Pope Francis joined tens of thousands of faithful in bidding farewell to Benedict XVI at a rare requiem Mass Thursday for a dead pope presided over by a living one, ending an unprecedented decade for the Catholic Church that was triggered by the German theologian鈥檚 decision to retire.
Bells tolled and the crowd applauded as pallbearers emerged from a fog-shrouded St. Peter鈥檚 Basilica and placed Benedict鈥檚 simple cypress coffin before the altar in the square outside. Wearing the crimson vestments typical of papal funerals, Francis opened the service with a prayer and closed it by solemnly blessing the casket and bowing his head.
In between, Francis made only fleeting reference to Benedict in his homily, offering a meditation on Christ instead of a eulogy of his predecessor鈥檚 legacy before the casket was sealed and entombed in the basilica grotto.
Heads of state and royalty, clergy from around the world and thousands of regular people flocked to the ceremony, despite Benedict鈥檚 request for simplicity and official efforts to keep the first funeral for a pope emeritus in modern times low-key.
Many mourners hailed from Benedict鈥檚 native Bavaria and donned traditional dress, including boiled wool coats to guard against the morning chill.
鈥淲e came to pay homage to Benedict and wanted to be here today to say goodbye,鈥� said Raymond Mainar, who traveled from a small village east of Munich for the funeral. 鈥淗e was a very good pope.鈥�
Ignoring exhortations for decorum at the end, some in the crowd held banners or shouted 鈥淪anto Subito!鈥� 鈥� 鈥淪ainthood Now!鈥� 鈥� echoing the spontaneous chants that erupted during St. John Paul II鈥檚 2005 funeral.
The former Joseph Ratzinger, who died Dec. 31 at age 95, is considered one of the 20th century鈥檚 greatest theologians and spent his lifetime upholding church doctrine. But he will go down in history for a singular, revolutionary act that changed the future of the papacy: He retired, the first pope in six centuries to do so.
Francis has praised Benedict鈥檚 courage in stepping aside, saying it 鈥渙pened the door鈥� for other popes to do the same. But few, including Benedict himself, expected his 10-year retirement to last longer than his eight-year papacy, and the prolonged cohabitation of two popes in the Vatican Gardens sparked calls for protocols to guide future resignations.
Some 50,000 people attended Thursday鈥檚 Mass, according to the Vatican, after around 200,000 paid their respects during three days of public viewing.
Only Italy and Germany were invited to send official delegations, but other leaders took the Vatican up on its offer and came in their 鈥減rivate capacity.鈥� They included several heads of state and government, delegations of royal representatives, a host of patriarchs and 125 cardinals.
Among those attending was Hong Kong Cardinal Joseph Zen, who was given special court permission to attend the funeral. Zen was detained in May on suspicion of colluding with foreign forces under China鈥檚 national security law after he fell afoul of authorities over his participation in a now-silenced democracy movement. His passport was revoked when he was detained.
Benedict鈥檚 close confidants were also in attendance, most prominently the former pope鈥檚 longtime secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein. He bent down and kissed a book of the Gospels that was left open on the coffin before the ceremony began.
After it ended, the coffin was brought to the basilica grotto, placed first into a zinc casket, sealed, then placed into an oak one.
A choir鈥檚 hymn echoed in the crypt as the casket was lowered into the ground, featuring Benedict鈥檚 papal coat of arms, a cross and a plaque noting in Latin that it contained his body: 鈥淐orpus Benedicti XVI PM,鈥� for 鈥減ontifex maximus鈥� or 鈥渟upreme pontiff.鈥�
Matteo Colonna, a 20-year-old seminarian from Teramo, Italy, said he came to Rome in part because of the historic nature of the funeral 鈥� but also because it had personal resonance for him.
鈥淭he first spark of my vocation started under the pontificate of Benedict, but then it became even stronger under Pope Francis,鈥� Colonna said, while sitting in prayer in St. Peter鈥檚 Square at dawn. 鈥淚 see a continuity between these two popes and the fact that today Francis is celebrating the funeral in Benedict鈥檚 memory is an historical event.鈥�
But the service was also significant for what it lacked: the feeling of uncertainty that would normally accompany the passing of a pope before a new one is elected.
鈥淏enedict has been the bridge between John Paul and Francis,鈥� said Alessandra Aprea, a 56-year-old from Meta di Sorrento near Naples. 鈥淲e could not have Francis without him.鈥�
Early Thursday the Vatican released the official history of Benedict鈥檚 life, a short document in Latin that was placed in a metal cylinder in his coffin before it was sealed, along with the coins and medallions minted during his papacy and his pallium stoles.
The document gave ample attention to Benedict鈥檚 historic resignation and referred to him as 鈥減ope emeritus,鈥� citing verbatim the Latin words he uttered on Feb. 11, 2013, when he announced he would retire.
The document, known as a 鈥渞ogito鈥� or deed, also cited his theological and papal legacy, including his outreach to Anglicans and Jews and his efforts to combat clergy sexual abuse 鈥渃ontinually calling the church to conversion, prayer, penance and purification.鈥�
Francis didn鈥檛 mention Benedict鈥檚 legacy in his homily and only uttered his name once, in the final line, delivering instead a meditation on Jesus鈥� willingness to entrust himself to God鈥檚 will.
鈥淗olding fast to the Lord鈥檚 last words and to the witness of his entire life, we too, as an ecclesial community, want to follow in his steps and to commend our brother into the hands of the Father,鈥� Francis said.
During St. John Paul II鈥檚 quarter-century as pope, Ratzinger spearheaded a crackdown on dissent as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, taking action against the left-leaning liberation theology that spread in Latin America in the 1970s and against dissenting theologians and nuns who didn鈥檛 toe the Vatican鈥檚 hard line on matters like sexual morals.
His legacy was marred by the clergy sexual abuse crisis, even though he recognized earlier than most the 鈥渇ilth鈥� of priests who raped children, and actually laid the groundwork for the Holy See to punish them.
As cardinal and pope, he passed sweeping church legislation that resulted in 848 priests being defrocked from 2004 to 2014, roughly his pontificate with a year on either end. But abuse survivors still held him responsible, for failing to sanction any bishop who moved abusers around, refusing to mandate the reporting of sex crimes to police and identifying him as embodying the clerical system that long protected the institution over victims.
Mike McDonnell of the U.S. abuse survivor group SNAP said while Benedict passed new canon laws, he could have done far more to influence John Paul to take firm action. Referring to Benedict鈥檚 nickname as 鈥淕od鈥檚 Rottweiler,鈥� he said: 鈥淚n our in our view, it was a dog bark without a bite. Certainly he could have done more.鈥�
A group representing German clergy abuse survivors called on German officials attending Benedict鈥檚 funeral to demand more action from the Vatican on sexual abuse. Eckiger Tisch asked leaders to demand that Francis issue a 鈥渦niversal church law鈥� stipulating zero tolerance in dealing with abuse by clergy.
The funeral ritual itself is modeled on the code used for dead popes but with some modifications given Benedict was not a reigning pontiff when he died.
While Thursday鈥檚 Mass was unusual, it does have some precedent: In 1802, Pope Pius VII presided over the funeral in St. Peter鈥檚 of his predecessor, Pius VI, who had died in exile in France in 1799 as a prisoner of Napoleon.
鈥� Nicole Winfield, Giada Zampano And Frances D鈥檈milio, The Associated Press
