Queen Elizabeth II to be laid to rest, is TikTok the new Google?: 5 ...

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: Queen Elizabeth II to be laid to rest

The queen's funeral is today after more than a week of national and global mourning. Plus, Hurricane Fiona moves through the Caribbean, Ukraine says it found Russian torture devices, money and tech reporter Bailey Schulz looks at whether TikTok could be used as the new Google and there's a shakeup in the college football coaches' poll.

Podcasts:True crime, in-depth interviews and more USA TODAY podcasts right here.

Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Monday, the 19th of September, 2022. Today, Queen Elizabeth II's funeral. Plus Hurricane Fiona is on the move and more.

Here are some of the top headlines:

A strong earthquake has rattled Taiwan. The 6.8 magnitude quake was the largest of dozens that rocked the island since Saturday night. One worker inside a cement factory was killed, while hundreds of tourists were stranded on a mountainside and other people were trapped in buildings. A train was also knocked off its tracks. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, an envoy of Pope Francis was shot at this weekend as he delivered humanitarian aid in the Pope's name in Ukraine. The Vatican news service reported he was uninjured and continuing his mission. And the Las Vegas Aces are WNBA's champions. They beat the Connecticut Sun yesterday 78-71 to win the series 3 games to 1. It's the Ace's first championship in franchise history.

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Queen Elizabeth II will be remembered at a funeral today in London's Westminster Abbey, and she'll later be laid to rest beneath St. George's Chapel. That's after long lines this past weekend and late last week as the British public paid their respects to the Monarch who served from 1952 until her death earlier this month. Joan Green waited 13 hours.

Joan Green:

70 years of her life and I think this is the least we can do. I'm trying to hold it together. It's the least we can do for her. It's the last thing we can do for her, to say thank you. Before we went in, everybody's chattering. And then all at once, it goes very quiet when you're standing on the stairs and you look around you and the architecture in that building is unbelievable. It went very, very quiet. People were very respectful and obviously alone with their own emotions and thoughts as I was. I don't regret any of it, even though we had to wait 13 hours today. It was worth it. So yes, I'm very pleased I came.

Taylor Wilson:

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden arrived in London this weekend ahead of the funeral. Biden yesterday praised the Queen's notion of service.

Joe Biden:

Our hearts go out to the royal family, King Charles and all the family. It's a loss that leaves a giant hole. I think what she gave is a sense of, maybe above all, the notion of service. We all owe something. There's something within our capacity to do that can make things... Now and not just the world better, but your neighborhood better, your household, better, your workplace better. And that's what she communicated to me anyway.

Taylor Wilson:

On the eve of her funeral, much of Britain last night paused for a minute of silence. Some 2,000 people are expected to attend the funeral. And London's mayor's office said up to 2 million may line the city streets.

Some normality returned to Britain this past weekend amid national mourning, including a number of premier league soccer matches, but the country will be virtually shut down today. More than 10,000 police officers are on patrol in London, including reinforcements brought in from across the nation. Westminster Abbey, where the funeral is held, is the same church where Elizabeth was crowned queen and has been the setting for every coronation since 1066. The funeral is set to begin at 11:00 AM local, 6:00 AM Eastern time. You can follow a long live on usatoday.com

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Hurricane Fiona made landfall yesterday in Southwestern Puerto Rico. The category 1 storm hit the island just after 3:00 PM Eastern time with maximum sustained winds of 85 miles an hour according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecasters said Fiona could drop historical rainfall of up to 30 inches and widespread flooding. In one town, Utuado, the storm washed away a bridge that was just installed by the National Guard after Hurricane Maria hit in 2017. Almost the entire island of more than 3 million people is also without power. Fiona is now heading northwest toward the eastern part of the Dominican Republic. It was expected to graze that country's coast this morning before turning toward the east of Turks and Caicos tomorrow. After the Caribbean and the Bahamas, Fiona could next move toward Bermuda in the Atlantic. And forecasters said the hurricane could gain strength of up to 115 miles per hour early this week.

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says more than 10 torture chambers have been found in the country's Kharkiv region since a counterattack pushed Russian forces back last week. The region's prosecutor's office said it's launched an investigation after finding tools of torture and documents that showed Russia established a police force that operated a jail where the alleged abuse took place. Russian forces have been accused of war crimes and atrocities at several points since their February invasion, especially in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha.

Meanwhile, schools in Russia's Belgorod region have been closed this week as they shift to remote learning. Ukraine's counteroffensive has recently bled across the border into that part of Russia and Russian officials say homes and other businesses have been destroyed. The US sent long range artillery to Ukraine on the condition that it not be used to bomb Russian cities and towns. But Ukraine troops have pushed close enough to the border to reach those towns with their own equipment.

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Is TikTok becoming the new Google? Producer PJ Elliott spoke with Money and Tech reporter Bailey Schulz who says a growing number of young people are using the short form video app the way others use Google to find out where to eat and more.

Bailey Schulz:

Yeah, so basically we are seeing more young internet users are going to TikTok when they want to search the internet. If they want to know what sort of restaurant to go to nearby or if they want maybe ideas for certain outfits, instead of typing something into Google, a lot of these users are instead scrolling through TikTok or search on TikTok to find answers. There's actually a Google commissioned study that found users in the US who are between 18 and 24, nearly 40% of those users used TikTok or Instagram to search online. So Google clarified saying that people aren't using these apps instead of Google. A lot of experts told us that they're going in and searching for certain things on TikTok. Google still has its place in search, but we are seeing this growth in people going to these social media apps to search online.

PJ Elliott:

Is there a reason why the younger people prefer it over Google?

Bailey Schulz:

I think there's a number of reasons why people are going to TikTok. We talked to some experts and they brought up that there's often less ads on TikTok, you get the answers very quickly when these are all very quick videos. So say you're looking for instructions on how to do something or the other, whether it's making a recipe in the kitchen or you want to figure out how to fix something in your car, you can quick search that on TikTok and you get a quick, really concise answer rather than scrolling through a giant blog post and scrolling past ads on a website.

PJ Elliott:

So we know about the disinformation on social media all over the place. Should people trust TikTok for information?

