Benedict XVI will be buried in the crypt under St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican said Saturday afternoon.
Benedict’s death, at the age of 95, was announced in Rome on Dec. 31. His body will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica from the morning of Monday, Jan. 2, 2023, until his funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Jan. 5, 2023.
The tombs in the Vatican crypt are close to the remains of the Catholic Church’s first pope, St. Peter the Apostle.
Benedict XVI’s remains will stay at Mater Ecclesiae Monastery until Jan. 2, 2022, the Vatican said. No official visits or public prayers are planned.
His body will lie in state from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Jan. 2, 2023, and from 7 a.m to 7 p.m. on Jan. 3 and 4, 2023, in St. Peter’s Basilica, where members of the public may pay their final respects.
The funeral Mass on Jan. 5, 2023, will take place at 9:30 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square. Attendance is free and requires no reservation.
At the end of the Mass, there will be the Final Commendation and valediction before Benedict XVI’s coffin is carried to the Vatican crypt for burial.
Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency's senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.
