Pope Benedict XVI has been entombed in his final resting place in a private ceremony after tens of thousands of mourners gathered to say goodbye to the former pontiff.
His triple coffin – one made of cypress, a second welded-shut zinc coffin and a third wooden outer casket – was placed in the grottoes beneath St. Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican, following a sombre two-hour ceremony
The wooden lid on the outermost coffin was decorated with a simple metal cross, the emblem of his nearly eight-year-long papacy and an inscription in Latin, noting that he had lived 95 years, eight months and 15 days when he died on December 31.
The inscription also records the date his papacy ended when he went into retirement, on February 28, 2013, and became Pope Emeritus. He was the first Pope to retire in six centuries.
Following the funeral overseen by his predecessor Pope Francis, Benedict’s casket was placed in two more coffins.
This is traditional for pontiffs. The body is first placed in a casket of cypress wood, which in turn goes in a zinc coffin and then a second final wooden casket.
In the coffin, a written account of his historic papacy known as a rogito was also placed. The coins minted during his pontificate and his pallium stoles, the religious garment worn over the pope’s robes, were also laid in the casket.
In the private ceremony in the grottoes of St. Peter’s Basilica, Benedict’s longtime secretary, German Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, imparted a blessing after the remains were placed into a niche on the floor.
Also present for a final goodbye were the consecrated laywomen who helped care for him during his retirement in a monastery in the Vatican Gardens.
Benedict was placed in the underground Vatican grottoes at his request. His predecessors Pope John XXIII and John Paul II were also interred there before their remains were transferred to more prominent places in the basilica above.
The Vatican says that the public will be able to visit Benedict’s tomb after next week to allow for work to be completed.
As many as 100,000 mourners gathered in St Peter’s Square for the sombre two-hour ceremony – marking the first time in 200 years a pontiff has led the funeral of another.
