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Laid out in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican: the deceased Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
Photo: Vatican Media / dpa
After the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the Holy See
Photos of his body released.
In the pictures from the chapel of the monastery Mater Ecclesiae he can be seen with a red liturgical robe and a traditional headgear, a miter.
Joseph Ratzinger – his real name – holds a rosary in his clasped hands.
Next to him in front of the altar are a decorated Christmas tree and a manger.
Benedict XVI
died on Saturday morning at the age of 95.
Last Wednesday it became known that his health had deteriorated when the incumbent Pope Francis called on the faithful to pray for Benedict.
On Monday he is to be laid out for the public in St. Peter's Basilica.
From nine o'clock people can say goodbye to the Bavarian-born pontiff.
The funeral service in St. Peter's Square and then the burial in St. Peter's Basilica are planned for Thursday.
Burial below St. Peter's Basilica
Benedict XVI
was the head of the Catholic Church from 2005 to 2013 before causing a sensation with his resignation.
He was the first head of the Catholic Church since 1415 to take this unusual step.
Then Benedict XVI lived.
in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican Gardens, in whose chapel he lay in state on Sunday.
According to Vatican rules, a pope must be buried four to six days after his death.
Benedict is to be buried after the funeral service in the crypt below St. Peter's Basilica.
He had wished to be buried at the spot where Pope John Paul II had first found his resting place after his death, before he was reburied in a chapel in St. Peter's Basilica after his beatification.
lov/dpa