Bailey Schulz:

That is a good question. I think like with all searches on the internet, people should be very cognizant about where this information is coming from, who the sources are, whether or not these sources can be trusted. I had one expert tell me that while there is an advantage to search on TikTok where you get answers from, dozens of users from all across the world, all corners of society and so that can give you more diverse responses, but at the same time that can really become a hotbed for misinformation or disinformation. So try and look for verified sources if you can. Maybe double check things that you do find on apps like TikTok. But yeah, I think the biggest thing is to just be aware of where this information is coming from because unlike with Google where you can easily check and see, "Oh, this is coming from .edu website or .gov website," it's not quite so easy on site TikTok.

Taylor Wilson:

You can find Bailey's full story in today's episode description.

Taylor Wilson:

Georgia has topped the latest USA TODAY Sports' AFCA Coaches Poll. The defending national champion Bulldogs destroyed South Carolina on Saturday 48-7. They received 40 of 65 first place votes to overtake Alabama at the top of the rankings. Ohio State remained at number three, Michigan's up a spot to number four, and Clemson dropped to 1 to 5. Oklahoma, USC, Oklahoma State, Kentucky, and Arkansas round out the top 10. Meanwhile, Washington moved into the poll for the first time this season at No. 24. You can find full coverage of the college football season all fall from USA TODAY Sports.

You can find 5 Things every morning on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, your smart speaker, or wherever you get your audio. Thanks to PJ Elliott for his great work on the show. And I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

Former Pope Benedict XVI dies in Vatican monastery aged 95 | CNN

CNN —

Pope Francis led tributes to his predecessor on Saturday, after Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI died in a monastery in the Vatican at the age of 95.

“We are moved as we recall him as such a noble person, so kind and we feel such gratitude in our hearts, gratitude to god for giving him to the church, and to the world,” Francis said in Saint Peter’s Basilica while leading traditional vespers ceremony ahead of New Year’s Day.

“Gratitude to him for all the good he accomplished and above all for his witness of faith and prayer, especially in these last years of his life. Only God knows the value of his sacrifices for the good of the church,” Francis added.

Benedict, who was the first pontiff in almost 600 years to resign his position, rather than hold office for life, passed away on Saturday, according to a statement from the Vatican.

“With sorrow I inform you that the Pope Emeritus, Benedict XVI, passed away today at 9:34 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery in the Vatican,” the Director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Matteo Bruni said.

Francis went to see Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI soon after he passed away Saturday morning, according to Bruni.

The funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will be held on Thursday in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican City at 9:30 a.m. local time, Bruni said. The funeral will be led by Pope Francis.

The former pope’s body will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican from Monday for the faithful to bid farewell, Vatican News reported. As per the wish of Pope Emeritus, his funeral will be “simple,” Bruni said.

The funeral of the former pope, pictured on December 25, 2007, will take place on January 5. Alessandra Tarantino/AP

News of Benedict’s death came days after Pope Francis asked the faithful to pray for him, saying he was “very sick.”

His health had been in decline for some time.

Benedict stunned the Catholic faithful and religious experts around the world on February 11, 2013, when he announced plans to step down from his position as Pope, citing his “advanced age.”

In his farewell address, the outgoing pope promised to stay “hidden” from the world, but he continued to speak out on religious matters in the years following his retirement, contributing to tensions within the Catholic Church.

A powerful and polarizing voice

Benedict was a powerful force in the Catholic Church for decades. Born Joseph Ratzinger in Germany in 1927, he was the son of a policeman. He was ordained as a priest in 1951, made a cardinal in 1977, and later served as chief theological adviser to Pope John Paul II.

One of his most significant steps up came in 1981 when he took over as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, the Vatican office that oversees “the doctrine on the faith and morals throughout the Catholic world,” according to the Vatican.

Ratzinger became known as “Cardinal No” stemming from his efforts to crack down on the liberation theology movement, religious pluralism, challenges to traditional teachings on issues such as homosexuality, and calls to ordain women as priests.

He was elected pope in April 2005, following John Paul II’s death.

He was known to be more conservative than his successor, Pope Francis, who has made moves to soften the Vatican’s position on abortion and homosexuality, as well as doing more to deal with the sexual abuse crisis that has engulfed the church in recent years and clouded Benedict’s legacy.

The former pope, pictured on September 9, 2007, was known to be more conservative than his successor, Pope Francis. Robert Jaeger/AP

In April 2019, Benedict discussed the sex abuse crisis in a public letter, claiming that it was caused in part by the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the liberalization of the church’s moral teachings.

In January 2020, Benedict was forced to distance himself from a book widely seen as undercutting Francis as he considered whether or not to allow married men to become priests in certain cases. The book, “From the Depths of Our Hearts,” argued in favor of the centuries-old tradition of priestly celibacy within the Catholic Church. Benedict was originally listed as co-author, but later clarified that he had only contributed one section of the text.

A year later, Benedict came under fire over his time as archbishop of Munich and Freising, between 1977 and 1982, following the publication of a Church-commissioned report into abuse by Catholic clergy there.

The report found that while in the post he had been informed of four cases of sexual abuse involving minors – including two that had occurred during his time in office – but failed to act. It also revealed Benedict had attended a meeting about an abuser identified as Priest X. Following the report’s publication, Benedict pushed back against accusations that he knew in 1980 that this priest was an abuser.

In a letter released by the Vatican amid the furor, Benedict wrote that he was “of good cheer” as he faced “the final judge of my life,” despite his shortcomings. He also issued a general apology to survivors of abuse.

‘Giant of faith and reason’

Global leaders paid homage to the former pope, following his death. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Church of England, said he is “mourning” the former pope.

“Pope Benedict was one of the greatest theologians of his age – committed to the faith of the Church and stalwart in its defence,” Welby said in a statement Saturday.

“In all things, not least in his writing and his preaching, he looked to Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God. It was abundantly clear that Christ was the root of his thought and the basis of his prayer.

“In 2013 Pope Benedict took the courageous and humble step to resign the papacy, the first Pope to do so since the fifteenth century. In making this choice freely he acknowledged the human frailty that affects us all,” he added.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, said he will remember the former pope with “love and gratitude.”

“Saddened to learn of the demise of His Holiness Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,” European Parliament President Roberta Metsola tweeted Saturday.

“Europe mourns him. May he rest in peace.”

The leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, on Saturday told Pope Francis he had received news of Benedict’s passing with “sorrow,” according to the message shared on the official website of the Moscow Patriarchate.

“His Holiness’s many years of life marked a whole epoch in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, which he led in a difficult historical period, associated with many external and internal challenges,” Kirill said of Benedict.

