- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload fears
- Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 'Happy' Kinghorn relishing life at Toulouse
- Norris sets Singapore pace as Verstappen only 15th
- Germany to bid to host women's Euro 2029
- Portugal brings deadly forest fires under control
- Postecoglou defends Solanke after slow start to Spurs career
- US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen to power Microsoft
- Arteta urges Arsenal to take next step in Man City showdown
- Stock markets fall after Fed-fuelled rally
- Poland charges Russian over attack on Navalny ally: prosecutors
- Man City have rest 'advantage' in Arsenal showdown: Guardiola
- Maresca has 'no doubt' in Jackson as Chelsea's number nine
- EU chief announces 35 bn euro loan plan for Ukraine before winter
- From TikTok to Hollywood, the irresistible rise of Italy's Khaby Lame
- Verstappen punished for swearing in Singapore press conference
- Sri Lanka lead by 202 in first New Zealand Test
- Brook 'not too fussed' by England's batting in heavy Australia loss
- India's Ashwin 'happy' to embrace pressure
- A modern 'Trojan Horse': two days of mayhem in Lebanon
- Third of Burundi mpox cases in children under five: UN
- Man Utd appoint Foster + Partners to develop Old Trafford 'masterplan'
- French mayor sorry for 'no one died' remark over mass rape trial
- Mohamed Al-Fayed, outsider shunned by British high society
- Lawyers say 'monster' late Harrods owner abused dozens of women
- India in box seat after Bumrah takes four against Bangladesh
- Taiwan retains death penalty but limits use to 'exceptional' cases
- Ferrari's Leclerc sets early pace in Singapore ahead of Norris
- 10 years into Huthi rule, some Yemenis count the cost
- France poised to finally get new govt
- Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson doubtful for Bournemouth clash
- Bayern's Kompany calls for game cap for players amid strike talks
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.12% | 25.15 | $ | |
NGG | 1.02% | 69.54 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0.14% | 6.96 | $ | |
BTI | -0.62% | 37.34 | $ | |
AZN | -0.7% | 78.355 | $ | |
SCS | -2.38% | 13 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.16% | 25.05 | $ | |
GSK | -1.76% | 40.9 | $ | |
RIO | -2.51% | 63.585 | $ | |
RELX | -0.32% | 47.975 | $ | |
BCC | -1.49% | 142.565 | $ | |
JRI | -0.68% | 13.31 | $ | |
BP | -0.29% | 32.665 | $ | |
BCE | -1.12% | 34.8 | $ | |
VOD | -0.45% | 10.015 | $ |
Pope Francis to lead unique funeral for ex-pope Benedict
For the first time in modern history, a sitting pope will preside over his predecessor's funeral next week, with Pope Francis leading a "simple" ceremony for Benedict XVI, who died Saturday.
Benedict, the first pontiff to resign since the Middle Ages, had renounced the papal throne -- but lived within the Vatican and still wore white.
The 95-year-old would have a "solemn but simple" funeral on Thursday, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told journalists at a briefing after his death.
The sudden deterioration of the ex-pope's health earlier this week sparked questions over what would happen next.
The death of a Roman Catholic pope usually sets in motion time-honoured traditions, but would someone who had given up the papacy get papal treatment?
Unlike when previous popes have died, there is no need to call a conclave to elect a new pontiff, as Francis -- chosen to succeed Benedict in 2013 -- remains very much in the post.
Under rules set out in 1996, a pope must be buried between four and six days after his death.
How and when he is buried is usually decided by cardinals who gather from around the world, and who also organise the Vatican's nine days of mourning, known as novemdiales.
They decide because the death of a pope traditionally creates a power vacuum at the top of the church.
However, no such vacuum exists in this case, as Francis is in charge.
- Last rites -
The Vatican said it would be respecting Benedict's wishes.
The ex-pope's funeral will take place in St Peter's Square, the vast square in front of the basilica, on Thursday at 9:30am (0830 GMT).
"As the Pope Emeritus wished, the funeral will be simple," Bruni told journalists.
Francis had alerted the world to Benedict's frailness on Wednesday, when he called on the world's Catholics to pray for him.
He later visited him at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery inside the Vatican gardens which became Benedict's home when he retired.
Bruni said the ex-pope had that same day received "the anointment of the sick", or "last rites" as it is often called, a Catholic tradition in which a person's soul is cleansed of sins in preparation for the afterlife.
That was performed at the end of a mass at his home, in the presence of the Memores Domini, four lay women similar to nuns, who lived with him.
The body of the German pope, whose birth name was Joseph Ratzinger, will lie in state from Monday so that the faithful can pay their respects.
In 2005 the body of John Paul II, the last pope to die, also lay in state before a funeral mass in St Peter's Square presided over by Ratzinger, then a senior cardinal.
An estimated one million people attended, alongside heads of state from around the world.
- 'Fisherman's Ring' -
It was not immediately clear which heads of state would attend Benedict's funeral.
In 2020, media reports said Benedict had chosen to be buried in the former tomb of John Paul II, in the crypt of St Peter's.
The body of the beloved Polish pope was moved to the upper part of the basilica when he was beatified in 2011. He was confirmed a saint in 2014.
Benedict, a conservative intellectual, was not as popular as John Paul II, who was pope between 1978 and 2005, but his funeral is still likely to draw large crowds and dignitaries.
Traditionally, when a pope dies, his "Fisherman's Ring" -- a signet ring specially cast for each new pope which once was used to seal documents -- is also destroyed.
When Benedict left office, the face of his ring was etched with a "X" to make it unusable.
F.Ferraz--PC