He made history during
his life - and now, Pope Benedict XVI will do so in death.
For the first time in
many hundreds of years, the Vatican will hold a funeral service for a former
pope, presided over by the present Pope.
The service begins this
morning after three days in which Benedict's body, dressed in robes and
clutching rosary beads, has been on display, allowing tens of thousands of
mourners to file past.
Led by Pope Francis,
the service will include traditional elements as well as some that will be
individual to this funeral.
A document, written in
Latin and detailing some of the most notable occurrences of Benedict's papacy,
will be buried with him, alongside coins and other papal regalia.
The service will begin
with the introductory rites, wishing for "eternal rest and ... perpetual
light".
It will include
readings from Isaiah and from the first letter of St Peter.
It will refer to him as
"Pope Emeritus Benedict" and described him as "the successor of
Peter and shepherd of the Church, a fearless preacher of your word and a
faithful minister of the divine mysteries".
Benedict will be buried
in the traditional triple coffin, with a casket made of cypress wood then
enclosed by first zinc and then by a further wooden coffin.
He will be buried in
the crypt beneath St Peter's Basilica, in an area that was once occupied by the
coffin of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.
The funeral of the Pope
Emeritus will differ from that which would be held after the death of an
incumbent Pope.
Only two international
delegations have been formally invited - from Italy, in which the Vatican
rests, and from Germany, home country of Benedict, who was formerly known as
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
It is likely that
Germany will send its president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Many countries will
still be sending senior figures to the event. The UK will be represented by
Gillian Keegan, the education secretary. The King of Belgium and the Queen of
Spain will be present.
And the funeral will be
watched by a vast audience around the world.
For some observers,
this will be an occasion that mirrors a more modern view of the papacy, as a
role that can be rightly relinquished in favour of a younger, fitter successor.
For others, though,
this will reawaken two fundamental questions - one, whether a precedent was set
by Benedict for the job to be a more short-term role rather than one that is
carried to death; and two, how Pope Francis's attitude will change, now that he
has become the only living person to have been named as Pope.
On the one hand, it may
embolden him further to pursue his own initiative and ways of thinking, now
that the spectre of his predecessor (who lived in a converted monastery within
the Vatican throughout his retirement) has passed.
Yet on the other, there
are those who believe that Francis, himself troubled by ill health, may soon
start wondering whether he, too, would like to stand down from leading the
Catholic Church and follow Benedict's precedent of retirement.
Francis will conduct
the service from a wheelchair.
These are the questions
that will follow today's funeral. But for the moment, the focus is upon one
thing - the sombre process of allowing more than a billion Catholics around the
world to bid farewell to the man who led them for nearly a decade.
Pope Benedict's funeral today will make history | World News | Sky News
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