The farewell ceremony for the newly departed Pope Benedict XVI began on Monday in St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, RIA Novosti reports.

The body of the deceased pontiff without a coffin is displayed in the center of the basilica in front of a bronze canopy made by Bernini.

Pope Benedict is dressed in red liturgical vestments, he has a white mitre on his head and in his hands he holds a rosary - a rosary for prayer.

Even an hour before the opening of the basilica in front of the Pietro Bernini colonnade in St. Peter's Square there was a line of believers many meters long, wishing to ask to be with the Pope Emeritus. The square itself is blocked off: in order to facilitate access to the cathedral, the column of believers was divided in half. There are metal detector frames in front of the entrance to the basilica, and access is through the central entrance of the cathedral.

Benedict XVI will go down in the history of the modern church as the first pontiff who voluntarily abdicated in the last 600 years, since the days of Pope Gregory XII. After his abdication in February 2013, he lived in the small monastery of Mater Ecclesiae in the Vatican Gardens, where he died on Saturday.

The farewell will last until Thursday, when the funeral will take place. A funeral mass in St. Peter's Square will be led by Pope Francis. After the service, the pontiff will perform a funeral rite of last farewell to the newly departed, whose mortal remains will then be buried in the Vatican grottoes under the altar and choral parts of St. Peter's Cathedral.