Following the mass at 9.30am, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI was laid to rest in the crypt below the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter, as was the case for his predecessor Pope John Paul II. The remains of the latter were eventually relocated to the Basilica after his beatification in 2011.
Thursday’s requiem was quasi unique since it was the first time in centuries that a pope presided over the ceremony due to Benedict’s abdication.
An estimated 195,000 people already paid their final respects to the former Pope over the past three days.
Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, Archbishop of Luxembourg, travelled to the Vatican to attend the funeral of former Pope Benedict XVI. A special mass in honour of the German Pope will be held in Luxembourg City’s Notre-Dame Cathedral on 15 January.
