Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni says the funeral service is being arranged in accordance with the wishes of Pope Benedict XVI who wanted the event to be simple, solemn and sombre.
The Vatican says a "simple" funeral ceremony is being organised for former pope Benedict XVI.Attending the ceremony will be official delegations from Italy and the ex-pope's native Germany.
The 95-year-old would have a "solemn but simple" funeral on Thursday, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told journalists at a briefing following his death.The sudden deterioration of the ex-pope's health earlier this week had sparked questions over what would happen next. They decide because the death of a pope traditionally creates a power vacuum at the top of the church.The ex-pope's funeral will take place in St Peter's Square, the vast square in front of the basilica, on Thursday 5 January at 9:30am .Francis had alerted the world to Benedict's frailness on Wednesday, when he called on the world's Catholics to pray for him.
Pope Francis said the Church and the world had lost a noble, gentle person with the death of former pope Benedict XVI.That was performed at the end of a mass at his home, in the presence of the Memores Domini, four lay women similar to nuns, who lived with him. In 2005 the body of John Paul II, the last pope to die, also lay in state before a funeral mass in St Peter's Square presided over by Ratzinger, then a senior cardinal.'Fisherman's Ring'
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