Pope Francis Presides Over Funeral for Pope Benedict XVI

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 prayed that his joy may now be complete as he contemplates the Lord face to face.

For the first time in many hundreds of years, the Vatican held a funeral service for a former pope, presided over by the present Pope.

On December 31, 2022 Pope Benedict died at the age of 95. 

Though he was no longer “the Pope,”  he was a Pope Emeritus. 

Therefore, his funeral followed the same guidelines for an active Pope as laid out in the “Funeral Rites of the Roman Pontiff.”

The service began 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 included traditional elements as well as some that were individual to this funeral.

Part of the ritual of burying a Pope includes “the ritual of three coffins.” The first is a cypress wood coffin and it symbolises humility and that the Pope was an ordinary human being. 

Included in the coffin will be a copy of the funeral mass and bags of gold, silver and copper coins. The number of coins in each bag match the number of years he was Pope. 

The cypress coffin is the put into a lead coffin. 

Included in this coffin is a copy of documents he issued under his papal seal. 

The lead coffin will soldered shut and have his name, dates of the papacy and a skull and crossbones engraved on top. 

The third and final coffin is an elm coffin. 

Elm is rare in Rome and is meant to represent dignity.

This coffin includes a parchment in a copper tube with a list of the Pontiff’s achievements. 

This coffin is then sealed with golden nails.

He was 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.

Only two international delegations were formally invited - from Italy, in which the Vatican rests, and from Germany, home country of Benedict, who was formerly known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

In February 2013, Pope Benedict XVI became the first pope in 600 years to abdicate. 

Since that time he had been living in Vatican City as Pope Emeritus. 

“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."