Pope Francis will preside over the funeral of Benedict XVI this Thursday in Rome

Pope Francis will preside on Thursday, January 5 at 9:30 in Rome (5:30 in Argentina) in Saint Peter's Square at the funeral of the emeritus pope Benedict XVI, who died this Saturday at the age of 95, the Vatican reported.

"On Thursday, January 5 at 9:30 a.m. in St. Peter's Square, the funeral will be presided over by Pope Francis," the director of the Holy See's Press Office, Matteo Bruni, announced this Saturday in a meeting with journalists at the Vatican.

The spokesman also reported that the emeritus pope had received extreme rites last Wednesday, given the serious state of health he was in, and regarding the funerals he said that Joseph Ratzinger himself - the original name of the ex-pontiff - asked that they be " solemn but under the sign of simplicity".

Benedict XVI died this Saturday at 9:34 local time in the Matter Ecclesia monastery, where he lived within the Vatican gardens after his resignation from the pontificate in 2013.

The body of the pope emeritus will be exposed in St. Peter's Basilica from Monday morning, the 2nd, "for the greeting of the faithful," Bruni added.

As soon as the death of Benedict XVI was known, communicated by the Vatican almost an hour later, the bells of the Basilica of San Pedro rang as a farewell and the entrance to the so-called Bronze Gate, on one of the sides of the Plaza, was closed. as a sign of mourning.

In Saint Peter's Square, meanwhile, hundreds of tourists lined up to enter the Vatican Basilica in the middle of the "little summer" that Rome has felt for ten days with unusual maximum temperatures of 18 degrees and that shows the Italian capital with a number of of visitors similar to pre-pandemic levels.

The health of the emeritus pontiff had suffered a "worsening" in recent days that had led Pope Francis to ask the faithful on Wednesday to pray for the health of his predecessor.

From Ratzinger's entourage, however, they tried to show less seriousness than that raised by Francisco and even tried to get the emeritus to concelebrate a mass yesterday, even though he was still serious.

>> Read more: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died in the Vatican at the age of 95

"It is with regret that I announce that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI passed away today at 9:34 a.m., in the Vatican's Mater Ecclesiae Monastery," Bruni said today when announcing Ratzinger's death, after a "worsening" of the pontiff's health emeritus in recent days.

Ratzinger, born in the Bavarian town of Marktl in 1927, had been elected the Church's 265th pontiff in 2005, and resigned on February 28, 2013, giving rise to the conclave that elected Jorge Bergoglio as Pope Francis on February 13. March of that year.

Declaration of the Director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni “With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican. Further information will be provided as soon as possible.”

As soon as the death of Benedict XVI was known, communicated by the Vatican almost an hour later, the bells of the Basilica of San Pedro rang as a farewell and the entrance to the so-called Bronze Gate, on one of the sides of the Plaza, was closed.