Pope Francis presides as Pope Benedict XVI is laid to rest (photos)
Pope Francis has said his final farewell to his predecessor as he bowed his head and touched the coffin of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at his funeral service in St Peter’s Square.
The former pope died on December 31 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery inside the Vatican.
At the funeral’s end, the coffin was carried by 12 white-gloved pallbearers back into St. Peter’s Basilica for interment in a crypt below the main floor, where Benedict’s coffin will be buried inside two other coffins, along with papal regalia.
Twelve pallbearers, known as the ‘Papal Gentlemen’ who are lay attendants of the papal household, carried the coffin in and out of the basilica to the sound of applause and tolling bolls.
The body of Pope Emeritus was taken from the basilica and rested before the altar in the piazza as red-robed cardinals looked on, while Benedict’s longtime secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, bent down and kissed a book of the Gospels that was left open on the coffin.
Pope Francis who presided over the funeral asked that the angels lead the late pope into paradise and grant him eternal rest.
He further asked that God grants unto the living faithful the assurance of hope and faith.
