In Pics: Pope Benedict XVI's Mortal Remains Lie In State At St. Peter’s Square, Mourners Pay Last Respects

Thousands of mourners lined up outside St Peter's Square in Vatican City to pay their respects to the body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI laying in state at the basilica.

Body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI laying in state at St. Peter's Square for public to pay their respects.

Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni pays respect to the body of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City. The 95-year-old former pontiff had passed away on Saturday morning. Image Source: AFP

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's body lying in state for mourners to pay respect with his head resting on a pair of crimson pillows. Image Source: AFP

After the doors of basilica were swung open at 9 am (local time) 10 white-gloved Papal Gentlemen — lay assistants to pontiffs and papal households — carried the body on a cloth-covered wooden stretcher up the center aisle. Image Source: AFP

A Swiss Guard saluted as the body was brought in via a side door after Benedict’s remains, placed in a van, had been transferred from the chapel of the monastery grounds. Image Source: AFP

Mourners lined up outside the basilica for hours in the dampness before dawn to pay their respects to the late pontiff, who retired from the papacy in 2013 becoming the first pope to do so in 600 years. Image Source: AFP