King Filip and Queen Mathilde have attended the funeral of former Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican in Rome. The Belgian royals were among thousands of Roman Catholics that had congregated on St Peter’s Square.
Former Pope Benedict XVI is the former head of the world’s Roman Catholics.
Many politicians and royals from countries with Roman Catholic heritage had travelled to Rome in a personal capacity. The King of the Belgians was joined by the Italian, German, Polish, Portuguese and Hungarian presidents. In addition to King Filip and Queen Mathilde, the Spanish Queen Mum, Queen Sofia, also attended.
120 cardinals, 400 bishops and nearly 4,000 priests were present as well as the spiritual leader of Syrian Catholics and a representative of the Russian orthodox church.