As from 9am this morning, the body of the Pope Emeritus will lie in state in Saint Peter’s Basilica to allow the faithful to pay their final respects.

The funeral presided over by the Holy Father will be celebrated in Saint Peter’s Square on Thursday, the 5th of January at 9.30am.

The Bishop of Gozo Anton Teuma in a message on the demise of the Pope Emeritus, said “Benedict XVI, the Pope who marked three pontificates, has passed to eternal life.”

“He was the theologian of John Paul II. It was the Pope who showed his coherence and courage with the gesture of resignation,” the Bishop said.

The Bishop added that, “he was the Pope Emeritus who spent the rest of his life in prayer for the Church.

“As a Maltese and Gozitan people, we are grateful to him not only because he came to visit us in 2010, but also because he gave us two Pastors for our Dioceses: Bishop Mario Grech, now a Cardinal, and Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna,” concluded Bishop Teuma.

Photo: Diocese of Gozo

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