The crowd applauded as pallbearers carried Benedict's cypress coffin out of the fog-shrouded St. Peter's Basilica and rested it before the altar in the vast square outside.
Pope Francis, wearing the crimson vestments typical of papal funerals, opened the service with a prayer and closed it an hour later by solemnly blessing the simple casket - decorated only with the former pope's coat of arms.
Ignoring exhortations for decorum at the end, some in the crowd held banners or shouted "Santo Subito!" - "Sainthood Now!" - echoing the spontaneous chants that erupted during St. John Paul II's 2005 funeral. Only Italy and Germany were invited to send official delegations, but other leaders took the Vatican up on its offer and come in their "private capacity." They included several heads of state, at least four prime ministers and two delegations of royal representatives. In addition, a host of patriarchs joined 125 cardinals in the seats to the side of the altar, and the Russian Orthodox Church sent its foreign envoy.
"The first spark of my vocation started under the pontificate of Benedict, but then it became even stronger under Pope Francis," Colonna said, while sitting in prayer in St. Peter's Square at dawn. "I see a continuity between these two popes and the fact that today Francis is celebrating the funeral in Benedict's memory is an historical event."
Francis didn't mention Benedict's specific legacy in his homily and only uttered his name once, in the final line, delivering instead a meditation on Jesus' willingness to entrust himself to God's will.
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