The first week of the new year has started dull in the Eternal City.

A gray sky lies over St. Peter's Basilica.

Hardly a ray of sunshine falls on the basilica and St. Peter's Square.

Since the early morning, a long queue has formed along the barriers, which in the late morning extends to Via della Conciliazione.

Matthias Rub

Political correspondent for Italy, the Vatican, Albania and Malta based in Rome.

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Soon the people who paid tribute to the late Pope Benedict XVI.

want to pay their last respects, a few steps ahead.

Soon they stand again for a few minutes before continuing a few meters.

The first mourners had already gathered on St. Peter's Square in the pitch-dark night.

Guard of honor for the late Pope

At 7 a.m. on Monday morning, Benedict's remains were taken a few meters to St. Peter's Basilica in an unadorned white minibus from the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican Gardens.

The brief blessing rite for the deceased Pope Emeritus lasted until around 7:45 a.m., celebrated by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the Pope’s Vicar General for Vatican City and Archpriest of Saint Peter.

Benedict's longtime private secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who literally accompanied the pope emeritus every step of the way up to the last minute, also took part in the short ceremony.

According to the Vatican, Benedict's last words were: "Lord, I love you!" On New Year's Day, the body of the deceased Pope Emeritus was first laid out in the house chapel of the Mater Ecclesiae monastery.

Since Monday morning, Benedict's body, dressed in a red and gold robe and wearing a gold-rimmed white miter, has been laid out on a catafalque in front of the high altar in St. Peter's Basilica.

On either side of the corpse, Swiss Guards stand guard of honor for the deceased Benedict.

The mortal remains of Pope John Paul II were laid out in the same place in St. Peter's Basilica in early April 2005.

The funeral ceremonies were celebrated by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the powerful Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who was to succeed John Paul II, who had since been canonized, on April 19, 2005 as the 265th Bishop of Rome and head of the Catholic Church.

Even before the opening of St. Peter's Basilica to the public on Monday at 9 a.m., Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni Benedict XVI.

the last honor

The evening before, Meloni had thanked Pope Francis for his New Year's wishes to the Italian people in a video greeting and at the same time reminded of the death of the former pope, whom she described as a "great pontiff" and a "giant of faith".

The former EU Commissioner and former Prime Minister Mario Monti, who led the government in Rome at the time of Benedict's resignation in February 2013, also said goodbye to the Pope Emeritus on Monday morning.

Up to 60,000 people are expected to attend the funeral mass

The gendarmerie of Vatican City and the Roman prefecture each expect 30,000 to 35,000 people a day by Wednesday to meet Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Basilica.

pay the last respects.

St. Peter's Basilica remains open on the three days until 7 p.m., on Tuesday and Wednesday the church is open to the public from 7 a.m.

50,000 to 60,000 people are expected to attend the funeral mass on Thursday morning at 9.30 a.m.

Several German bishops have announced their participation in the funeral service for the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, which Pope Francis will celebrate.

In addition to the chairman of the German Bishops' Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, Cardinal Reinhard Marx from Munich and Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki from Cologne will also travel to Rome, as the Bishops' Conference announced on Monday.

The Bishop of Passau, Stefan Oster, and the Bishop of Regensburg, Rudolf Voderholzer, also want to come.

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has also announced his coming.

Italy will be represented by President Sergio Mattarella and other high-ranking members of the government.

Officially, only the heads of state of Italy and Germany were invited by the Holy See.

All other worldly rulers and representatives can decide for themselves whether to participate.

Polish President Andrzej Duda was among the first to announce their participation.

Crowned heads are also expected, such as Philippe and Queen Mathilde from Belgium.

However, a comparable presence of secular rulers and monarchs is not expected as at the funeral service for Benedict's immediate predecessor John Paul II, when around 200 heads of state and government were present on St. Peter's Square.