The Associated Press reports:
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI ’s body, his head resting on a pair of crimson pillows, lay in state in St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday as thousands of people filed by to pay tribute to the pontiff who shocked the world by retiring a decade ago.
As daylight broke, 10 white-gloved Papal Gentlemen — lay assistants to pontiffs and papal households — carried the body on a cloth-covered wooden stretcher after its arrival at the basilica to its resting place in front of the main altar under Bernini’s towering bronze canopy.
A Swiss Guard had saluted as the body was brought in via a side door after Benedict’s remains, placed in a van, were transferred from the chapel of the monastery grounds where the increasingly frail, 95-year-old former pontiff had passed away on Saturday morning.
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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s body is lying in state as thousands of people lined up across St. Peter’s Square before dawn to pay their respects. Public viewing will continue through Wednesday before Thursday’s funeral which will be led by Pope Francis. https://t.co/rtaXRiVzyY
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 2, 2023