Holy Mass at funeral of Benedict XVI

Bells tolled on Thursday for the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, the German theologian who made history by retiring, as thousands of mourners packed St. Peter's Square for a rare requiem Mass of a dead pontiff presided over by a living one.

The faithful applauded as pallbearers carried Benedict's cypress coffin out of the fog-shrouded St. Peter's Basilica and rested it before the altar. The former Joseph Ratzinger, who died on December 31 at age 95, is considered one of the 20th century’s greatest theologians and spent his lifetime upholding church doctrine.