Kirill added relations between the Russian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church had “developed significantly” during Benedict’s tenure, in an effort to “overcome the sometimes-painful legacy of the past.”

“On behalf of the Russian Orthodox Church, I express my condolences to you and the flock of the Roman Catholic Church,” he continued.

The Dalai Lama on Sunday offered his condolences to the members of the Catholic Church after Benedict’s death.

“I pray for our spiritual brother,” he wrote, “and offer my condolences to the members of the Catholic Church.”

“At a time when we are seeing tension in several parts of the world, we can take a lesson from the life of Pope Benedict and do what we can to contribute to religious harmony and global peace.”

US President Joe Biden said the late pontiff “will be remembered as a renowned theologian, with a lifetime of devotion to the Church, guided by his principles and faith.”

Biden, the second Catholic to serve as President of the United States, reflected on his meeting with Benedict at the Vatican in 2011, saying he remembered “his generosity and welcome as well as our meaningful conversation.”

“As he remarked during his 2008 visit to the White House, ‘the need for global solidarity is as urgent as ever, if all people are to live in a way worthy of their dignity.’ May his focus on the ministry of charity continue to be an inspiration to us all,” Biden added.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also paid tribute. “I am saddened to learn of the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,” Sunak tweeted Saturday.

“He was a great theologian whose UK visit in 2010 was an historic moment for both Catholics and non-Catholics throughout our country.

Global leaders have paid homage to the former German-born pope, pictured on September 12, 2006. Jens Meyer/AP

The Archbishop of Canterbury hailed the former Pope, pictured on November 30, 2005, as "one of the greatest theologians of his age." Plinio Lepri/AP

Italy’s new Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni voiced her admiration for the former pope. “Benedict XVI was a giant of faith and reason. He put his life at the service of the universal Church and spoke, and will continue to speak, to the hearts and minds of men with the spiritual, cultural and intellectual depth of his Magisterium,” she tweeted Saturday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is leading Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, called the former pope “a staunch defender of traditional Christian values.”

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Desmond Tutu laid to rest at state funeral in South Africa | CNN

CNN —

Family, friends and dignitaries gathered for Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s official state funeral on New Year’s Day in Cape Town, capping a week of events honoring a man long considered to be the moral compass of South Africa.

Tutu died last Sunday at the age of 90, sparking a global outpouring of tributes to the anti-apartheid hero. He had been in poor health for several years.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who delivered the main eulogy during the service at St. George’s Cathedral on Saturday, hailed Tutu as “our national conscience.” Tutu’s widow Nomalizo Leah, known as “Mama Leah,” sat in a wheelchair in the front row of the congregation, draped in a purple scarf, the color of her husband’s clerical robes.

For decades, Tutu was one of the primary voices pushing the South African government to end apartheid, the country’s official policy of racial segregation and White minority rule. He won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, before apartheid ended in the early 1990s and the long-imprisoned Nelson Mandela became the nation’s first Black president.

The revered anti-apartheid fighter will be remembered as one of the most important voices of the 20th century. However, his funeral was subdued: Before he died, Tutu asked for a simple service and the cheapest available coffin, according to two of his foundations. Tutu’s funeral was limited to just 100 people, in line with current Covid-19 regulations.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu pictured in Cape Town in April 2019. Rodger Bosch/AFP/Getty Images

In his address at St. George’s Cathedral, a church famous for its role in the resistance against apartheid, Ramaphosa described Tutu as “a man with a faith as deep as it was abiding,” and “a crusader in the struggle for freedom, for justice, for equality and for peace, not just in South Africa, the country of his birth, but around the world as well.”

“Archbishop Desmond Tutu has been our moral compass and national conscience,” Ramaphosa said. “He saw our country as a ‘rainbow nation’, emerging from the shadow of apartheid, united in its diversity, with freedom and equal rights for all.”

“He embraced all who had ever felt the cold wind of exclusion and they in turn embraced him,” Ramaphosa added, praising Tutu’s advocacy for LGBTQ rights, campaigning against child marriage, and support for the Palestinian cause.

“His was a life lived honestly and completely. He has left the world a better place. We remember him with a smile,” Ramaphosa said.

Tutu’s daughter Naomi also paid tribute to her father and thanked the public for their prayers. “Thank you, daddy, for the many ways you showed us love, for the many times you challenged us, for the many times you comforted us,” she said.

Reverend Michael Nuttall, the retired Bishop of Natal who was once Tutu’s deputy, delivered the main sermon, calling Tutu a “giant among us morally and spiritually.”

His voice breaking at times, Nuttal said being Tutu’s deputy between 1989 and 1996 “struck a chord perhaps in the hearts and minds of many people: a dynamic Black leader and his White deputy in the dying years of apartheid; and hey presto, the heavens did not collapse. We were a foretaste, if you like, of what could be in our wayward, divided nation.”

In a video message played at the ceremony, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said an Archbishop of Canterbury giving a tribute to Archbishop Tutu was “like a mouse giving a tribute to an elephant.”

Tutu’s body will be cremated in a private ceremony after Saturday’s requiem mass and will then be interred behind the pulpit at the cathedral.

Events were planned throughout the country to give South Africans the opportunity to collectively mourn ‘“the Arch,” as he was known, while still practicing social distancing.

A week-long remembrance began Monday with the ringing of the bells at St. George’s Cathedral, which held a special place in the late archbishop’s heart, so much so that he requested his ashes be interred there in a special repository.

On Wednesday, several religious leaders gathered outside Tutu’s former home on Vilakazi Street – where his friend and ally Nelson Mandela also grew up – in Soweto, a township in Johannesburg, for a series of events. Another memorial service was held Wednesday in Cape Town, and Tutu’s wife, Nomalizo Leah Tutu, met with friends of the late archbishop on Thursday for an “intimate” gathering.

South Africans also paid their respects before Tutu’s plain pine coffin on Thursday and Friday as it lay in state at the cathedral.

Tutu was born October 7, 1931, in Klerksdorp, a town in South Africa’s Transvaal province, the son of a teacher and a domestic worker. Tutu had plans to become a doctor, partly thanks to a boyhood bout of tuberculosis, which put him in the hospital for more than a year, and even qualified for medical school, he said.

But his parents couldn’t afford the fees, so he turned to teaching.

“The government was giving scholarships for people who wanted to become teachers,” he told the Academy of Achievement. “I became a teacher and I haven’t regretted that.”

However, he was horrified at the state of Black South African schools, and even more horrified when the Bantu Education Act was passed in 1953 that racially segregated the nation’s education system. He resigned in protest. Not long after, the Bishop of Johannesburg agreed to accept him for the priesthood – Tutu believed it was because he was a Black man with a university education, a rarity in the 1950s – and took up his new vocation.

He was ordained in 1960 and spent the ’60s and early ‘70s alternating between London and South Africa. He returned to his home country for good in 1975, when he was appointed dean of St. Mary’s Cathedral in Johannesburg. As the government became increasingly oppressive – detaining Black people, establishing onerous laws – Tutu became increasingly outspoken.

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Joshua Berlinger
Tara John

Queen funeral updates: Elizabeth laid to rest alongside Prince Philip

The U.K. and much of the world spent Monday mourning Queen Elizabeth II, who was celebrated at a funeral at Westminster Abbey and brought to her final place of rest, St. George's Chapel.

With the funeral concluded, and a private burial service held at 7:30 p.m. local time, a period of Royal Mourning is set to last for the next seven days, according to the wishes of the new king.

While the mourning period continues for the royal family, the transition of power has already occurred. The queen's eldest son, Charles Philip Arthur George Windsor, 73, is now King Charles III of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. But the date for the formal coronation ceremony for the new king has not yet been announced.

Shortly after the queen was laid to rest, the royal family's official Twitter account shared a new photo of Queen Elizabeth II climbing a hill with a walking stick in one hand and a coat draped over the other. She looks off in the distance, wearing sunglasses and a head scarf, as lush greenery fills the landscape behind her.

Along with the photo, the account shared a quote from William Shakespeare's "Hamlet": "May flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest."

Queen laid to rest alongside husband, Prince Philip

The queen was laid to rest in an intimate ceremony away from cameras in Windsor, where she was reunited with her husband and her parents.

Charles and senior royal family members gathered late Monday for the private interment ceremony at St. George’s Chapel, a gothic church on the grounds of Windsor Castle that has hosted royal weddings, christenings and burials since the 15th century.

In contrast to the pomp and pageantry of her grand state funeral, royal officials said the queen's internment was a “deeply personal family occasion.” They said the queen was interred together with Prince Philip’s remains at the King George VI memorial chapel, an annex within St. George’s.

When Philip, the queen's husband of 73 years, died last year, his coffin had been placed in a different part of St. George’s Chapel, ready to be moved to the memorial chapel to join the queen when she died.

Elizabeth II’s parents, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, were also interred there along with the ashes of Princess Margaret, the late monarch’s younger sister who died in 2002.

St. George's is the resting place of 10 former British monarchs, including Henry VIII and the beheaded Charles I. It is also the home of the Order of the Garter, an ancient order of chivalry founded by King Edward III in 1348.

Westminster Abbey: See Queen Elizabeth at the iconic church where she was married, crowned, laid to rest

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When will King Charles' coronation take place?

Charles will be crowned probably within the year; the ancient ritual of the coronation requires advance planning, although a lot of that has already been done. But there hasn't been a coronation since June 1953 when Elizabeth was crowned, following the death of her father King George VI. Queen Elizabeth II was 25 when she took the throne.

Most people in the U.K. have never lived through such a momentous event. But there's little puzzlement in the royal palaces, in Parliament or the British government, and almost certainly none in Charles' mind.

Opinion:King Charles III must do better than his mother on colonialism and reparations. Will he?

What happens next has been carefully planned out for decades, based on combining ancient funeral and coronation traditions with practical measures to cope with such modern realities as instant communication, traffic control, social media and the vestiges of a pandemic.

The queen's funeral was expected to draw millions of viewers

The state funeral, expected to be the biggest gathering of world leaders in years, drew millions of people to the streets of London and likely billions more to their TVs and computer screens. The funeral and events surrounding it were designed to help unite the royal family and divided subjects while helping ensure the monarchy survives another century.

London’s mayor’s office said up to two million people were expected to line the streets as members of the royal family and hundreds of foreign dignitaries and heads of state descended on Westminster Abbey. More than 10,000 police officers were on patrol in London with reinforcements supplied from all of Britain’s 43 police forces, authorities said.

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Read more about what to expect from the reign of King Charles III: What kind of sovereign will he be? Not like his mother

Celebrities pay their respects to the queen

Some celebrities posted on social media to pay their respects to the late queen, while others attended Monday’s events to do the same.

David Beckham, who waited in the queue like thousands of others to visit the queen’s coffin as it laid in state last week, posted a photo on Instagram.

“Our Queen is home.. Today we said a final farewell to Her Majesty The Queen,” he wrote in the caption.

Sandra Oh attended the funeral at Westminster Abbey, posting several photos on Instagram, featuring the actress wearing mourning colors.

And Elton John posted photos, too, remembering some moments he shared with the queen and noting she will be "sorely missed."

“My own memories of her are filled with joy and admiration," he wrote. The Queen honoured me with a CBE, a knighthood and the Companion of Honour. I was lucky enough to perform at three of her Jubilees. They were always joyous and humbling experiences. But it was the moments out of the public eye that I will most fondly remember her for."

What is the committal service at Windsor Castle?

The queen headed to her final resting place in Windsor Castle where a committal service took place before she was lowered into the Royal Vault.

The committal service was conducted by the dean of Windsor, David Connor. Events include prayer and a choir performance at St George's chapel. Nearly 800 people were expected to attend, including royal family members, and the hymn, "All My Hope on God is Founded," was performed.

While the procession took place, the Imperial State Crown sat atop the queen’s coffin along with her scepter and orb.

During the committal service, the crown, scepter and orb were removed from the top of the coffin. The items were placed on an altar at St. George’s Chapel, and marked the final separation of the late queen from her crown.

The “Wand of Office” was broken by the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Andrew Parker. The breaking of the wand is a tradition in a sovereign’s funeral, according to The Independent, and hasn’t been seen since King George VI died in 1952.

The new king stood by quietly during the moments of farewell and appeared somber and a bit teary-eyed before his mother’s coffin was lowered into the vault.

Past tears:Did Queen Elizabeth cry at Prince Philip's funeral? How she manages to stay stoic

British Prime Minister Liz Truss arrives at St George's chapel

British Prime Minister Liz Truss and husband Hugh O'Leary attended the queen's state funeral. They were also among early arrivals to St George's chapel for the committal service.

