The Latest Breaking News from Benedict XVI

Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis led the funeral of his predecessor Benedict XVI on Thursday in front of tens of thousands of mourners in St Peter's Square, an event unprecedented in modern times.

Pope Francis, global leader of the Catholic church, presided over the funeral of his predecessor Benedict XVI on Thursday in the presence of tens of thousands of mourners in St Peter's Square in Rome.

Pallbearers carried Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s cypress coffin out of St. Peter’s Basilica and rested it before the altar in the piazza outside as red-robed cardinals looked on on Thursday. Bells tolled and the crowd applauded as Benedict’s coffin was carried out ahead of the rare requiem Mass for a…

Some 1,000 police and other security forces have been deployed for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Square

More than 100,000 people are believed to be attending in the hope of taking part in a requiem mass to mark the occasion

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Mourners poured into St. Peter’s Square early Thursday for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, hoping to pay final respects to the German theologian who made history by retiring and participate in a rare requiem Mass for a dead pope presided over by a living one.

Pope Francis will lead the funeral later today, Thursday, in the Vatican's St Peter's Square before Benedict's remains are placed in the vaults beneath the basilica. He will be buried in the tomb which held pope John Paul II's remains until 2011.

Mourners are streaming into St. Peter’s Square for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI