Thousands wait in line to pay respects to former Pope Benedict XVI at lying-in-state

Thousands of people have lined up to pay their respects to Pope Emeritus Benedict as his body lies in state following the late pontiff's death at the age of 95.

People wait in a line to enter Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, where former Pope Benedict XVI lies in state on Monday, 2 January 2023. Source: AAP / AP

KEY POINTS

• Pope Benedict, 95, died on Saturday morning.
• Public viewing lasts for 10 hours on Monday in St Peter's Basilica.
• Security officials expected at least 25,000 people to pass by the body on the first day of viewing.

Thousands of Catholics paid their respects Monday to former pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, at the start of three days of lying-in-state at St Peter's Basilica before his funeral.

The doors of the basilica were on Monday swung open so the public could pay their respects to the late pontiff who shocked the world in 2013 by becoming the first to retire from the papacy in 600 years.

They began queueing before dawn to view the German theologian's body, which was transferred early Monday from the monastery in the Vatican grounds where he died Saturday aged 95.

"I arrived at 6:00 am, it seemed normal to come and pay homage to him after all he did for the church," said an Italian nun, sister Anna-Maria, near the front of the queue that snaked around the edge of the vast St Peter's Square.

Benedict led the Catholic Church for eight years before becoming the first pope in six centuries to step down in 2013, citing his declining and physical health.

His successor Pope Francis will lead the funeral on Thursday in St Peter's Square before his remains are placed in the tombs beneath the basilica.

Benedict's body was laid out Monday on a catafalque draped in gold fabric in front of the altar of the church, flanked by two Swiss Guards.

Nuns, priests and faithful gather in St Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to former Pope Benedict XVI in the Vatican on 2 January 2023. Source: AAP / EPA

"The atmosphere is very intimate," Francesca Gabrielli, a pilgrim from Tuscany in central Italy, said inside the basilica. She said Benedict was "a great pope, profound, unique".

Benedict died at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, which had been his home for the past decade, his last words in the early hours of Saturday said by the Vatican to have been "Lord, I love you!"

His body will lie in state for three days, with members of the public allowed in during the day, before a funeral on Thursday that will break new ground.

The Vatican has yet to release details of the guest list beyond saying that it will include delegations from Italy and Benedict's native Germany.

The last papal funeral, of John Paul II in 2005, drew a million faithful and heads of state from around the world, although Benedict was a more divisive figure.

A brilliant theologian, he alienated many Catholics with his staunch defence of traditional values and as pope struggled to impose his authority on the church as it battled a string of crises, including over clerical sex abuse.