![Benedict XVI’s funeral alive. The Pope will rest in the Vatican Gardens. Connection [5.01.2023] – Very Express](https://cdn.galleries.smcloud.net/t/galleries/gf-XRhd-v3yq-wgeB_pogrzeb-benedykta-xvi-1920x1080-nocrop.jpg "Benedict XVI’s funeral alive. The Pope will rest in the Vatican Gardens. Connection [5.01.2023] – Very Express")
Benedict XVI’s funeral Mass on Thursday in St. Peter’s Square will be attended by the country’s two official delegations – from Italy and Germany. There will also be private leaders and politicians from other countries, representatives of bishops from all continents, representatives of various Christian denominations, as well as the Jewish and Islamic communities. Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni will attend the Mass. Germany will be represented by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki will attend. About a dozen Polish bishops will arrive, led by the president of the Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki and Primate Archbishop Wojciech Polak. Attendance was also announced Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, President of Portugal, Katalin Novak, President of Hungary, Queen Sofía of Spain, the Belgian royal couple – Philip and Mathilde, and head of the European People’s Party, Manfred Weber.
There will also be many delegates from the Church and Christian community; among them the moderator of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches, Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm. A delegation from the Roman Jewish community will arrive, as well as a Muslim representative from Italy, Imam Yahya Pallavicini.
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