much for joining our special live coverage of the funeral of pope americas benedict the 16th. thousands of people are gathered in st. peters square right now. to witness something we have not seen in hundreds of years. the current pope, presiding at the funeral mass of the man who proceeded him. the coffin carrying the body of benedict was taken from st. peters basilica a short time ago through its journey to the courtyard, allowing the faithful to say their prayers ahead of the funeral. matt joseph rat singer, the son of humble parents, a police officer and cook. entered the priesthood in what would appear to be his calling as a university professor, teaching philosophy and theology. also beginning what would be a prolific and deeply intellectual pursuit as a writer. that very skill as a theologian led to his appointment as the archbishop of munich by pope john paul the second. the man he would not just succeed but also the man he would serve for nearly a quarter century as
course was a world from all over the world. people, not only spilling out of their piazzas spilling down the streets. millions came and so i think one of the biggest differences for us here on the ground will just be purely the size and the scale and the spectacle of this mass. as far as the actual mass. the readings are slightly different. there are certain readings reserved for sitting popes. chris everything will be slightly pared down and slightly tweaked. but really as far as the layout of the mass. and the function and the sections of the mass we are expecting it to be very similar to a sitting pope. thank you so much for that molly. also with this, for our coverage from the vatican nbc news senior vatican analyst george weigel and msnbc vatican analyst devin and vatican correspondent at the national catholic reporter and msnbc analyst christopher white, it is good to have all of you there and george pope francis will not be giving a eulogy which might come as a surprise to p
backing officials. but what they have said of the planning for today. and how much of its wheels influenced by the fact that a lot of people believe the future of the catholic church could indeed include more retired pope s. well in many respects chris i think that the celebration for pope benedict was ten years ago. when he stepped down from the we have had a decade to prepare for this moment. i think that while we had to wait a few days for the liturgy to come out, most people knew what the broad outlines of what today would hold. catholics around the world will be familiar with what they see today. because it is the same funeral mastiff catholics experience when they do. and so i think that part of this moment, it is a historical moment because we are witnessing the rare act of pope burying his predecessor, but the mass is the same. and that is something i think that will be a consolation, a
mass itself. i know that it is going to be similar to one for eight. current pope. there will be some differences as well. what are we looking for? that is exactly right. all day we will be looking for the similarities and the differences. so i can tell you already that we have seen some of the main similarities. last night he was put into a coffin. this is one of three coffins that the pope americas benedict the 16th will be placed in today. inside of that cypress coffin, coins. invented during his pontificate just as it was with his predecessor pope john paul the second. 26 coins were put inside of his coffin. also inside of the coffin, just like with sitting popes the really deep though. it is a summary of his pontificate put into a metal tube in to the cypress coffin. the biggest difference though as we look at this and we will see pope francis preside over and deliver the homily. the biggest difference is the size of the event. 2005 chris as you remember of
they re among many others. but as we watch these pictures. tell us what we are seeing and what your observations are george. chris, we are seeing members of the college of cardinals invested in red coming into the so grotto. this platform in front of the basilica of saint peter. to celebrate the mass. there was an astonishing outpouring of registration from bishops and priests who wanted to come and celebrate this mass. 4500 priests registered as of yesterday morning. 500 bishops. from all over the world. this is a sense of the deep respect in which this 95-year-old man was held. and there is one other thing to mention. i might mention before the mass actually starts. this is the end of an era.