At the state funeral, Truss read a prayer from Bible’s John 14: 1-9.

Princess Kate, daughter Princess Charlotte honor the queen with poignant accessories

Mother and daughter duo Princess Kate and Princess Charlotte, who attended the state funeral, both wore simple black dresses topped with black overcoats, paired with black tights and black shoes. But their jewelry choices paid tribute to a beloved matriarch.

Princess Charlotte wore a dainty brooch on her coat in the shape of a horseshoe, a tribute to the queen, her great-grandmother, who had a lifelong passion for horses. The queen often attended races and was also a successful owner and breeder.

Princess Kate, the wife of Prince William, wore two pieces of jewelry that once belonged to her grandmother-in-law. She wore Bahrain Pearl Drop Earrings and a four-strand pearl choker necklace, both from the queen's collection, People reported.

Funeral attire:Princess Kate, daughter Charlotte honor Queen Elizabeth with sweet details

Royals escort the queen's casket to Wellington Arch, Windsor Castle

Following the funeral, the coffin – accompanied by units of the armed forces in dress uniforms and members of her family – was carried through the capital’s streets.

At Wellington Arch near Hyde Park, it was placed in a hearse and driven to Windsor Castle – where Elizabeth spent much of her time – for another procession before a committal service in St George’s Chapel. She will be laid to rest with her late husband, Prince Philip, at a private family service.

What is the hearse the queen is in?

The queen’s coffin was moved from the gun carriage to the royal hearse at Wellington Arch as it was taken to Windsor. The hearse drove 25 miles west of London to Windsor Castle and St George's Chapel, a mini-cathedral that seats 800 and is often used for royal weddings. It's where Prince Harry and Duchess Meghan were married in 2018.

At Windsor, the state hearse traveled in procession to St George’s Chapel via the Long Walk. Once inside, a committal service began at 4 p.m. local time, 11 a.m. EDT.

The glass-walled hearse allows the queen’s coffin to be viewed – and it is lit up when it is dark out.

Funeral program: What happened at queen's funeral

The funeral concluded just after noon, local time. The pall bearers escorted the queen's coffin onto the gun carriage.

The queen will be buried in a special chapel beneath the floor of St George's with her parents, sister Princess Margaret, and husband, Philip.

The program also included:

Patricia Scotland Commonwealth Secretary-General read a lesson from Corinthians 15 as a tribute to the queen’s life of dedication to service and the nation.

A sermon by the Archbishop of Canterbury

Choirs sang the Anthem, taken from "Songs of Farewell" by Hubert Parry, a favorite of King Charles'.

A short anthem, composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams for the queen’s coronation in 1953, presenting a reflective moment in the service.

The third hymn, "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling" is a Welsh tune, and was sung at the wedding of The Prince and Princess of Wales at Westminster Abbey in 2011. The arrangement is by James O’Donnell, a former organist at the Abbey.

The Archbishop gave the commendation over the queen’s coffin. The commendation will include the familiar line, "Go Forth, O Christian Soul, From This World," which is often heard during funerals.

The choirs sang a new anthem, composed for the service by Sir James McMillan. The words are taken from Romans 8, which leads with the hopeful, confident line, "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?"

The dean pronounced the blessing from the altar, and the congregation will remain standing for the last post, which will be sounded by the state trumpeters of the household cavalry.

This was followed by two minutes’ silence, to be observed across the United Kingdom.

The trumpeters then sounded the reveille, before the national anthem was sung.

The sovereign’s piper played the traditional lament, ‘Sleep, dearie, sleep.’

At the conclusion of the lament, at noon local time (7 a.m. ET), the pall bearers entered and moved the queen’s coffin to the state gun carriage.

Charles writes note to the queen tucked in funeral wreath atop coffin

The funeral wreath on the queen's coffin was anything but funereal – it was a massive assembling of color and symbolism topped with a note from Charles. "In loving and devoted memory. Charles R," it read.

"Charles R" is the monarch’s official signature, with R being Latin for "Rex" or king. (Elizabeth’s signature was Elizabeth R for "Regina," Latin for queen.)

The sight of that note immediately evoked memories of the note that sat on Princess Diana’s coffin during her funeral procession to Westminster Abbey in 1997. It was from her sons and signed "Mummy."

According to Buckingham Palace’s notes on the funeral, the queen’s wreath included, at the king’s request, flowers and foliage cut from the gardens of Buckingham Palace, Clarence House and the king’s private home Highgrove House.

The foliage was chosen for its symbolism: Rosemary for remembrance. Myrtle for the ancient symbol of a happy marriage, and cut from a plant grown from a sprig of myrtle in the queen’s 1947 wedding bouquet. English oak symbolizes the strength of love.

Also included are scented pelargoniums, garden roses, autumnal hydrangea, sedum, dahlias, and scabious, in shades of gold, pink and deep burgundy, with touches of white to reflect the Royal Standard on which it sits.

And at the request of the king, a longtime environmentalist, the wreath is made in a sustainable way, formed in a nest of English moss and oak branches and without the use of floral foam.

Who attended the queen’s funeral?

The guest list for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II amounted to hundreds of people, a mix of members of the British royal family, foreign royals (many of them relatives of the queen), domestic and foreign government leaders, including President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, British religious and military leaders, members of the royal households, and scores of ordinary people, from the National Health Service, for instance, who were invited to mark their service to the nation.

The top British royals:

King Charles III

Camilla, Queen Consort

Princess Anne Princess Royal, Vice Adm. Sir Tim Laurence

Prince Andrew Duke of York

Prince Edward Earl of Wessex, Sophie Countess of Wessex

Prince William, Prince of Wales, Catherine, Princess of Wales

Prince George of Wales

Prince Charlotte of Wales

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

Earl of Snowdon

Peter Phillips

Also there are some two dozen other members of the queen’s family, including descendants of her mother’s Scottish family. All eight of her grandchildren are there and some of the older 12 great-grandchildren, including the new second and third in line in the succession, Prince George of Wales, 9, and Princess Charlotte of Wales, 7.

Many of the foreign royals who attended also are related to the British royal family through descent from Queen Victoria, sometimes known as the "grandmother" of Europe in the 19th century. The monarchs of Norway, Denmark, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain are there. Also, Japan’s Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako, making their first overseas trip since assuming the throne of Japan in 2019.

