Photo: ANGELO CARCONI/ANSA/ZUMA/PICTURE ALLIANCE / Deutsche Welle
The tomb of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died on December 31 at the age of 95, can be visited from this Sunday (01.08.2023)when the crypt of the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican opens to the public for the first time after the burial and funeral of the German pontiff last Thursday.
At 9:00 am local time, visitors began to enter, according to the EFE news agency. Some of them stopped to pray in front of the simple tomb of Benedict XVI, on which there was still no portrait of the religious, who resigned from the pontificate in 2013.
The remains of the emeritus rest at his express wish in what until 2011 was the tomb of his predecessor John Paul II, and as tradition dictates, in a triple coffin.
The body of Benedict XVI was exposed for three days in a burning chapel in the Vatican basilica, through which nearly 200,000 faithful passed and after which it was placed in the first box, lined inside with crimson velvet.
The minted coins were also placed inside the coffin. during his pontificate, the parchment with a brief account of the 8 eight years of papacy and the pallios that he wore as Archbishop of Munich and Rome.
The burial took place after the celebration of his funeral, presided over by Francisco, who highlighted the “wisdom, delicacy and dedication” of the pope emeritus, and officiated by the dean of the college of cardinals, the Italian Giovani Battista Re.
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