On Monday morning, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s body was laid in state in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City. Tens of thousands of people queued to pay their respects to the pontiff who shocked the world by retiring a decade ago. The body, with the head resting on a pair of crimson pillows, was carried in by 10 white-gloved Papal Gentlemen, lay assistants to pontiffs and papal households.
The body was brought in via a side door after being transferred from the chapel of the monastery grounds where the 95-year-old former pontiff had passed away on Saturday morning. A Swiss Guard saluted as the body was carried in. It was then placed in front of the main altar under Bernini’s towering bronze canopy.
The body will remain in state in St. Peter’s Basilica until Tuesday morning, when a funeral Mass will be held in the same basilica. The Mass will be attended by Pope Francis, cardinals, and other dignitaries. After the Mass, the body will be buried in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s death marks the end of an era in the Catholic Church. He was the first pontiff to resign in 600 years, and his death has been met with an outpouring of grief and admiration from Catholics around the world.
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