Pope Benedict XVI’s funeral announced by Vatican as mourners set to pay respects
Pope Francis will celebrate the funeral for Benedict in St. Peter’s Square, according to the Vatican, an unprecedented event for the current pope. The death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Saturday at 95 did not come as a surprise.…
Pope Francis will celebrate the funeral for Benedict in St. Peter’s Square, according to the Vatican, an unprecedented event for the current pope.
The death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Saturday at 95 did not come as a surprise. Pope Francis asked for prayers for Benedict’s health during an audience Wednesday, and said Benedict was “very sick.”
Benedict retired in 2013, citing age and poor health, making him the first pope to do so since the 1400s, as they typically serve until death.
Benedict officiated at the funeral of Pope John Paul II, the last pope to die, in 2005. An estimated crowd of 300,000 people went to St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, and millions of others watched on large television screens in public squares around Rome.
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