Czech PM at Pope Benedict XVI's funeral in Vatican

Pope Benedict XVI's official funeral took place at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican on the morning of January 5, attended by kings, presidents, a number of clergy, and up to 70,000 believers. Czechia was represented by Prime Minister Petr Fiala. Czech bishops and ordinary Czech Catholics also attended. The funeral started at 9.30, but by 4am the first people had already started gathering, according to the news agency Reuters.

A funeral mass for the former pope was also held in Prague at St. Vitus Cathedral on Wednesday evening. It was led by Prague Archbishop Jan Graubner and Cardinal Dominik Duka preached.

Pope Benedict died on December 31.

Author: Anna Fodor