Pope Benedict XVI, the theologian who became the first pope to resign in nearly six centuries, is being buried on Thursday after a funeral on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica presided over by Pope Francis.
The former pope died on December 31 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery inside the Vatican.
The papacy of the late pope lasted eight years from April 2005 to February 2013 when he resigned due to ill health – making him the first pope to resign in 600 years.
Pope Francis who presided over the funeral asked that the angels lead the late pope into paradise and grant him eternal rest.
He further asked that God grants unto the living faithful the assurance of hope and faith.
“Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom, may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever,” Pope Francis said.
“The Lord quietly bestows the spirit of meekness that is ready to understand, accept, hope and risk. It is the source of an unseen and elusive fruitfulness, born of his knowing the One in whom he has placed his trust.”
