Pope Benedict XVI was laid to rest in a tomb under St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday in a private ceremony.
The deceased pontiff, carried in a simple wooden coffin, was buried following a funeral mass celebrated for him by his successor, Pope Francis.
After the funeral mass in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict’s body was carried into the basilica and taken underneath to a crypt where he was laid to rest. The final ceremony was held in private with only his personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, and several high-ranking cardinals of the Catholic Church.
Thursday’s ceremony will bring an end to a days-long memorial for the late pope as tens of thousands of people paid tribute to his life and legacy from Monday through Wednesday.
The Vatican said nearly 160,000 people had passed through the basilica during that time.
Archbishop Georg Gänswein, who attended to him up until his death, told Vatican News a nurse told him the pope made one last profession of love to the Lord in his final words.
POPE BENEDICT’S LAST WORDS, ACCORDING TO HIS BEDSIDE NURSE
“With just a whisper of a voice, but in a clearly distinguishable manner, [Benedict] said in Italian, ‘Lord, I love you!’ I was not there at the moment, but the nurse told me about it shortly afterwards,” Gänswein said.
He added, “These were his last comprehensible words, because afterwards he was no longer able to express himself.”
Fox News’ Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.
