Pope Benedict’s funeral tomorrow will make history

Published

3 years ago

January 4, 2023

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He made history during his life and now Pope Benedict XVI will do so in death.

For the first time in many hundreds of years, the Vatican will hold a funeral service for a former pope, presided over by the present Pope.

The service will begin in the morning, after three days in which Benedict’s body, dressed in robes and clutching rosary beads, has been on display, allowing tens of thousands of mourners to file past.

Led by Pope Francis, the service will include traditional elements as well as some that will be individual to this funeral.

A document, written in Latin and detailing some of the most notable occurrences of Benedict’s papacy, will be buried with him, alongside coins and other papal regalia.

The service will begin with the introductory rites, wishing for “eternal rest and… perpetual light”.

It will include readings from Isaiah and from the first letter of St Peter.

It will refer to him as “Pope Emeritus Benedict” and described him as “the successor of Peter and shepherd of the Church, a fearless preacher of your word and a faithful minister of the divine mysteries”.

Benedict will be buried in the traditional triple coffin, with a casket made of cypress wood then enclosed by first zinc and then by a further wooden coffin.

He will be buried in the crypt beneath St Peter’s Basilica, in an area that was once occupied by the coffin of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II.

The funeral of the Pope Emeritus will differ from that which would be held after the death of an incumbent Pope.

Only two international delegations have been formally invited – from Italy, in which the Vatican rests, and from Germany, home country of Benedict, who was formerly known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

It is likely that Germany will send its president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Many countries will still be sending senior figures to the event. The UK will be represented by Gillian Keegan, the education secretary. The King of Belgium and the Queen of Spain will be present.

And the funeral will be watched by a vast audience around the world.

For some observers, this will be an occasion that mirrors a more modern view of the papacy, as a role that can be rightly relinquished in favour of a younger, fitter successor.

For others, though, this will reawaken two fundamental questions – one, whether a precedent was set by Benedict for the job to be a more short-term role rather than one that is carried to death; and two, how Pope Francis’s attitude will change, now that he has become the only living person to have been named as Pope.

On the one hand, it may embolden him further to pursue his own initiative and ways of thinking, now that the spectre of his predecessor (who lived in a converted monastery within the Vatican throughout his retirement) has passed.

Yet on the other, there are those who believe that Francis, himself troubled by ill health, may soon start wondering whether he, too, would like to stand down from leading the Catholic Church and follow Benedict’s precedent of retirement.

Francis will conduct the service from a wheelchair.

These are the questions that will follow today’s funeral. But for the moment, the focus is upon one thing – the sombre process of allowing more than a billion Catholics around the world to bid farewell to the man who led them for nearly a decade

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‘Horrific incident’ at sheriff training facility in LA – at least three people dead

Published

1 hour ago

July 18, 2025

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'Horrific incident' at sheriff training facility in LA - at least three people dead

At least three people have been killed after a “horrific incident” at a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department training facility, officials have said.

A spokesperson for the department said there was an explosion at the Biscailuz Center Academy Training in east LA.

The incident was reported at around 7.30am local time (3.30pm UK time).

Aerial footage from local channel KABC-TV suggests the blast happened in a parking lot filled with sheriff patrol cars and box trucks.

Attorney general Pam Bondi wrote on X: “I just spoke to @USAttyEssayli about what appears to be a horrific incident that killed at least three at a law enforcement training facility in Los Angeles.

“Our federal agents are at the scene and we are working to learn more.”

California congressman Jimmy Sanchez said the explosion had “claimed the lives of at least three deputies”.

“My condolences to the families and everyone impacted by this loss,” he said.

The attorney general said in a follow-up post that agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are “on the ground to support”.

The mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, said the LAPD bomb squad has also responded to the scene.

“The thoughts of all Angelenos are with all of those impacted by this blast,” she said.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has been briefed on the incident, his press office said in a post on X.

“The Governor’s Office of Emergency Services is in contact with the Sheriff’s Department and closely monitoring the situation, and has offered full state assistance,” it added.

The cause of the explosion is being investigated.

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World

Unmasked: The 18 Russian spies who mounted series of attacks on UK

Published

1 hour ago

July 18, 2025

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Unmasked: The 18 Russian spies who mounted series of attacks on UK

Dozens of Russian spies have been sanctioned by the government – including those responsible for targeting Yulia Skripal five years before her attempted murder in Salisbury.

The Foreign Office has announced that three units of the Russian military intelligence agency (GRU) have been hit with sanctions, alongside 18 military intelligence officers.

