Vatican

Tens of thousands pay last respects to Pope Benedict in St. Peter’s Basilica

People wait in line to enter St. Peter’s Basilica to view the body of Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican Jan. 2, 2023. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

by Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A quiet hush covered the vast expanse of St. Peter’s Square even though it was filled with thousands of people slowly winding their way around the colonnade into St. Peter’s Basilica to pay their last respects to the late Pope Benedict XVI.

Outdoor souvenir sellers were well-stocked with rosaries Jan. 2, but they seemed to have been caught off guard with a plethora of touristy tchotchkes and few to no images or mementos of the late pope.

A woman holding a dog is among those waiting in line to enter St. Peter’s Basilica to view the body of Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican Jan. 2, 2023. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

A damp chill hung in the air at 9 in the morning when the doors of the basilica opened to the public on the first of three days to view the pope’s body.

Special accommodations, however, were made for officials of the Roman Curia, Vatican staff and dignitaries who were allowed access from the back of the basilica and offered a place to sit or kneel on either side of the pope’s body, which was laid out in red vestments on a damask-covered platform.

The body of Pope Benedict XVI lies in St. Peter’s Basilica for public viewing at the Vatican Jan. 2, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

Before the doors opened to the general public, Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the archpriest of the basilica and papal vicar for Vatican City State, accompanied Italian President Sergio Mattarella and his entourage and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and other government ministers to pay homage to the late pope.

The body of Pope Benedict XVI lies in St. Peter’s Basilica for public viewing at the Vatican Jan. 2, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media)

The first in line outside the basilica was a group of religious sisters from the Philippines, who said they got there at 5:30 a.m.

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