hello and welcome to bbc world news. pope francis has addressed the thousands of people who gathered at st peter s square in the vatican, a day after the death of benedict xvi. the pope described his predecessor as a faithful servant of the gospel and the church. our religion editor aleem maqbool is at the vatican. we heard from pope francis a couple of times today, first at a mass for peace that was held in st peter s basilica behind me. he talked about entrusting our beloved pope emeritus benedict xvi, to the holy mother, to accompany him from this world to god. and then later, pope francis appeared at a balcony here at the vatican for what is his regular sunday lunchtime homily, where he started this week by asking people to join together, as you rightly say, to pray for the man he called a faithful servant to the gospel and to the church. extraordinary scenes, though. we saw thousands of people pour into the square from every side. vatican police told us a short while ago
and croatia begins the new year with a new currency, switching from the kuna to the euro. if you have just joined if you havejustjoined us, welcome to bbc news. pope francis has addressed the thousands of people who gathered at st peter s square in the vatican, a day after the death of benedict xvi. the pope described his predecessor as a faithful servant of the gospel and the church. our religion editor aleem maqbool is at the vatican. we heard from pope francis a couple of times today, first at a mass for peace that was held in st peter s basilica behind me. he talked about entrusting our beloved pope emeritus benedict xvi to the holy mother, to accompany him from this world to god. and then later, pope francis appeared at a balcony here at the vatican for what is his regular sunday lunchtime homily, where he started this week by asking people to join together, as you rightly say, to pray for the man he called a faithful servant to the gospel and to the church. extraordinar
celebrations have taken place around the world to herald the start of 2023. we start in brazil, where crowds of people are gathering in the capital, brasilia, ahead of the inauguration of luiz inacio lula da silva as president. the veteran left wing politician, known widely as lula, also led the country between 2003 and 2010, and defeated jair bolsonaro in 0ctober s poll. there is tight security for sunday s ceremony, amid fears that bolsonaro supporters may try to disrupt it. in the last few minutes, it s been reported a man has been arrested trying to enter the inauguration with explosives and a knife. we are monitoring that for you. 0ur south america correspondent katy watson is outside the inauguration venue in brasilia. around 300,000 people are expected to turn up to this inauguration. there s a concert that is being put on, it has already started. that concert will stop for the official ceremony to begin and will continue later in the night. but certainly, you know, hu