VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis joined tens of thousands of faithful in bidding farewell to Benedict XVI at a rare requiem Mass on Thursday for a dead pope presided over by a living one, ending an unprecedented decade for the Catholic Church that was triggered by the late German theologian’s decision to retire.
Bells tolled and the crowd applauded as pallbearers emerged from a fog-shrouded St. Peter’s Basilica and placed Benedict’s simple cypress coffin before the altar in the square outside. Wearing the crimson vestments typical of papal funerals, Francis opened the service with a prayer and closed it by solemnly blessing the casket and bowing his head. Celebrating the mass at the altar was Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals.
