The devout, the curious and the professional observers attend Pope Benedict’s funeral

Published

3 years ago

January 5, 2023

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It was an occasion attended by a mixture of people, the devout, curious bystanders and professional observers all brought together by the death of a man who retired nearly a decade ago.

Monks, priests, nuns, cardinals, bishops – every stratum of the Catholic community was represented within St Peter’s Square for Pope Benedict’s funeral.

And then there were thousands of worshippers who came here to pay their own private respects.

Among them were nuns from Nigeria, who both described Benedict as “courageous” for his decision to retire at the age of 85, with one of them saying he should be considered a saint.

A missionary from the Philippines said she thought of the former Pope as “faithful and humble” – an example to everyone in the church.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster and leader of Catholics in England and Wales, was also present, with people patiently waiting around him to ask for his blessing.

“I knew Pope Benedict reasonably well so I do feel a real sadness and a sense of loss,” he said, ‘”but I think that warmth was also a reflection of his personality.

“The thing that remains with people was that he was gentle – he was a gentleman – and he had great insight and sensitivity.

“Anybody who met him came away with that sense of a man who was warm and who was courteous, to whom you could relate, no matter the difficulties that were being tackled.

“That’s what spread among people today – they were saying goodbye to someone who was just lovely.”

No dissent despite critics in his life

Around him, there was no dissent. Pope Benedict had many critics in his life, notably those who said that he did not do enough to confront sexual abuse scandals within his church, but today was not a forum for those debates.

It was, at heart, the funeral of a venerable man, with most, if not quite all, the trappings of a full papal event.

And that’s what brought the curious too, for this was a day of public spectacle and there were people who came simply to say they had been there, or to post a photo from among the throng.

Then there were the professionals – politicians, royals and representatives as well as police, medics, and support staff.

Alongside them were the Swiss guard, who protect the Vatican, journalists from dozens of countries and diligent street cleaners who cleaned up before and after the ceremony.

St Peter’s Square was nowhere near full – but this was still special

The service had barely ended when the barriers were being taken down – the Vatican is very good at managing crowds.

This was not like the funeral of the previous Pope, John Paul II, whose death brought millions to Italy and created an outpouring of grief from around the world.

Benedict did not spend as long in the job, did not engender such love, and did not die in office. St Peter’s Square, which can hold hundreds of thousands, was nowhere near full.

But this was still a special occasion. There were moments when applause rang around the whole congregation, when the music seemed to seep through the mist; when the crowd of people held their breath as they watched Pope Francis kiss the coffin holding the body of his predecessor.

It was the day when normal order was restored in the Catholic Church – when the split affection ended and when the focus returned to the one person left in the world who has been proclaimed as Pope.

The question now, for the devout, the curious and the professional observers, is this: was Benedict’s decision to retire a one-off curiosity or a precedent that Francis might follow?

On a day when the Vatican marked the past, there are many wondering about the future.

World

Israel launches ground assault on central Gazan city, says charity

Published

33 mins ago

July 21, 2025

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Israel launches ground assault on central Gazan city, says charity

Medical aid has been suspended to a city in central Gaza due to an Israeli ground assault there, a charity has said.

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) said the Israeli military had launched a ground invasion of the city of Deir al Balah this morning.

It added that thousands of displaced people are living in the area, including MAP staff, and the latest orders by Israel “directly endanger vital humanitarian and primary healthcare sites”.

It said the “forced displacement orders do not allow for the transport of lifesaving medical equipment or supplies” and this was “further obstructing efforts to provide emergency assistance”.

Steve Cutts, MAP’s interim CEO, said: “This latest forced displacement order is yet another attack on humanitarian operations and a deliberate attempt to sever the last remaining threads of Gaza’s health and aid system.

“MAP now has to suspend critical services we have been providing to the Palestinian population, including a primary health clinic that serves hundreds of civilians every day. With Israel’s systematic targeting of health and aid workers, no one is safe.

“Not only are we prevented from carrying out our lifesaving work to support Palestinians, we are also unable to protect our own teams.”

Gaza medics said at least three Palestinians were killed and several were wounded in tank shelling that hit three mosques and eight houses, Reuters news agency reported.

Israeli sources said the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) had previously stayed out of Deir Al Balah because they suspect Hamas might be holding hostages there, Reuters added.

At least 20 of the remaining 50 hostages in Gaza are believed to still be alive.

‘People were simply trying to access food’

The UN food agency has accused Israel of using tanks, snipers and other weapons to fire on a crowd of Palestinians seeking food aid.

The World Food Programme (WFP) condemned the violence that erupted in northern Gaza as Palestinians tried to reach a convoy of trucks carrying food.

Gaza’s health ministry said at least 80 people were killed in the incident.

The Israeli military said it fired warning shots “to remove an immediate threat” – and questioned the number of those killed as reported by the Palestinians.

The WFP statement said the incident resulted in the loss of “countless lives” – and how the crowd surrounding its convoy “came under fire from Israeli tanks, snipers and other gunfire”.

“These people were simply trying to access food to feed themselves and their families on the brink of starvation,” it added.

Earlier, the WFP said that shortly after entering Gaza, a convoy of 25 trucks carrying food aid encountered “massive crowds of hungry civilians” who then came under gunfire.

“WFP reiterates that any violence involving civilians seeking humanitarian aid is completely unacceptable,” it said.

