Tens of thousands of people lined up outside St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City on Monday (2) to pay their last respects to Benedict XVI, the Pope Emeritus, who died on Saturday at the age of 95.
It is estimated that around 65,000 people, including Roman Catholic faithful and tourists, paid their last respects by Monday evening. The wake will continue on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the Pope will be buried on Thursday.
Benedict XVI led the 1.3 billion Roman Catholics worldwide from 2005 to 2013. He surprised the world a decade ago when he announced he would retire, becoming the first pope to do so in about 600 years, citing his physical and mental decline as the reason.
However, he lived for another 10 years, residing in a secluded monastery on Vatican grounds, remaining “hidden from the world,” as he had promised to do.
Italian authorities said that around 60,000 people are expected to attend Benedict XVI’s funeral on Thursday, which will be conducted by Pope Francis. The only official delegations expected at the funeral will be from Germany, where the Pope Emeritus was born and raised, and from Italy, the Vatican said.
Benedict XVI will be buried in the Vatican Grottos, beneath St. Peter’s Basilica, a traditional resting place for popes. The burial will take place immediately after the funeral, and Benedict XVI will be placed in the same niche where his predecessor, John Paul II, was buried. The body of John Paul II was transferred after he was beatified in 2011, the penultimate step to being canonized, which he became in 2013.