The body of Benedict XVI will lie in state in St Peter’s Basilica from today, allowing 30,000 people a day to pay their respects.
The former pontiff died on Saturday at the age of 95, with the funeral to be conducted in St Peter’s Square on Thursday by his successor, Francis.
Tributes poured in from political and religious leaders around the world. President Biden, a church-going Catholic, said Benedict would be remembered as “a renowned theologian, with a lifetime of devotion to the church”. President Putin praised him as “a defender of traditional Christian values”, adding: “I will forever keep radiant memories of him.”
The Pope described him as a kind and noble person, thanking him for his “testimony of faith and prayer, especially in these last years of secluded life”.
Benedict, born Joseph Ratzinger, led the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics for eight years and then spent almost a decade in retirement after his shock decision to step down from the papacy in 2013.
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• The obituary of Pope Benedict XVI
In a spiritual testament made public at the weekend, he thanked God and the members of his family for the love and support he had experienced in his lifetime. He expressed gratitude for his experience of beauty, in the mountains of his native Bavaria and later in Rome and Italy, “which has become my second home”.
He added: “I ask for forgiveness from the bottom of my heart from all those whom I have wronged in some way.”
The document was dated August 29, 2006, the second year of his pontificate. Critics point to Benedict’s tough stance as doctrinal enforcer at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which he headed for almost a quarter of a century, and his soft response to the child sex abuse crisis in the Church as disquieting aspects of his legacy.
In an article for Religion News Service, Father Thomas Reese, a Jesuit priest, said he had been forced out as editor of America magazine after publishing opinions that clashed with the prevailing Vatican orthodoxy. “Whether I was right or wrong in my views is irrelevant. What matters is that, after the Second Vatican Council, open discussion was suppressed by [Joseph] Ratzinger. If you did not agree with the Vatican, you were silenced,” Reese wrote.
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The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said it was not only wrong but shameful to honour Benedict’s legacy.
“Benedict was more concerned about the church’s deteriorating image and financial flow to the hierarchy versus grasping the concept of true apologies followed by true amends to victims of abuse,” the US organisation said, suggesting he had often chosen to side with clergy rather than vulnerable children.
