Tens of thousands of faithful marched under the gold of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome to gather before the remains of Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday at the age of 95, and whose funeral will be celebrated on Thursday by Pope Francis.

A long queue snaked through St. Peter's Square on Monday and Tuesday, surrounded by Bernini's colonnade, in the presence of numerous media and a thousand members of the police.

Back, in pictures, on these two days of funeral vigil in homage to the pope emeritus.


Directed by:

Olivier JUSZCZAK

  • Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, a German theologian whose resignation in 2013 took the world by surprise, died on Saturday morning, December 31, at the age of 95.

  • "A great pope, despite the criticism": it is with sadness and prayers that the faithful reacted on Saturday in Saint Peter's Square, after the announcement of the death of Benedict XVI.

  • Usually, the death of the sovereign pontiff triggers the rapid convocation of a conclave during which the cardinals elect his successor.

    A scenario necessarily excluded in the case of Benedict XVI, since Francis has already succeeded him in 2013.

  • “To all those whom I have wronged in one way or another, I ask forgiveness from the bottom of my heart,” wrote Joseph Ratzinger, pope from 2005 to 2013, in his will dated August 29, 2006. , and published on Saturday evening by the press service of the Holy See.

  • Tens of thousands of the faithful marched on Monday under the gold of Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome to meditate before the remains of Benedict XVI.

  • The remains of Joseph Ratzinger rested on a catafalque stretched with fabric, flanked by two Swiss Guards in ceremonial dress.

  • In front of the main altar of the basilica, dominated by a bronze baldachin with twisted colonnades.

  • The late pope was dressed in red - the color of papal mourning - and wearing a white miter adorned with a golden braid, a rosary and a crucifix in his hands.

  • Faithful and tourists were able to gather for a few moments – without stopping – in front of the remains, most photographing with their smartphones, some praying or making the sign of the cross.

  • Saint Peter's Basilica, an architectural masterpiece combining Renaissance and Baroque styles, completed in 1626, is one of the most important places of Catholicism.

  • It houses the tomb of the apostle Saint Peter, disciple of Christ and first bishop of Rome, whose successors are the popes.

  • Early Monday, the body of Benedict XVI was transferred to the basilica where a blessing ritual was held, in the presence of his close entourage, including his private secretary.

  • It is Pope Francis who will preside over the funeral of his predecessor on Thursday, an unprecedented event in the history of the Catholic Church.

  • The ceremony, "solemn, but sober" according to the Vatican, will begin at 9:30 a.m. in Saint Peter's Square, where the funeral of John Paul II attracted a million people in 2005.

  • After his eight years of a pontificate marked by multiple crises, Benedict XVI had been caught up in early 2022 by the drama of pedocrime in the Church.

  • Questioned by a report in Germany on his management of sexual violence when he was Archbishop of Munich, he broke his silence to ask for "pardon" but assured that he had never covered up a child criminal.

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