The wake of pope emeritus Benedict 16 began, this Monday morning (2), with a long line of people seeking to enter St. Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican, to honor the German, who died last Saturday (31), at age 95.
The body will be exposed for three days, until the end of Wednesday (4). The funeral will be celebrated by Pope Francis and is scheduled to take place on Thursday (5).
Around 15,000 people, including the faithful and onlookers, circulate, according to the Italian press, through St. Peter’s Square and the outskirts of Rome. Security agencies in the Italian capital estimate that up to 35,000 people can pass through the region a day. For the funeral, the estimate is 60 thousand people.
The body of Benedict 16 arrived at the basilica around 7:00 am (3:00 am, BrasÃlia time), transported from the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, in the Vatican gardens, where the religious lived since he resigned from the papacy, in 2013. dressed in red liturgical ornaments and the mitral hat, but without the pallium, the white woolen sash worn by the pope. In his hands he holds a rosary.
Before the opening of the basilica to the public, at 9 am, the president of Italy, Sergio Mattarella, and the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, attended the wake. Visitors will be able to see the body of Benedict 16 until 7 pm this Monday (3 pm in Brasilia). On Tuesday and Wednesday, the hours are the same, from 7 am to 7 pm.
Despite the thousands of people queuing and the checkpoints with metal detectors, entry took place in an organized manner until midday.
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