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Mourners poured into St Peter’s Square early Thursday for the funeral of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI to pay their last respects to the German theologian who made history by retiring and taking part in a rare requiem Mass for a dead pope led by a living person.
A thick fog shrouded the Vatican before dawn as police manned metal detectors and barricades and drove sympathizers into the square. Heads of state and royalty, clergy from around the world and thousands of faithful flocked to the Vatican, despite Benedict’s pleas for simplicity and official efforts to preserve the first funeral for an emeritus pope in modern times.
Many came from Benedict’s native Bavaria and wore traditional clothing, including boiled woolen coats to ward off the morning chill.
“We came to pay our respects to Benedict and wanted to come here to say goodbye,” said Raymond Mainar, who traveled from a small village east of Munich for the funeral. “He was a wonderful whale.”
The late Joseph Ratzinger, who died on December 31 at the age of 95, was considered one of the greatest theologians of the 20th century and spent his life supporting church doctrine. But he will go down in history for a single revolutionary act that changed the future of the papacy: He retired, becoming the first pope in six centuries to do so.
Pope Francis praised Benedict’s courage in stepping down, saying it “opens the door” for other popes to do the same. Francis, for his part, recently said he had left written instructions outlining the conditions under which he would also resign.
Tens of thousands of mourners are expected
Francis is due to lead the funeral, which authorities estimate will be attended by about 100,000, higher than the original estimate of 60,000, Italian media reported, citing police security plans.
Only Italy and Germany were invited to send official delegations, but other heads of state and government took the Vatican up on the offer and came in a “personal capacity”. They included several other heads of state, at least four prime ministers and two delegations of royal representatives.
Early Thursday the Vatican released the official history of Benedict’s life, a short document in Latin that was placed in a metal cylinder in the casket before it was sealed, along with coins and medals minted during his papacy and pallium stoles.
The document paid considerable attention to Benedict’s historic resignation and referred to him as “pope emeritus,” referring to the Latin words he uttered on February 11, 2013, when he announced his retirement.
The document, known as “rogito” or deed, also mentions the theological and papal heritage, including outreach to Anglicans and Jews and efforts to combat sexual harassment of clerics “constantly calling the church for conversion, prayer, redemption and purification.”
The funeral rite called for Benedict’s coffin to be carried out of the basilica and placed in front of the altar while the faithful recited the rosary. The ritual was modeled on the code used for dead popes, but with some modifications that Benedict was not pope at the time of his death.
After the Mass, Benedict’s pine casket must be placed inside the zinc, then the outer oak casket before being buried in the crypt in the cave below the Basilica of St. above.
The ritual is novel, but there are several precedents: In 1802, Pope Pius VII presided over the funeral at St. Peter of his predecessor, Pius VI, who died in exile in France in 1799 as a prisoner of Napoleon.
Catholics reflect on the complex legacy of former Pope Benedict ahead of his funeral. To his supporters, he was the first pope to address sexual abuse cases in the church. But for critics, the effort was a failure.
About 200,000 paid tribute to Benedict during three days of public viewing at the basilica, with one of the latter, Friar Rosario Vitale, spending hours praying over the body. He said Benedict had given him a special dispensation to begin the process of becoming a priest, which he needed because of his physical disability.
“So today I came here to pray at his grave, at his body and say ‘thank you’ for the future priest, for my ministry,” he said.
Benedict never planned to retire for long – almost 10 years longer than his eight-year tenure. And the unprecedented situation of the retired pope living together with one ruler calls for a protocol to guide future emeritus popes to prevent any confusion about who is really responsible.
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