The funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who died on Saturday at the age of 95, will take place today in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, following a "solemn" but "sober" ceremony that will be attended, according to official estimates, by thousands of people.

The Mass, celebrated by Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, and presided over by Pope Francis, began at 09:24 local time in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican.

Joseph Ratzinger's remains were placed in the center of the Vatican Square atrium, after a procession inside St. Peter's Basilica.

According to SIC Notícias, Pope Francis arrived minutes before the procession in a wheelchair and sat in a chair specially prepared for him on the altar. At the beginning of the ceremony, he began by appealing to the faithful to recognize their sins.

The funeral ceremonies, after the Pope Emeritus' body has been in a burning chamber for three days with thousands of people paying their last respects, will be "solemn", with some adaptations, and "somber", according to Benedict XVI's express wishes.

As such, the Vatican only officially invited two delegations to the ceremony, from Italy and Germany, the country where Joseph Ratzinger was born.

The Italian delegation will be led by the Head of State, Sergio Mattarella, and the Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, as well as the German delegation, which will be led by the President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, and the German Chancellor, Olaf Sholz.

A delegation of authorities from Bavaria, the region that saw the birth of Joseph Ratzinger, will also be present and will be headed by the leader of the regional government, Markus Söder.

The Presidents of Poland (Andrzej Duda), Slovenia (Natasa Pirc Musar) and Hungary (Katalin Novák) have also confirmed their attendance at the ceremony, as well as the Polish and Hungarian Prime Ministers, Mateusz Morawiecki and Viktor Orbán, respectively.

Queen Emeritus Sofia of Spain and King Felipe of Belgium will also be in St. Peter's Square, as well as the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.

From Croatia, the heads of Foreign Affairs and Culture, Goran Grlic Radman and Nina Obuljen Korzinek, respectively, will be present, while from Ukraine, a country at war following a Russian military offensive that began in February, Bishop Kenneth Nowakowski will be representing the leader of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk.

More than 100,000 people are expected in St. Peter's Square, according to estimates by local authorities.

Several ecumenical representatives are also expected to attend, such as Antonio from Volokolamsk, president of the Moscow Patriarchate's Department for External Ecclesiastical Relations, representing Patriarch Cyril (head of the Russian Orthodox Church).

More than 400 bishops and 4,000 priests are expected to attend the ceremony, which will have a model almost identical to the funeral of a pontiff in office, but with some adaptations taking into account Benedict XVI's current status as emeritus.

The Pope Emeritus will be buried, by his express wish, in the Crypt of St. Peter's Basilica, in the tomb that belonged to John Paul II, before the Polish Pope's remains were transferred to the surface of the temple in 2011 after his beatification.

The ceremony, which will have significant media coverage - more than a thousand journalists from over 30 countries are accredited - will take place from 09:30 local time.

The area around St. Peter's Square and St. Peter's Basilica will be restricted during the funeral, with reinforced security and closed airspace.