Tomb of Benedict XVI under St. Peter’s Basilica, open to public visiting

RELIGIONS NEWS AGENCY (REDNA) – Benedict XVI was buried under the St. Peter`s Basilica on last Thursday. And now his tomb is open to public visiting.

Benedict’s tomb, as AP reported, lies in the grottoes under the basilica’s main floor.

The Vatican announced on Saturday that the public could visit the tomb starting Sunday morning.

Benedict had lived since 2013 as pope emeritus, following his retirement from the papacy, the first pontiff to do so in 600 years.

He died on Dec. 31 at the age of 95, in the Vatican monastery where he spent his last years.

On Thursday, his longtime secretary, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein, imparted a final blessing after Benedict’s body, contained inside three coffins.

Some 50,000 people attended Benedict’s funeral, following three days of the body’s lying in state in the basilica, an event which drew nearly 200,000 viewers.

The name of Benedict, the Catholic church’s 265th pontiff, was engraved on a white marble slab, the Vatican said.

The Vatican didn’t say whether Pope Francis had privately visited the completed tomb of Benedict before public viewing was permitted, or might do so at some other time.