'Lord, I love you': Aide recounts Benedict's last words

This Dec. 8, 2015 file photo shows Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI sitting in St. Peter’s Basilica as he attends the ceremony marking the start of the Holy Year, at the Vatican. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

VATICAN CITY (AP) – Pope Francis prayed for his predecessor’s passage to heaven and again expressed thanks for a lifetime of service to the church, during New Year’s Day appearances a day after Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died in retirement at the Vatican.

St. Peter’s Basilica, where Francis presided over a mid-morning New Year’s Mass, will host Benedict’s coffin starting on Monday. Thousands of faithful are expected to file by the coffin in three days of viewing.

Benedict, 95, died Saturday morning in the Vatican monastery where he had lived since retirement. He was the first pope in centuries to resign, citing his increasing frailty.

On Sunday, Benedict’s body lay on a burgundy-colored bier in the chapel of the monastery. He was dressed in a miter, the headgear of a bishop, and a red cloak-like vestment. A rosary was placed in his hand. Behind him, visible in photos released by the Vatican, were the chapel’s altar and a decorated Christmas tree.

Francis looked weary and sat with his head bowed as Mass began on the first day of the year, an occasion the Catholic Church dedicates to the theme of peace.

He departed briefly from reading his homily, with its emphasis on hope and peace, to pray aloud for Benedict.

“Today we entrust to our Blessed Mother our beloved Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, so that she may accompany him in his passage from this world to God,” he said.

Later, Francis delivered more remarks about the retired pontiff when he offered New Year’s greetings to thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square

Referring to Mary, Francis said that “in these hours, we invoke her intercession, in particular for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who, yesterday morning, left this world.”

“Let us unite all together, with one heart and one soul, in giving thanks to God for the gift of this faithful servant of the Gospel and of the church,” said Francis, speaking from a window of the Apostolic Palace to pilgrims and tourists below.

The square will be the setting for Benedict’s funeral led by Francis on Thursday morning. The service will be a simple one, the Vatican has said, in keeping with the wishes of Benedict. Before he was elected pope in 2005, Benedict was a German cardinal who served as the Church’s guardian of doctrinal orthodoxy.

On Saturday, Francis went to pay his respects immediately after received a call from the Rev. Georg Gaenswein, Benedict’s longtime secretary, informing him of the retired pope‘s death. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said Francis stayed in Benedict’s monastery for quite some time before returning to his residence in a hotel located across the Vatican Gardens.

In recent years, Francis hailed Benedict’s stunning decision to become the first pope to resign in 600 years and has made clear he’d consider such a step as an option for himself.

Hobbled by knee pain, Francis, 86, on Sunday arrived in the basilica in a wheelchair and took his place in a chair for the Mass, which was being celebrated by the Vatican’s secretary of state.

Francis, who has repeatedly decried the war in Ukraine and its devastation, recalled those who are victims of war, passing the year-end holidays in darkness, cold and fear.

“At the beginning of this year, we need hope, just as the Earth needs rain,” Francis said in his homily.

While addressing the faithful in St. Peter’s Square, the pope cited the “intolerable” war in Ukraine, which began more than 10 months ago, and conflicts elsewhere other places in the world.

Yet, Francis said, “let us not lose hope” that peace will prevail.

“In the entire world, in all peoples, a cry is rising, `No to war, no to re-armament,’ but (may) the resources go to development, health, food, education, work.”

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Nicole Winfield contributed from the Vatican.

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