The ultra-conservative Orbán, among the first international leaders to visit the funeral chapel of Benedict XVI

The funeral chapel of Benedict XVI, in the Basilica of Saint Peter, has opened this Tuesday for the second day.

Wednesday will be the last day on which the body of the emeritus pope will be exposed.

His funeral will be held on Thursday, a ceremony that will not have a state character, since the deceased pontiff was retired.

But the ceremony will feature official delegations from Italy and Ratzinger's native Germany.

And it will bring together a large number of presidents, monarchs and political representatives from different countries.

The Queen Emeritus of Spain, Sofía, and the Spanish Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, as well as the Polish President, Andrzej Duda, have confirmed their attendance;

the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa;

the Hungarian president, Katalin Novák;

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King Philippe of Belgium.

The second day passed in the morning with a queue of thousands of faithful and tourists waiting to enter the basilica (25,000 until 12:00).

One of the first international leaders to come forward to pay tribute to Ratzinger—whose remains lie on a golden cloth catafalque at the foot of the Confession Altar and Bernini's canopy—was the ultra-conservative Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

The politician, far from Francisco's line and explicitly closer to his predecessor, has immediately marked that proximity with his visit.

General view of the funeral chapel of Benedict XVI in the central nave of the Basilica of Saint Peter.VATICAN MEDIA (EFE)

Hundreds of people have queued since half past five this morning to access the temple and pay tribute to Ratzinger. Alessandra Tarantino (AP)

The body of the emeritus pope lies in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on Monday.GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE (REUTERS)

The authorities anticipate that around 35,000 people will parade through the burning chapel each of the three days during which it will remain open.VATICAN MEDIA (EFE)

Queue of faithful inside the Basilica of San Pedro.GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE (REUTERS)

Detail of the hands of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, this Monday. DPA via Europa Press (DPA via Europa Press)

The faithful bid farewell to Joseph Ratzinger inside St. Peter's Basilica.

VATICAN MEDIA (EFE)

Several nuns wait to pay homage to the pope emeritus in Saint Peter's Square.

GUGLIELMO MANGIAPANE (REUTERS)

The Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni (third from the left), visited the funeral chapel of the emeritus pope on Monday.VATICAN MEDIA (via REUTERS)

Interior of Saint Peter's Basilica, during the first day of the funeral chapel of Pope Benedict XVI.

VATICAN MEDIA (EFE)

Several faithful pay homage to the pope emeritus in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.KAI PFAFFENBACH (REUTERS)

Queue of people to access the Basilica of San Pedro.Andrew Medichini (AP)

The body of the late Benedict XVI lies in the central nave of St. Peter's Basilica for public visitation. Alessandra Tarantino (AP)

Interior of the Basilica of Saint Peter during the funeral chapel, this Monday. HANDOUT (AFP)

Dozens of faithful wait to see the remains of the emeritus pope. TIZIANA FABI (AFP)

General view of the burning chapel in the central nave of the basilica.Andrew Medichini (AP)

Benedict XVI has been dressed in papal red, but without the pallium: the ornament that is placed around the neck and indicates the power exercised at the time of his death.

The absence of said piece indicates that the German was precisely retired. TIZIANA FABI (AFP)

A nun feeds a dove while waiting to say goodbye to the pope emeritus.

CIRO DE LUCA (REUTERS)

Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who was Benedict XVI's personal secretary, kisses his hand in the funeral chapel installed in Saint Peter's Basilica.VATICAN MEDIA (EFE)

The remains of Joseph Ratzinger are transferred at dawn this Monday from the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, where the emeritus pope resided since his resignation in February 2013, to the Basilica of Saint Peter.VATICAN MEDIA HANDOUT (EFE)

Dozens of people wait to access the Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, this Monday.

Michael Kappeler (Europa Press)

The emeritus pope is veiled in the chapel of the Mater Ecclessiae monastery before his transfer to the basilica in an image distributed this Monday by the Vatican. HANDOUT (AFP)

Meanwhile, the Vatican is preparing Thursday's funeral, which will be presided over by Francis (it is unprecedented for a pope to celebrate the funeral of another pontiff) and whose script has already been published.

The question now is whether Bergoglio's mobility problems, despite the fact that he will preside over the rite, will force him to concelebrate a demanding liturgy with the Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista. Re.

The liturgy that will be followed during the funeral, despite the fact that Benedict XVI wrote that he wanted it to be something simple and sober, will be "based on the reference of that of a pontiff," said Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni.

“There will be some that will not be made because they are typical of a reigning pontiff, like the final appeal, which are very specific about the active pope.

But also some new ones to give the rite its original component”, he pointed out.

All the cardinals of the college have been invited.

Bruni also explained that Benedict XVI will be buried with the medals and coins minted during his pontificate, the palliums used when he was bishop, and a text describing the pope's pontificate.

It is also known that the coffin in sight will be a triple box: cypress (during the funeral) and zinc and oak (at the grave).

On Wednesday afternoon the coffin will be closed with a particular rite.

On the day of the funeral, he will leave the basilica around 8:50 to allow the faithful to say the rosary.

Then the liturgy will begin and, at the end, the body is taken to the crypt for burial.

The end of the entire rite is estimated to arrive around 11:15 in the morning.

The last day of the funeral chapel will be Wednesday morning, while Francis will hold the general audience in the nearby Paul VI hall, since none of the Argentine pontiff's activities have been cancelled.

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