The bells should ring for Benedict on Thursday: The German Bishops’ Conference recommended that the 27 Catholic dioceses in Germany allow a funeral bell to be rung nationwide on January 5 at around 11 a.m. This was announced by the Bishops’ Conference of the German Press Agency. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. will be buried in Rome on Thursday.
Pope Francis wants to hold a big funeral service with tens of thousands of people in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. Benedict will then be buried in the former tomb of his predecessor John Paul II in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica. The German theologian, whose real name was Joseph Ratzinger, died on Saturday morning at the age of 95.
