Faithful mourn Benedict XVI at funeral presided over by Pope

Heads of state and royalty, clergy from around the world and thousands of regular people flocked to the ceremony, despite Benedict’s requests for simplicity and official efforts to keep the first funeral for a pope emeritus in modern times low-key

Faithful attend the funeral mass for late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Thursday, January. 5, 2023. Picture: AP Photo/Ben Curtis

Pope Francis has honoured his predecessor Benedict XVI, presiding over a rare requiem Mass for a dead pontiff by a living one in front of thousands of mourners in St Peter’s Square.

Bells tolled and the faithful applauded on Thursday morning as pallbearers carried Benedict’s cypress coffin out of the fog-shrouded basilica and rested it before an altar.