UNRWA, the UN refugee agency dedicated to Palestinians, said in a social media post it was receiving messages from Gaza warning of starvation, including from its own staff, as food prices have increased 40-fold.

“Meanwhile, just outside Gaza, stockpiled in warehouses UNRWA has enough food for the entire population for over three months. Lift the siege and let aid in safely and at scale,” it said.

In Khan Younis earlier on Monday, an Israeli airstrike killed at least five people in a tent, including a man, his wife, and their two children, medics said.

Israel is yet to comment on the incidents.

Meanwhile, Pope Leo warned against the “indiscriminate use of force” and the “forced mass displacement” of people in Gaza in a phone call with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, the Vatican said in a statement.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

The Israeli military campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 58,000 Palestinians, according to health officials.

World

At least 16 dead after plane crashes into college campus in Bangladesh

Published

3 hours ago

July 21, 2025

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At least 16 dead after plane crashes into college campus in Bangladesh

At least 16 people have died after a Bangladesh air force plane crashed into a college campus, according to an official.

The aircraft crashed into the campus of Milestone School and College in Uttara, in the northern area of the capital Dhaka, where students were taking tests or attending regular classes.

The Bangladesh military’s public relations department added that the aircraft was an F-7 BGI, and had taken off at 1.06pm local time before crashing shortly after.

Video shows fire and smoke rising from the crash site, with hundreds looking on.

English language news outlet The Daily Star reported that more than 100 were injured based on data from various hospitals.

Bengali-language daily newspaper Prothom Alo said that most of the injured were students with burn injuries.

Citing the duty officer at the fire service control room, Prothom Alo also reported that the plane had crashed on the roof of the college canteen.

Rafiqa Taha, a 16-year-old student at the school who was not present at the time of the crash, told the Associated Press that the school has around 2,000 students.

“I was terrified watching videos on TV,” she added. “My God! It’s my school.”

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30,000 trapped inside Syria’s besieged city despite ceasefire – as humanitarian crisis unfolds

Published

13 hours ago

July 21, 2025

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30,000 trapped inside Syria's besieged city despite ceasefire - as humanitarian crisis unfolds

The main road entering the besieged Syrian city of Sweida from the West has changed dramatically over twelve hours.

A bulldozer, parked on the side of the road, has been used to create several berms to form a sand barrier around 25km (16 miles) from the city centre.

Dozens of Syrian security forces were standing in lines in front of the barricades when we arrived, and there were forces further up the road stopping vehicles from going any further.

The Arab tribal fighters we’d seen fighting furiously inside the city the day before were now all camped alongside the road. Some were sleeping on the back of their pick-ups.

“We’re not giving up,” one shouted to us as we walked towards the checkpoint.

The ceasefire agreement between Druze leaders who’re bunkered down inside the city and the Bedoins – and the tribal fighters who’d flock to join them – has frustrated some.

Some of them, waiting with guns slung over their backs, are itching to return to battle. But for now, tribal leaders have instructed them to hold fire.

How long that will last is probably key to Syria’s future and whether it can be a peaceful one.

Khalaf al Modhi, the head of a group of tribes called United Tribes, told the group of fighters: “We are not against the Druze. We are not here to kill the Druze.”

But he spent many minutes castigating the senior Druze cleric inside Sweida whom many of the tribes see as the agitator behind the violent clashes.

Hikmat Al Hijiri is head of a Druze faction that is deeply suspicious of the new government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa and is resisting ceding power to Damascus.

The retreat of the Arab tribes from the city centre means the Druze militia under Hijiri’s control are now the ones deciding who goes in or out of the city.

About 30,000 mostly Druze people are thought to be trapped inside the city and surrounding towns, with no electricity, little internet and dwindling supplies of food and water.

The humanitarian situation is dramatically worsening by the day. But at the time of writing, there were still no agreed safe corridors to bring out those pinned inside.

On top of this, there are nearly 130,000 people displaced and forced out of their homes because of the fighting, according to UN estimates.

Maintaining the ceasefire is key to ensuring solutions are found to help those suffering, and quickly. It’s also the most serious challenge facing the new Syrian leader and his interim government.

The level of distrust between the Hijiri-led Druze faction and the new government is strong and deep. So much so that the Druze leaders have refused to accept truckloads of aid organised by any of the government outlets.

The new Syrian leader has struggled to convince the country’s minorities that their safety under his leadership is assured.

Druze civilians and human rights activists reported mass killings and executions of Druze by government troops who were sent in last week to quell the latest clashes between the Druze and Arab Bedoins who have been at odds for many years.

Government forces pulled out of the city only after Israel unleashed a spate of airstrikes, saying they were defending the Druze. The bombings killed hundreds of Syrian troops.

But with the withdrawal of the government troops, the Arab Bedoin population said the city’s Druze militia embarked on a string of revenge atrocities.

That in turn led to thousands of tribal fighters massing from around the country to defend their Arab brethren.

When we were inside the city, we saw multiple corpses lying on the streets, and many appeared to have been killed with a shot to the head.

Homes and businesses are still burning after mass pillaging as fighters retreated.

And now, there is a growing humanitarian disaster unfolding.

Additional reporting by camera operator Garwen McLuckie, specialist producer Chris Cunningham, as well as Syrian producers Mahmoud Mossa and Ahmed Rahhal.