Before the funeral of Benedict XVI.

- Companions from Munich raved about old times beforehand

Created: 05/01/2023 05:20

By: Christina Denk

On January 5th Benedict XVI.

buried in Rome.

Numerous politicians and clergymen from all over the world are expected.

Before that, an old friend talked about him.

The funeral in the news ticker.

• Funeral

  of

  Benedict XVI

  : The Pope Emeritus will be buried on January 5th.

• Funeral service in

  St. Peter's Basilica : The

  ceremony

  starts at around 9.30 a.m. with guests from politics, church and society.

• Insights

  into

  Benedikt's life

  : A friend from Munich raves about the old days before the ceremony

• The

  news ticker

  for the

  funeral of Benedict XVI.

  is continuously updated.

Update from January 4, 9:42 p.m .:

After three days in which Benedict XVI.

was publicly laid out in the Vatican, the final preparations for the funeral service are being made.

Before the German was to be put in the coffin on Wednesday evening, thousands of believers and many churchmen came to St. Peter's Basilica to say goodbye.

Among them was the cardinal and Archbishop of Cologne, Rainer Maria Woelki.

The Pope Emeritus was a great supporter of Woelkis.

In total, almost 200,000 people bid farewell to the late Pope Benedict XVI in St. Peter's Basilica during the three days of laying out.

Funeral of Benedict XVI: The Pope Emeritus will be buried on Thursday

First report from January 4th:

Rome – On Thursday morning (January 5th) at around 9.30 a.m., Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

buried.

He will receive a ceremony and burial like a pope, despite his resignation in 2013. Numerous prominent guests are expected to attend the ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica.

Including Markus Söder and Olaf Scholz with a Bavarian delegation from politics, church and society.

But also long-term, private companions of Benedict XVI.

will be present.

An old friend from Munich chatted with the Pope Emeritus before the funeral service about traditions and old stories.

Benedict XVI

will be buried on January 5th in St. Peter's Basilica with a ceremony and subsequent burial.

© Ben Curtis/dpa

Before Benedict XVI's funeral: a friend from Munich raves about the old days

“We strapped on our roof rack and then tied the Christmas trees to it.

And so I kept going to Rome,” said Thaddäus Kühnel in an interview with the Christian radio station Horeb after the death of Benedict XVI. Thaddäus Kühnel is a friend of the retired Pope's Munich days.

What is he talking about here?

From a common Advent and Easter tradition.

When Ratzinger became head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and moved from Munich to the Vatican, the tradition arose that Kühnel kept bringing something from home to Rome for him and others around him.

It started with an Easter candle and ended with 50 Advent wreaths and several Christmas trees from Bavaria.

Also in the last Advent he was with Pope Benedict again, so Kühnel.

He found out about the death of the ex-Pope from the Swiss Guard.

Benedict XVI

- The Region and its Pope

View photo gallery

Funeral of Benedict XVI: The Pope Emeritus died on New Year's Eve morning

Benedict XVI

died at around 9:34 am on New Year's Eve at the age of 95 in his rooms at the Vatican.

Since January 2, the body of the ex-Pontifex was then laid out in St. Peter's Basilica.

Tens of thousands of people, including the Italian Prime Minister Meloni, said goodbye to Benedict XVI, whose real name was Joseph Ratzinger.

Pope Francis described his predecessor as a "magnanimous and kind person".

“We thank God for giving us Benedict XVI.

to have given,” he writes in the foreword of his forthcoming book, which several Italian newspapers published on Wednesday.

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Fancy a journey of discovery?

My space

• Burial of Benedict XVI:

• 9.30 a.m

  .: Ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica with Pope Francis, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re and prominent guests

• Afterwards:

  Burial of Benedict XVI.

  in the grotto of St. Peter's Basilica closed to the public

• Around 11:00 a.m.:

  Recommendation of the German Bishops' Conference for funeral bells in the German, Catholic dioceses.

On Wednesday evening the body of Benedict XVI.

placed in a coffin made of cypress wood.

So he will no longer be laid out freely at the funeral service.

After Thursday's ceremony, the ex-Pontifex will be buried in the grotto beneath St. Peter's Basilica.