THOUSANDS of mourners have descended on Saint Peter's Square to pay their respects to former Pope Benedict XVI.
The late pontiff - the first to resign in 600 years - passed away on Saturday at the age of 95 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican.
His faithful followers flooded outside the huge basilica to pray and pay tribute to the noted religious thinker.
Mourners were seen consoling each other in emotional scenes outside St Peter's Basilica, as queues began to form.
It is where Pope Benedict will lie in state from Monday ahead of his funeral, hosted by Pope Francis, on Thursday.
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Tens of thousands of devout Catholics are set to brave lengthy queues to honour the former head of the Church.
He has been laid on a burgundy-colored bier in the chapel of the monastery where he had lived during his nearly decade-long retirement.
Pope Benedict was dressed in a miter, the headgear of a bishop, and a red cloak-like vestment.
A rosary had touchingly been placed in his hand, while a decorated Christmas tree stood alongside an altar in images released by the Vatican.
Interior Ministry official Bruno Frattasi told Italian state TV that no fewer than 30,000 mourners were expected to file past the coffin on Monday.
The numbers are set to rival crowds who flocked to pay their respects to Pope John Paul II in 2005.
Four million people went to Rome for the funeral of Benedict’s predecessor and an estimated one million attended his lying in state.
Pope Francis presided over a special New Year's Day Mass in St Peter's Basilica to pray for his predecessor Benedict.
He had rushed to pay his respects on Saturday after being informed of his death and is said to have stayed with Benedict for quite some time.
Despite arriving in a wheelchair for the mass on Sunday, he managed to deliver a powerful moving speech that strayed away from his written homily.
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The Pope, 86, called on the Virgin Mary to "accompany him in his passage to the hands" of God.
He later addressed the crowds from a window of the Apostolic Palace, encouraging them to offer up prayers.
"Let us unite all together, with one heart and one soul, in giving thanks to God for the gift of this faithful servant of the Gospel and of the church,'' Francis said.
He will lead Pope Benedict's funeral in Saint Peter's Square on Thursday - marking the first time in the church’s 2,000-year history that a pope has buried his predecessor.
The service is set to be simple and solemn in accordance with the late religious leader's wishes, the Vatican has said.
The man who replaced Pope John Paul II in 2005 had served as the Church's guardian of doctrinal orthodoxy before he was promoted.
Pope Benedict's last words were: "Lord, I love you," his longtime secretary Archbishop Georg Gaenswein said.
He explained a nurse who helped care for the 95-year-old in his final hours heard his declaration shortly before he died.
King Charles led the tributes to Benedict, recalling “with fondness” their meeting at the Vatican in 2009 and Pope Benedict’s visit to the UK the following year — only the second papal trip here.
Charles wrote in a letter to Pope Francis: “His visit to the United Kingdom in 2010 was important in strengthening the relations between the Holy See and the United Kingdom.
“I also recall his constant efforts to promote peace and goodwill to all people, and to strengthen the relationship between the global Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church.”
Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, hailed German-born Pope Benedict as “one of the great theologians of the 20th century”.
And he praised his UK trip, during which he met the Queen at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh and made a speech at Westminster Hall.
Cardinal Nichols said in a statement: “We saw his courtesy, his gentleness, the perceptiveness of his mind and the openness of his welcome to everybody that he met.
“He was through and through a gentleman, through and through a scholar, through and through a pastor, through and through a man of God — close to the Lord and always his humble servant.
'ETERNAL REST'
“He will be remembered as one of the great theologians of the 20th century.”
Archbishop of Canterbury the Most Rev Justin Welby agreed Pope Benedict was “one of the greatest theologians of his age”.
He said in a statement he was “committed to the faith of the Church and stalwart in its defence”.
And he added: “In all things, not least in his writing and his preaching, he looked to Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God.
“It was abundantly clear that Christ was the root of his thought and the basis of his prayer.
“In 2013 Pope Benedict took the courageous and humble step to resign the papacy, the first Pope to do so since the 15th century.
“In making this choice freely he acknowledged the human frailty that affects us all.
“In his retirement in Rome he has led a life of prayer and now he has gone to the eternal rest granted by the Father.”
PM Rishi Sunak tweeted: “I am saddened to learn of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
“He was a great theologian whose UK visit in 2010 was a historic moment for both Catholics and non-Catholics throughout our country.”
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer tweeted: “His state visit in 2010 was a historic and joyous moment for Catholics in Britain.”
The Vatican announced the death in a morning statement saying: “Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9.34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican.”
