The body of the late Pope Benedict XVI, who died Saturday at the age of 95, will lie in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, where the faithful will bid him farewell before his funeral, on Thursday.
The doors of the huge chapel are open to the public from 9:00 (8:00 GMT) to 19:00 (18:00 GMT) and from 6:00 to 6:00 on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, reports a local Arabic daily quoting AFP.
The Vatican said that entry is free and does not require booking tickets, and for this purpose it has deployed a huge security apparatus.
The body of Josef Ratzinger remains until now in the private chapel inside the monastery, where he has lived since his abdication in 2013, in the heart of the Vatican Gardens.
On Sunday, the Vatican published the first pictures of the body of the Emeritus Pope, who was dressed in red, the color of papal mourning, and a white episcopal crown adorned with golden threads was placed on his head, and in his hand was a rosary. A cross, the Christmas tree and the feast cave appear in the background. His body was transferred at dawn, on Monday, to St. Peter’s Cathedral, which is the largest Catholic Church in the world, with a capacity for tens of thousands of worshipers.
The cathedral is an architectural masterpiece that combines Renaissance and Baroque styles. Its construction was completed in 1626, and it is also considered one of the holiest places in Christianity.
On Sunday, Pope Francis once again honored the memory of “dear” Benedict XVI, “faithful servant of the Gospel and the Church.”
This well-educated theologian and faithful guardian of the faith, who resigned in 2013, said Saturday morning that his powers had run out.
Pope Francis presides over the funeral of his predecessor, who held the papacy from 2005 to 2013, and this funeral will be an unprecedented event in the history of the Catholic Church.
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