The Bidens top the foreign leaders list, which also includes France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Ireland’s President Michael Higgins. Also there: Ursula von der Leyen, representing the European Union that Britain quit amid many recriminations in 2016. Prime Minister of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also are there, representing three of the major Commonwealth nations over which the queen also reigned.

Queen Elizabeth II's funeral:See King Charles III, Prince Harry, all royals who attended

Is Prince Harry at the funeral? Harry wore military medals, but not his uniform

Prince Harry and his wife, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, were visiting the U.K. from their home in California to promote several causes they are involved with when the queen died.

At Monday's funeral, Harry wore his military medals but not his uniform. He wore the uniform during a vigil on Saturday with Queen Elizabeth's grandchildren.

Royal experts have explained that only working members of the royal family will wear the military uniform for the five events during the late monarch's period of mourning and state funeral.

Harry walked in to Westminster Abbey alongside his brother, Prince William. But during the service, Harry and Meghan sat in the second row behind his father, while William, Princess Kate and their children Prince George and Princess Charlotte sat across the aisle in the first row.

Is Sarah 'Fergie' Ferguson at the funeral?

Sarah Ferguson, affectionately known as Fergie, attended the state funeral for the queen Monday. The Duchess of York, 62, has remained close with the royals despite her divorce from Prince Andrew in 1996. The former pair share daughters Princess Beatrice, 34, and Princess Eugenie, 32, who were also in attendance.

Following the queen's death, Ferguson wrote in a tribute on Twitter that "she was was the most incredible mother-in-law and friend."

"I will always be grateful to her for the generosity she showed me in remaining close to me even after my divorce," the Duchess of York added. "I will miss her more than words can express."

State funeral at Westminster Abbey

The queen's casket entered Westminster Abbey around 11 a.m. local time Monday. The choir of St. George's Chapel sang The Sentences as the queen's coffin procession, including King Charles, Prince William, Princess Kate, Prince Harry, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, Prince George, Prince Charlotte, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward, followed the coffin into the abbey.

David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, opened the service before attendees joined together to sing The Hymn, "The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is Ended."

During the funeral, speakers included Most Rev. Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury; Rev. Mark Birch, Minor Canon and Precentor; Patricia Scotland, Commonwealth secretary-general; Shermara Fletcher, principal officer for Pentecostal and Charismatic Relations, Churches Together in England; and Rt. Rev. Dame Sarah Mullally. As the funeral concluded, the choir sang "God Save the King."

Funeral music: Hymns sung at queen's funeral

The music during the funeral will be sung by the choir of the Westminster Abbey and included The Sentences, written by William Croft, whose Sentences have been used since the mid 1500s, and at every State Funeral since the early 18th century.

The choir of St George's Chapel sang The Sentences during the procession as the casket entered. The choir of Westminster Abbey began the funeral service in song, later joining with the choir of the Chapel Royal for a rendition of "Like as the Heart." The funeral's attendees sang "The Day Thou Gavest, Lord, is Ended."

The choir also sang "The Lord’s My Shepherd," which also was heard at the Wedding of The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh in 1947. The choir sang "God Save the King," featuring different lyrics from what many have known for decades as "God Save the Queen," as the funeral concluded.

Details about Queen Elizabeth's coffin

The oak coffin was made more than 30 years ago, funeral directors previously confirmed to USA TODAY. Leverton & Sons, which has served as funeral directors to the royal household said it inherited the coffin made for the queen by another firm, Kenyons.

Andrew Leverton, a funeral director at Leverton & Sons, previously told British outlet the Times "It is made from English oak, which is very difficult to get hold of.

“Oak coffins are now made from American oak. I don’t think we could use English oak for a coffin now. It would be too expensive,” he told the outlet.

The coffin is also lined with lead, Leverton & Sons said. The lead lining makes the coffin so heavy that eight military bearers carried it Monday.

Queen Elizabeth II's casket:Queen to be buried in decades-old coffin lined with lead that takes 8 people to carry

Imperial State Crown: Details about crown atop casket

The majestic Imperial State Crown sits atop the queen’s flag-draped coffin as the queen was moved to Westminster Abbey, along with her scepter and orb.

The crown, the same one the young Queen Elizabeth II wore for her coronation in 1953, is adorned with stones including the 317-carat Cullinan II diamond, one of several stones cut from the more than 3,000-carat Cullinan Diamond, mined in South Africa in 1905, when the nation was a British colony. The main stone – the 530.2-carat Cullinan I diamond, also called the Star of Africa – rests at the top of the monarch’s scepter.

As the royal jewels are in the news, so are repeated calls to return the diamonds to their country of origin. The queen's death at 96 on Sept. 8 has also renewed the conversation of the royal family's ties to colonialism and the queen's lack of apology or atonement.

Calls for reparation from former colonial powers are not new, but they have resurged in recent years. Barbados in November 2021 removed the queen as its head of state, becoming the region’s newest republic. Six other Caribbean countries have signaled their intent to follow suit.

The monarchy:Imperial State Crown and royal scepter glimmer, but some say on back of colonialism

What is the gun carriage used to carry the queen?

When the coffin emerged from Westminster Hall, the pallbearers placed it on the green gun carriage that was used for the funerals of the queen’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather, all kings.

King Charles, Princess Anne, Prince Andrew and Prince Edward flanked the procession, followed by several other members of the royal family including Prince William and Prince Harry.

King Charles, more royals arrive at funeral

King Charles was met with applause by crowds as his motorcade arrived at Westminster Hall for the queen's coffin procession to Westminster Abbey. Prince William and Prince Harry joined him.

One car contained Queen Consort Camilla and Catherine, Princess of Wales, with her children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte. Another featured Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and Sophie, Countess of Wessex.

More members of the royal family, including Prince William, Catherine, Princess of Wales, Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, arrived shortly after.

The funeral’s order of service showed that George and Charlotte will walk together behind their parents. They will be followed by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, and other royal family members.

The royal children’s 4-year-old brother, Prince Louis, is not expected to be present at the funeral, which will be attended by some 2,000 people.

President Joe Biden, Prime Minister Liz Truss, more world leaders arrive

U.S. President Joe Biden, accompanied by first lady Jill Biden, is among the top world leaders who arrived at Westminster Abbey ahead of the funeral.

