Tens of thousands of people flocked to St. Peter's Basilica on Monday (2/1) to pay their last respects to the late former Pope Benedict XVI. Benedict died on Saturday (12/31) aged 95 in a remote monastery in the Vatican, where he has lived since resigning in 2013.
"I feel like he's like a grandfather to us," said mourner Veronica Siegal, 16, who is a Catholic high school student from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who is in Rome for a religious studies program.
Siegal said he had read one of Benedict's books on Jesus for his studies. Another mourner, 16-year-old Molly Foley from Atlanta, Georgia believes Benedict is in a better place. "I know he's in a better place because he's a saint and he leads really well," Foley said.
Security around St. Peter's Basilica is very tight. Mourners passed through several checkpoints before entering the basilica. Many stopped to pray after seeing the body or attended Mass in the chapel.
Before the Church opened to the public, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Georgian Prime Minister Meloni were present to pay their respects. Benedict's closest aide, Archbishop Georg Ganswein, sat on the first bench beside the body with Benedict's family and the medics who treated him in his final days.
"I have to come," Sri, a woman visiting from Jakarta, Indonesia, told Reuters. "He is the pope and I am a Catholic," he said.
Benedict will be interred until Wednesday (4/1) evening. His funeral will be held on Thursday (5/1) in St. Peter's Square and presided over by Pope Francis. The Vatican said, it would be a simple, solemn and quiet ceremony according to the wishes of Benedict.
The body of Benedict, who wore a red and gold liturgical robe was placed in a simple pulpit. Two Swiss Guards stood tall on both sides of the body. There were no papal emblems or signs of greatness, such as bishops' staffs, silver sticks with crosses, or plaliums around Benedict's remains.
Previously the papal coat of arms was on the body of Pope John Paul when it was enshrined in 2005. It is not known whether the pastoral cross or other items that Benedict used would be buried with him.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Benedict would be buried as he wished in the same place in the basement, under St. Peter's Basilica. It was where Pope John Paul II was originally interred in 2005 before his body was moved to a chapel in the basilica in 2011.