Papal deaths also follow a strict protocol: The pope’s study and bedroom are closed off, the pope’s Fisherman’s Ring — the seal used for papal documents — is destroyed, and various funeral rites are enacted.
But with the death of Benedict, who resigned from the papacy in 2013 and took the title of pope emeritus, it was unclear until his death was announced on Saturday what protocol the Vatican would use.
The Vatican said that his funeral would be held on Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, presided over by Pope Francis.
Benedict will be buried alongside his 148 predecessors who lie in the Vatican Grottoes beneath St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican said.
Matteo Bruni, a Vatican spokesman, said that the rite on Thursday would be a “solemn but sober funeral.”
Two official delegations will be present, according to the Vatican: those of Germany and Italy.
Leading up to that ceremony, his remains will stay until early Monday at Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, which had been his home on the grounds of Vatican City.
No official visits or public prayers are planned for that site. But on Monday, his remains will be laid to rest in St. Peter’s Basilica, where they can be “greeted by the faithful,” the Vatican said.
Because there are no precedents in modern time, said Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, a historian of the papacy, the question about how to handle the funeral of a retired pope was “complicated.”
Benedict was not the first pope to retire, he noted, but he chose to retain some trappings tied to the papacy, including dressing in white.
By contrast, Celestine V, who resigned in 1294, sought to live like a monk. He was instead imprisoned by Pope Boniface VIII and was not given the funeral of a pope when he died in 1296.
Gregory XII, the last pope to resign before Benedict, reverted to being a cardinal when he stepped down in 1415. When he died two years later, his funeral followed the rite used for cardinals, Mr. Paravicini Bagliani said.
Normally, cardinals gather for papal funerals to mourn, but also to participate in the election of a successor. Their presence in Rome is a “sign that even though a pope has died, the church continues,” Mr. Paravicini Bagliani explained.
“Clearly that’s not an issue in this case,” he said, but added that cardinals would likely be present “as mourners.”
A pope’s funeral Mass is usually celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals.
As such, Benedict celebrated the funeral of John Paul II in 2005.