Biden arrived at Westminster Abbey for the queen’s funeral in his armored limousine, The Beast. He was among the few international diplomats who, for security reasons, did not ride on a fleet of chartered luxury buses provided for other world leaders. Biden stepped out of the The Beast a few minutes after 10 a.m. local time. He did not say anything or address the press.

Many other leaders arrived Monday morning via bus; the Bidens arrived separately. British Prime Minister Liz Truss and husband Hugh O'Leary, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and wife Sophie Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte Macron, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and wife Michelle Bolsonaro and Israeli President Isaac Herzog and wife Michal Herzog were also spotted arriving.

The president signed the official condolence book and attended a reception Sunday at Buckingham Palace hosted by King Charles III.

Biden is among many world leaders who traveled to the United Kingdom to honor Queen Elizabeth’s long reign. During his visit, Biden told media the queen "was the same in person as her image: decent, honorable and all about service."

"Our hearts go out to the royal family, King Charles and all of the family. It’s a loss that leaves a giant hole and sometimes you think you’ll never overcome it," the president said, adding that he told Charles the queen will be with him "every step of the way, every moment."

The day before the funeral:Biden arrives in London for funeral; Queen's grandchildren stand vigil by coffin

Tom Parker Bowles, more royals' family members arrive

Less than an hour and a half before the funeral is set to begin, notable arrivals connected to the royal family began to trickle in. Queen Consort Camilla's family was also photographed arriving at Westminster Abbey, including Laura Lopes, Camilla's 44-year-old daughter, and Tom Parker Bowles, her 47-year-old son. Princess Kate's parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, were also photographed upon arrival.

Camilla's new title, explained:What's the difference between queen and 'Queen Consort'?

Where will Queen Elizabeth II be buried?

The queen will be buried at St George Chapel at Windsor Castle, where many of her ancestors are buried, including her parents, King George VI and his consort, Queen Elizabeth, later the Queen Mother.

Following the funeral at Westminster Abbey, the coffin procession will begin, joined by King Charles, other members of the royal family, past and present members of the queen's household, governors general and prime ministers of the realms.

Queen Elizabeth II's funeral details:When is it? Will it be on TV? Your questions, answered

King Charles thanks the public for 'messages of condolence' ahead of queen's funeral

Ahead of Queen Elizabeth II's funeral, King Charles III issued a statement Sunday evening thanking people in Britain and across the world for "the many messages of condolence."

"Over the last ten days, my wife and I have been so deeply touched," the king said. "In London, Edinburgh, Hillsborough and Cardiff we were moved beyond measure by everyone who took the trouble to come and pay their respects to the lifelong service of my dear mother."

"As we all prepare to say our last farewell, I wanted simply to take this opportunity to say thank you to all those countless people who have been such a support and comfort to my family and myself in this time of grief," Charles concluded his statement.

Ahead of the queen's funeral Monday, a new photograph was released Sunday.

According to the royal family on Facebook, the photo was taken to mark the queen's Platinum Jubilee earlier this year. She was the first British monarch to reach this milestone.

"Tomorrow, millions will come together to commemorate her remarkable life," the post read.

Prince Charles is now King Charles III. Here's what to know about UK's new monarch.

How old is Westminster Abbey, site of Queen Elizabeth funeral?

Westminster Abbey, where Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral will be held Monday, has a centuries-long association with the royal family, hosting generations of coronations, royal weddings and funerals.

The church, which was consecrated in 1065 and “has been the setting for every coronation since 1066” and 16 royal weddings, a statement on the abbey’s website says.

“Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's connection with Westminster Abbey ran like a thread through her early life and her long reign,” the site says. “As an 11-year-old girl, she watched as her father was crowned here. As a young adult, she married here and was crowned here.”

Fourteen English monarchs were buried there between 1066 and 1760, including Queen Elizabeth I, the daughter of King Henry VIII, who was interred in the abbey in 1603. The Unknown Warrior, whose body was brought from France in 1920, is buried in the abbey’s nave. Author Charles Dickens is among those buried in Poets' Corner of the abbey.

The funeral of Princess Diana was held at the abbey in 1997 and the Queen Mother’s funeral took place there in 2002. More recently, Prince William and Duchess Kate, now the Prince and Princess of Wales, were married there in 2011.

Visual guide to the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey

Queen's funeral more than ceremony, designed to show monarchy's stability

The queen, who died Sept. 8 in Scotland at age 96 after 70 years on the throne, was widely considered the glue holding the U.K. together. She was also the most canny of her Windsor ancestors about using ceremony and splendor to bond the monarchy and the people who pay for it.

Not since 1965, for former Prime Minister Winston Churchill, has Britain mounted a state funeral, which is usually reserved for monarchs, with exceptions for distinguished figures such as Churchill, the queen's first prime minister of her reign.

Royal funerals are planned decades in advance by governments and the crown, and the plans are updated regularly. The monarch plays a crucial role in deciding details. The choice of flowers in the wreath on her coffin, the music and prayer selections, even the bespoke design of the Royal Hearse (lots of glass and inside light so the casket can be seen even at night), were all decisions made by the queen.

Survival of the monarchy:Why Queen Elizabeth II's funeral is more than just ceremony

Mourners line the streets during queen's funeral

At 6 a.m. local time, snipers were on rooftops, sniffer dogs were on the streets, drains were being searched and surveillance drones have been banned from all of central London. Around 20 miles of barriers have been erected to control crowds as the queen’s coffin travels the short distance from Westminster Hall, where it is lying-in-state, to Westminster Abbey, and then onward to Windsor Castle after the funeral for burial.

A full five hours before the funeral gets underway, London’s transportation network was already busy on a public holiday, with the subway system seeing members of the public rushing to secure viewing spots in and around Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Westminster. Many carried small fold-up chairs, and Londoners almost entirely wore black in the quiet of the city. Volunteers in purple vests every few yards provided help with directions and other needs.

Hyde Park, one of London's central parks, is a designated screening spot for Queen Elizabeth II's state funeral on Monday. The 11 a.m.-ceremony will be broadcast live on large screens for attendees to see for free at the park, and the Hyde Park site will show the procession through London following the funeral, the procession through Windsor and the Committal Service at St George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.

Signs and staff are present across the city to direct people to either the park or other "viewing areas" where they may catch a real glimpse of the state funeral route. The park and viewing areas include dedicated spots for anyone who has an accessibility need, including British Sign Language interpreters and a dedicated location for wheelchair users.

