The president of the Republic, Sergio Mattarellaand the chairman of the board, Giorgia Melonipaid homage to the Pope emeritus this morning Benedict XVIwho died on New Year’s Eve, exhibited from today to Wednesday at the devotion of the faithful in St. Peter’s Basilica.
At the moment there are already over 15,000 people present in Piazza San Pietro, via della Conciliazione and the surrounding streets, queuing up to enter the basilica.
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The body was brought this morning from the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, where he has lived since retiring in 2013, in a private ceremony, to St. Peter’s, and was placed under the altar of confession. On either side of the catafalque, two Swiss Guards. The Vatican basilica is open today from 9 to 19, tomorrow and the day after from 7 to 19. Over the three days, between 30 and 35,000 people a day are expected.
When the doors opened, hundreds of faithful entered the basilica, a long snake that unrolled between two rows of barriers.
The personal secretary of the Pope emeritus, Monsignor, initially watched over the body Georg Gaenswein, the consecrated lay women with whom he lived all these years, and his doctor, Patrizio Polisca. Gaenswein and the “Memores Domini” then got up, stopped for a few moments in front of the body, and walked away.
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Thursday 5 Pope francesco he will celebrate the funeral mass at 9.30 in the churchyard of St. Peter’s. “For January 5, the day of the funeral, we expect an influx of approximately 50,000 to 60,000 people,” said the prefect of Rome Bruno Frattasi.
Benedict XVI will be buried in the same crypt that housed the remains of John Paul IIin the Vatican grottoes. A choice that was made by Ratzinger himself. He confirmed it Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican Press Office.