and a sealed lead tube holding a deed after his funeral tomorrow
The coffins are to be sealed before Thursday’s funeral and burial in the crypt once occupied by the tomb of Pope John Paul II in the grottos underneath the basilica.
Pope John Paul II was originally interred there in 2005 before his body was moved up to a chapel in 2011.
During his lying in state, Benedict has been without any papal regalia, but they will be added to his coffin ahead of the funeral.
Typically, a crosier, a silver staff with a crucifix, or a pallium, a band of wool cloth worn around the neck by popes and archdiocesan bishops to signify their roles as shepherds of their flocks, is often displayed during the open casket to the public.
The decision not to have them during the public viewing appeared to have been decided to underscore that he no longer was pope when he died.
The liturgy for Thursday’s funeral Mass will be based mostly on that for a reigning pope, with some minor modifications, particularly in the prayers, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said.
Faithful arrive at dawn to view the body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as it lies in state in St Peter’s Basilica
The Pope died on December 31, 2022 aged 95 at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in Vatican City
The body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI lies in state at St. Peter’s Basilica
He said: ‘The liturgical celebration follows the model of a funeral service for a supreme pontiff, broadly speaking.’
Two key prayers, from the diocese of Rome and the Eastern rite churches, that were recited during John Paul’s funeral, for example, will be omitted because Benedict wasn’t pope when he died and because both branches of the Catholic Church still have a reigning pope as their leader: Francis.
The readings also differ from those chosen for the funeral of Pope John Paul II, focusing on ‘the sure hope and the promise’ of eternal life in heaven.
In the prayers of the faithful, petitions will be heard for ‘Pope Emeritus Benedict, who has fallen asleep in the Lord: may the eternal Shepherd receive him into his kingdom of light and peace’.
There will also be a prayer for ‘our Holy Father, Pope Francis, and for all the pastors of the church: may they proclaim fearlessly, in word and deed, Christ’s victory over evil and death.’
Today, Pope Francis praised Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s ‘acute and gentle thought’ as he presided over a packed Wednesday general audience in the Vatican
Pope Francis meets with nuns during the weekly general audience in the Vatican today
Chairs are laid outside St. Peter’s Basilica in preperation for former Pope Benedict’s funeral
Bruni said the funeral will reflect Benedict’s wishes to be ‘solemn and sober’, and will be presided over by Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square, and the celebrant will be Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals.
While the funeral will be novel, it does has some precedent: In 1802, Pope Pius VII celebrated the funeral in St. Peter’s of his predecessor, Pius VI, who had died in exile in France in 1799 as a prisoner of Napoleon, the Vatican noted Wednesday.
Among those in attendance will be members of Europe’s royal families, including King Philippe of Belgium and Queen Sofia of Spain.
Delegations from countries such as Germany and Ireland will also attend, while senior politicians from Italy and Hungary have already attended St Peter’s Basilica to pay their respects as his body lies in state.
Millions of people from around the world are expected to watch the ceremony, which will be the first funeral for a pontiff hosted by his successor.
Queen Sofia of Spain, pictured here with her husband Juan Carlos, is set to attend Pope Benedict’s funeral
King Philippe of Belgium and his wife Queen Mathilde, pictured together, will also go to the service
Representatives from all of Europe’s Catholic royal families are expected to attend the funeral service of Benedict, who was born Joseph Ratzinger in Marktl, Germany, in 1927.
Queen Sofia is set to attend for Spain, which is the largest Catholic country with a royal family still in place. It is not known whether her husband, former King of Spain Juan Carlos I, will join her.
King Felipe is not expected to be there, with a packed schedule for the week – including the Pascua Militar ceremony in Madrid on January 6 – set to make it difficult for him and his wife Queen Leitizia to attend, Royal Central report.
King Philippe of Belgium is also set to be there, along with his wife Queen Mathilde, according to local media. His father Albert II, who ruled Belgium from 1993 to 2013, is not expected to attend.
Other Catholic royal families in Europe include Luxembourg, Lichtenstein and Monaco and all of these are expected to have representatives in attendance.
The King of Lesotho, Letsie III, is also Roman Catholic although it is not known whether the monarch of the southern African nation will attend at this time.
It is not known whether the British royal family will send a representative to the funeral on Thursday.
The Royal Family are heads of the Church of the England, so are not Roman Catholic, but that did not stop the future King Charles attending the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005.
On that occasion the Prince of Wales was joined by Prime Minster Tony Blair and his wife Cherie, as well as Conservative Party leader Michael Howard and Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy.
The ‘simple’ service will be presided over by Pope Francis, pictured, the first time a pontiff’s funeral has been hosted by his successor
Pope Benedict XVI, pictured here waving to the crowd in 2006, died on New Year’s Eve at the age of 95
Because Benedict was no longer a reigning pontiff when he died, official delegations have been limited to those from Italy and his native Germany.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has already travelled to the Vatican to pay her respects in person.
Hungarian premier Viktor Orban was seen among those paying their respects to the Pope in St Peter’s Basilica earlier today.
The Prime Minister is a member of the Hungarian Reformed Church, which is Protestant, but his wife and five children were raised as Roman Catholic.
According to Der Spiegel, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier will go to the funeral, while Ireland will send its newly appointed ambassador to the Holy See, Frances Collins, as its only representative.
The country’s Department of Foregin Affairs told The Irish Times: ‘In line with the official notification issued by the Vatican on December 31st on the arrangements for the funeral ceremony for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, with the exception of Germany and Italy, the presence of other official delegations is not envisaged.
‘Countries are expected to be represented by their ambassadors. Ireland will be represented by Ambassador Frances Collins.’
In the coming days thousands will file through St Peter’s Basilica to view Pope Benedict lying in state, with the final visitors allowed in at 7pm on Wednesday.
Today, Pope Francis praised Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s ‘acute and gentle thought’ as he presided over a packed Wednesday general audience in the Vatican.
Francis was greeted by an enthusiastic crowd in the Paul VI auditorium and shouts of ‘Viva il papa!’ or ‘Long live the pope’ as he arrived for his weekly catechism appointment with the faithful.
Faithful wait to see the body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at St. Peter’s Basilica on January 3, 2023 in Vatican City, Vatican
Mourners gather near the body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI as it lies in state
This week’s audience drew an unusually large crowd given the more than 130,000 people who have flocked to the Vatican following Benedict’s death on Saturday and lined up to pay their respect to the German pope.
Francis drew applause when he opened his remarks by noting all those who were outside paying tribute to Benedict, whom he called a ‘great master of catechesis.’
‘His acute and gentle thought was not self-referential, but ecclesial, because he always wanted to accompany us in the encounter with Jesus,’ Francis said.
Benedict, who was elected pope in 2005 following John Paul’s death, became the first pope in six centuries years to resign when he announced in 2013 he no longer had the strength to lead the Catholic Church.
After Francis was elected pope, Benedict spent his nearly decade-long retirement in a converted monastery in the Vatican Gardens.
‘We can’t forget the example that he gave in his resignation, that he more or less said, `Look, I’m not in this for the prestige, the power of the office, I’m in it for service, as Jesus taught,” recalled Cardinal Timothy Dolan, whom Benedict named archbishop of New York in 2009 and cardinal in 2012.
Dolan came to Rome for the funeral.