[PHOTOS] Faithfuls pay last respect to Pope Benedict at St Peter's Square

Catholic faithfuls on Thursday gathered at the St Peter's Square in Vatican, for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI requiem mass and burial.

The mass was led by Pope Francis.

He is the first sitting Pope to conduct his predecessor's funeral in more than 220 years.

The Pope Emeritus was laid to rest in the tombs beneath the St Peter's Basilica, according to his final wishes.

Before being laid in the crypt, his body was sealed in a zinc coffin, which was then put in a wooden case.

Items symbolising his time in the papacy were also be placed alongside his body.

Pope Benedict XVI passed away on New Year's Eve at his residence at the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae Monastery.

He was 95 years old. He died almost a decade after he stood down because of ill health.

His body was displayed, from Monday, for three days in an open casket at St Peter's Basilica.