Thousands gathered at the Vatican for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
, a stalwart of conservative values who shocked the Catholic church when he resigned a decade ago.
Francis honored Benedict in his homily but didn’t dwell on his specific legacy and only uttered his name once, in the final line. In 2013 he ceded the papacy to Francis, who is widely seen as a more reformist leader, and spent his twilight years living at the Vatican in a refurbished monastery. Almost 200,000 people paid their respects to the pope’s body as it laid in state at St. Peter’s Basilica from Monday until Wednesday evening.
A written account of the pope's life will be buried with him in his coffin, the Vatican announced. The document cited his theological and papal legacy, including his outreach to Anglicans and Jews and his efforts to combat clergy sexual abuse “continually calling the church to conversion, prayer, penance and purification.”
He was widely considered a champion for the church's conservatives, but the end of his time as pontiff was marred by the church sex abuse scandal.
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