• 'Benedict, may your joy now be complete!'; Pope Francis at Requiem Mass
• 125 cardinals, more than 3700 priests concelebrate Requiem Mass
• Faithful applaud while cypress coffin is carried to the altar and back into the basilica

Vatican City - Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s earthly remains will be laid to rest in the Vatican Grottoes, following the Solemn Requeim Mass celebrated by Pope Francis today morning at 9.30am Italian time. The Rosary was recited before the Requiem Mass.

The casket bearing the late Pontiff will be laid in the same tomb that St. John Paul II was buried in before his beatification. The casket of St. John Paul II was moved to the upper part of St. Peter’s Basilica.

In his homily at the Requiem Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Pope Francis commends his predecessor into the loving hands of God the Father, and prays that his joy may now be complete as he contemplates the Lord face to face.

Bells tolled and the crowd applauded as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s coffin was carried into St. Peter’s Basilica to his place of burial in the basilica crypt. People waved flags and banners, including one that said “Santo Subito,” calling for the late Pontiff's immediate canonization.

Before the Solemn Requiem Mass, the pallbearers carried Benedict's cypress coffin out of the fog-shrouded St. Peter's Basilica and rested it before the altar. With red-robed clergy looking on, Benedict XVI's longtime secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, bent down and kissed a book of the Gospels that was left open on the coffin.

Archbishop Georg Ganswein kneels by the coffin of late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is brought to St. Peter's Square for a funeral mass at the Vatican, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023.

Heads of state and royalty, clergy from around the world and thousands of regular people flocked to the Vatican, despite Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's requests for simplicity and official efforts to keep the first funeral for an pope emeritus in modern times low-key.

Many hailed from the late Pope’s native Bavaria and donned traditional dress, including boiled wool coats to guard against the morning chill.

125 cardinals and more than 3,700 priests concelebrated the Solemn Requiem Mass.

Cardinals Joseph Zen, Daniel DiNardo, Timothy Dolan, Gianfranco Ravasi, and Giuseppe Betori, all cardinals created by Benedict, were seated in the front row.

Italy and Germany, send official state delegations to attend the funeral. These two nations were the only two countries that were officially invited to send state delegations.

Other heads of state attended the funeral in an unofficial capacity.

Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, and Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar came to the Vatican to attend the ceremony, along with European royals Queen Sofia of Spain and King Philip and Queen Mathilde of Belgium.

Joe Donnelly, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, attended the funeral, representing the United States.

The readings for the Mass were Isaiah 29:16–19 in Spanish; Psalm 23 sung in Latin; 1 Peter 1: 3–9 in English, and the Gospel of Luke 23:39–46 read in Italian.

At the end of the funeral Mass, Pope Francis presided over the Final Commendation and Valediction, which were followed by a moment of silent prayer.

Early Thursday the Vatican released the official history of late Benedict XVI's life, a short document in Latin that was placed in a metal cylinder in his coffin )before it was sealed, along with the coins and medallions minted during his papacy and his pallium stoles.

The document gave ample attention to his historic resignation and referred to him as "pope emeritus," citing verbatim the Latin words he uttered on Feb. 11, 2013, when he announced he would retire.

The document, known as a "rogito" or deed, also cited his theological and papal legacy, including his outreach to Anglicans and Jews and his efforts to combat clergy sexual abuse "continually calling the church to conversion, prayer, penance and purification."

The funeral ritual itself is modeled on the code used for deceased popes but with some modifications.

While the ritual is novel, it does have some precedent: In 1802, Pope Pius VII presided over the funeral in St. Peter's of his predecessor, Pius VI, who had died in exile in France in 1799 as a prisoner of Napoleon.

Around 200,000 faithful paid tribute to the late Pope during the last three days he lay in state in the Basilica.

A ribbon will be placed around Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s coffin. The seals of the Apostolic Chamber, the Pontifical Household, and of the liturgical celebrations will also be placed around the coffin.

“Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”
Pope Francis recalled those final words spoken by the Lord, as proclaimed in the Gospel reading at the Requiem Mass for the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Thursday morning in St. Peter's Square.

In his homily, the Pope said Jesus' final words summed up the Lord's entire life, "a ceaseless self-entrustment into the hands of His Father."

Recalling how Saint Gregory the Great urged a friend to offer him spiritual accompaniment to support him in his ministry, the pastor also needs to commend himself to the prayers and the care of the people entrusted to him.

He noted the importance of this aspect of mutual, prayerful support, in entrusting one another to the Lord, as the Church remembers Benedict XVI.

"God’s faithful people, gathered here," said Pope Francis, "now accompanies and entrusts to Him the life of the one who was their pastor... We want to do this with the same wisdom, tenderness and devotion that he bestowed upon us over the years. Together, we want to say: “Father, into your hands we commend his spirit.”

“Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever!”
-VN