Politics latest: Diane Abbott suspended from Labour

GRU officers attempted to murder Yulia Skipal and her father Sergei using the deadly Novichok nerve agent in Salisbury.

The 18 military intelligence officers have been targeted because of a sustained campaign of malicious cyber activity over many years, including in the UK, the Foreign Office said.

The government also accused the GRU of using cyber and information operations to “sow chaos, division and disorder in Ukraine and across the world”.

One of the groups sanctioned, Unit 26165, conducted online reconnaissance to help target missile strikes against Mariupol, including the bombing of Mariupol Theatre where hundreds of civilians, including children, were murdered.

Other military officers who have been sanctioned previously targeted Yulia Skripal’s mobile phone with malicious malware known as X-Agent.

The Skripals had moved to the UK after Sergei Skripal became a double agent, secretly working for the UK. He was tried for high treason and imprisoned in Russia – and later exchanged in a spy swap.

But five years after Yulia’s phone was targeted, the pair were poisoned with the nerve agent, Novichok, in Salisbury. Russia has always denied being involved in the chemical attack.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: “GRU spies are running a campaign to destabilise Europe, undermine Ukraine’s sovereignty and threaten the safety of British citizens,” Foreign Secretary David Lammy said.

“The Kremlin should be in no doubt: we see what they are trying to do in the shadows and we won’t tolerate it.”

He said the UK was taking “decisive action” with the sanctions against Russian spies.

“Putin’s hybrid threats and aggression will never break our resolve. The UK and our allies’ support for Ukraine and Europe’s security is ironclad.”

Those sanctioned today include:

Aleksandr Vladimirovich Osadchuk

Yevgeniy Mikhaylovich Serbriakov

Anatoliy Sergeyvich Kovalev

Artem Valeryvich Ochichenko

The 161st Specialist Training Centre (TsPS) (Unit 29155) of the GRU

Vladislav Yevgenyevich Borovkov

Nikolay Aleksandrovich Korchagin

Yuriy Federovich Denisov

Vitaly Aleksandrovich Shevchenko

Ivan Sergeyevich Yermakov

Aleksey Viktorovich Lukashev

Sergey Sergeyevich Vasyuk

Andrey Eduardovich Baranov

Aleksey Sergeyevich Morenets

Sergey Aleksandrovich Morgachev

Artem Adreyevich Malyshev

Yuriy Leonidovich Shikolenko

Victor Borisovich Netyksho

Dmitriy Aleksandrovich Mikhaylov

African Initiative

Artyom Sergeevich Kureyev

Anna Sergeevna Zamaraeva

Victor Aleksandrovich Lukovenko

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Antarctica’s oldest ice arrives in UK for analysis on climate shifts

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1 hour ago

July 18, 2025

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Antarctica's oldest ice arrives in UK for analysis on climate shifts

Antarctica’s oldest ice has arrived in the UK for analysis which scientists hope will reveal more about Earth’s climate shifts.

The ice was retrieved from depths of up to 2,800 metres at Little Dome C in East Antarctica as part of an international effort to “unlock the deepest secrets of Antarctica’s ice”.

The ice cores – cylindrical tubes of ancient ice – will be analysed at the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) in Cambridge, with the ultimate goal of reconstructing up to 1.5 million years of Earth’s climate history, significantly extending the current ice core record of 800,000 years.

The research is also expected to offer valuable context for predicting future climate change, Dr Liz Thomas, head of the ice cores team at the British Antarctic Survey, said.

Over the next few years, the samples will be analysed by different labs across Europe to gain understanding of Earth’s climate evolution and greenhouse gas concentrations.

Dr Thomas said: “It’s incredibly exciting to be part of this international effort to unlock the deepest secrets of Antarctica’s ice.

“The project is driven by a central scientific question: why did the planet’s climate cycle shift roughly one million years ago from a 41,000-year to a 100,000-year phasing of glacial-interglacial cycles?

“By extending the ice core record beyond this turning point, researchers hope to improve predictions of how Earth’s climate may respond to future greenhouse gas increases.”

The ice was extracted as part of the Beyond EPICA – Oldest Ice project, which is funded by the European Commission and brings together researchers from 10 European countries and 12 institutions.

“Our data will yield the first continuous reconstructions of key environmental indicators-including atmospheric temperatures, wind patterns, sea ice extent, and marine productivity-spanning the past 1.5 million years,” Dr Thomas said.

“This unprecedented ice core dataset will provide vital insights into the link between atmospheric CO₂ levels and climate during a previously uncharted period in Earth’s history, offering valuable context for predicting future climate change.”