Tens of thousands view body of former Pope Benedict

Faithful queue to enter St. Peter’s Basilica to pay homage to former Pope Benedict at the Vatican, January 2, 2023. REUTERS/Ciro De Luca

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -A steady stream of tens of thousands of people filed into St. Peter's Basilica on Monday to pay their respects to former Pope Benedict XVI, whose body was laying in state without any papal paraphernalia ahead of his funeral this week.

Benedict, a hero to conservative Catholics who yearned for a return to a more traditional Church, died on Saturday at the age of 95 in the secluded Vatican monastery where he had lived since 2013, when he became the first pope in 600 years to resign.