Associated Press
[Source: AP]
Pope Benedict XVI’s coffin has been put in its resting place in the grottoes beneath St. Peter’s Basilica.
The wooden lid on the outermost coffin is decorated with a simple metal cross, the emblem of his nearly eight-year-long papacy and an inscription in Latin noting that he had lived 95 years, eight months and 15 days when he died on Dec. 31.
It also records the date his papacy ended when he went into retirement, on Feb. 28, 2013. He was the first pontiff to retire in 600 years.
Benedict’s longtime secretary, German Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, imparted a blessing after the remains were placed into a niche on the floor on Thursday. Also present for a final goodbye were the consecrated laywomen who helped care for him during his retirement in a monastery in the Vatican Gardens.
The Vatican says that the public will be able to visit Benedict’s tomb — but not before next week, to allow for work to be completed.
