Pope Benedict XVI was laid to rest in a tomb under St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday in a private ceremony.
The deceased pontiff, carried in a simple wooden coffin, was buried following a funeral mass celebrated for him by his successor, Pope Francis.
After the funeral mass in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict’s body was carried into the basilica and taken underneath to a crypt where he was laid to rest. The final ceremony was held in private with only his personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, and several high-ranking cardinals of the Catholic Church.
Thursday’s ceremony will bring an end to a days-long memorial for the late pope as tens of thousands of people paid tribute to his life and legacy from Monday through Wednesday.
POPE BENEDICT’S VISION OF CATHOLICISM, VATICAN II, AND THE FUTURE OF THE CHURCH ENDURE THROUGH HIS TEACHINGS
Cardinals arrive in procession ahead of the funeral mass for late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023. Benedict died at 95 on Dec. 31 in the monastery on the Vatican grounds where he had spent nearly all of his decade in retirement.
(AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
22 June 2020, Bavaria, Freising: Georg Gänswein (above), Benedict XVI’s private secretary, and Pope Benedict XVI emeritus stand together at Munich Airport for a photo. The Pope emeritus travels back to the Vatican after his four-day visit to Regensburg. The former Pope had made a surprise visit to his old home on 18.06.2020 to visit his 96 year old brother. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa (Photo by Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images)
(Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa (Photo by Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images))
The Vatican said nearly 160,000 people had passed through the basilica during that time.
Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who attended to him up until his death, told Vatican News a nurse told him the pope made one last profession of love to the Lord in his final words.
POPE BENEDICT’S LAST WORDS, ACCORDING TO HIS BEDSIDE NURSE
VATICAN CITY, Vatican: Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, appears on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican after being elected by the conclave of cardinals, 19 April 2005. AFP PHOTO POOL Osservatore Romano Arturo Mari (Photo credit should read ARTURO MARI/AFP via Getty Images)
(ARTURO MARI/AFP via Getty Images)
“With just a whisper of a voice, but in a clearly distinguishable manner, [Benedict] said in Italian, ‘Lord, I love you!’ I was not there at the moment, but the nurse told me about it shortly afterwards,” Gänswein said.
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He added, “These were his last comprehensible words, because afterwards he was no longer able to express himself.”
Fox News’ Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.
