Hundreds of thousands pay respect to deceased former Pope Benedict ahead of funeral

About 200,000 people have paid their respects to the deceased Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican over three days of approaching his body lying in state. 

As AP reported, Pope Francis praised his predecessor's “acute and gentle thought” during a general audience in the Vatican on January 4, which marked the last day of the public viewing.

Vatican officials will now be preparing to place the 95-year-old German former Pope's body into a wooden coffin, ahead of his funeral in St. Peter’s Square on January 5.

Caliber.Az recalls, that Benedict XVI resigned from the papacy on 28 February 2013, as a result of his advanced age. He became the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415 and was referred to as "Pope Emeritus" since that time.