Mourners have began paying their respects to the former pope whose body is lying in state for three days. A quarter of a million visitors are expected to pass by.
The doors to St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican opened on Monday to allow the thousands of people queued up outside the chance to pay their respects to the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died on New Year’s Eve at the age of 95.
The body of the German former pope, who stepped down from the role in 2013, is lying in state for three days before his funeral.
People began gathering outside the Basilica at dawn before the doors opened. The public will be allowed to view the body for ten hours on Monday, while twelve hours are scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday.