More than 65 thousand people attended the first day of farewell to the retired Pope Benedict XVI, according to The Washington Post. It was expected that about 35,000 people would arrive at St. Peter's Basilica daily, and 60,000 people on the day of the funeral. However, according to the portal, only on the first day of farewell – January 2 – more than 65 thousand people visited the basilica, where the body of the deceased is located. The first to arrive at St. Peter's Basilica was Italian President Sergio Mattarella and his daughter Laura, followed by Italian Prime Minister George Meloni. The doors of the cathedral are open on January 3 and 4 from 7:00 to 19:00, and a large influx of believers is now expected daily.
On January 5, Pope Francis will become the first pontiff in modern history to hold a funeral for his predecessor.
Benedict XVI died on December 31 at the age of 96. He ruled the Catholic Church for less than eight years. In 2013, due to health reasons, he resigned. He became the second head of the Roman Catholic Church to do so of his own free will, the first being Gregory XII in 1415.
In 2010, for the first time in the history of the papacy, he issued a pastoral message to the Catholics of Ireland on pedophilia in the Catholic Church. Benedict stated that pedophile priests "betrayed the trust placed in them by innocent young people and their parents" and "should answer for that before Almighty God and before the law in the manner established by the court." In the same year, several media outlets claimed that Benedict was personally involved in the cover-up of several cases of pedophilia in Bavaria and the United States.