People watched the funeral and procession from almost everywhere – lining the streets 10-deep to sitting on blankets in parks.

Lucy Hartnell, 26, from Hertfordshire, organized a picnic at Hyde Park of what she and friends assumed were “queen favorites” including strawberries, cucumber finger sandwiches, Prosecco, cupcakes and chips. They took the tube into London and were "shocked" how easy it was for them to get to Hyde Park to view the funeral.

They said they attended to not miss a big event and aren’t really pro-royal or anti-royal, which has been a large debate among young people.

"We’re not super against the royals or for them, we just wanted to be part of them moment," Hartnell said.

They said the transition to a king likely won’t affect them, but they said the area where they grew up is very pro-monarchy. "Our grandparents care a lot. We don’t care that much either way. People our age are like 'we should get rid of the monarchy.' But no one cares enough to actually do anything about it … we just like having them," she said.

Contributing: Nicole Fallert, Kim Hjelmgaard, Jane Onyanga-Omara, Maria Puente, Laura Trujillo, Amy Haneline and Morgan Hines, USA TODAY; Associated Press

Former Pope Benedict XVI asks for forgiveness, thanks God in final ...

CNN —

Former Pope Benedict XVI, who died Saturday in a monastery in the Vatican at the age of 95, asked for forgiveness for those he has “wronged” in the spiritual testament published following his death.

Benedict, who was the first pontiff in almost 600 years to resign his position, rather than hold office for life, passed away on Saturday, according to a statement from the Vatican.

He was elected pope in April 2005, following John Paul II’s death.

During the testament, which consisted of a letter containing the pope’s final words, Benedict spoke of the “many reasons” he had to be thankful for his life.

In the letter dated August 29, 2006, the former pope thanked God for guiding him “well” throughout life. He also expressed gratitude to his parents who he said gave him “life in a difficult time.”

He went on to thank his sister for her “selfless” help and his brother for the “clarity of judgment” he shared with him.

Benedict was known to be more conservative than his successor, Pope Francis, who has made moves to soften the Vatican’s position on abortion and homosexuality, as well as doing more to deal with the sexual abuse crisis which engulfed the church in recent years and clouded Benedict’s legacy.

Benedict asked for forgiveness

In April 2019, Benedict discussed the sex abuse crisis in a public letter, claiming it was caused in part by the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the liberalization of the church’s moral teachings.

In January 2020, Benedict was forced to distance himself from a book widely seen as undercutting Francis as he considered whether to allow married men to become priests in certain cases. The book, “From the Depths of Our Hearts,” argued in favor of the centuries-old tradition of priestly celibacy within the Catholic Church. Benedict was originally listed as co-author, but later clarified he had only contributed one section of the text.

A year later, Benedict came under fire over his time as archbishop of Munich and Freising, between 1977 and 1982, following the publication of a church-commissioned report into abuse by Catholic clergy there.

In the 2006 letter, the former pope asked “sincerely” for “forgiveness” for those he “wronged in any way,” in his letter.

In the closing words, the former pontiff asked “humbly,” despite all his “sins and shortcomings,” he be welcomed by God into heaven.

In a separate letter published by the Vatican in February 2022, Benedict issued a general apology to survivors of abuse, writing: “Once again I can only express to all the victims of sexual abuse my profound shame, my deep sorrow and my heartfelt request for forgiveness,” but he admitted to no personal or specific wrongdoing.

There is no suggestion his request for forgiveness in his final letter relates to the Catholic Church’s handling of sexual abuse accusations against priests.

Delia Gallagher Niamh Kennedy Emma Tucker

Aquamation: The green alternative to cremation chosen by ...

CNN —

Family members gathered to say their goodbyes to anti-apartheid hero Desmond Tutu at a private service at St. George’s Cathedral on Sunday, where his ashes were interred in Cape Town and laid to rest.

At his request, the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s body underwent aquamation – considered to be a greener alternative to cremation – South Africa’s Anglican Church confirmed to CNN on Saturday.

Aquamation is a water-based process whose scientific name is “alkaline hydrolysis”, in which a “combination of gentle water flow, temperature, and alkalinity are used to accelerate the breakdown of organic materials” when a body is laid to rest in soil, according to Bio-Response Solutions, a US company which specializes in the process.

The company’s website says the process “uses 90% less energy than flame cremation and does not emit any harmful greenhouse gases.”

According to the Cremation Association of North America (CANA), an international non-profit organization, alkaline hydrolysis is sometimes referred to as flameless cremation.

The body is placed in an alkaline hydrolysis machine, comprised of an airtight chamber filled with a solution made of water and alkaline chemicals. The chamber is then heated, liquifying the body and leaving only bone behind, according to CANA’s website.

Once the bones are dried they can be pulverized. “The process results in approximately 32% more cremated remains than flame-based cremation and may require a larger urn,” according to CANA.

Tutu's coffin is carried out of St. George's Cathedral in Cape Town at the end of his funeral service on Saturday. Nic Bothma/Pool/AP

Tutu was passionate about protecting the environment – he gave many speeches and wrote many articles about the need to act to tackle the climate crisis. In 2007, he wrote a piece titled “This Fatal Complacency” for the Guardian in which he addressed the worrying impact that climate change was having in the Global South and on poor communities, as much of North America and Europe was yet to face extreme weather conditions caused by the climate emergency at this time.

As well as requesting an eco-friendly alternative to cremation for his body, Tutu also took other steps to ensure his funeral would be as modest as his lifestyle was – his body laid in state in a simple pine coffin, which was the “cheapest available” at his request, his foundations said.

Ghazi Balkiz Jennifer Hauser
Ghazi Balkiz
Jennifer Hauser

Migrant workers helped build Qatar's World Cup tournament, now ...

CNN —

Kamal was standing outside a shop with other migrant workers, having finished yet another grueling working day, when he and – he says – a few others were arrested this August. Without explanation, the 24-year-old says he was put into a vehicle and, for the next week, kept in a Qatari jail, the location and name of which he does not know.

“When they arrested me, I couldn’t say anything, not a single word, as I was so scared,” he told CNN Sport, speaking at home in southern Nepal where he has been working on a farm since being deported three months ago.

Kamal – CNN has changed the names of the Nepali workers to protect them from retaliation – is one of many migrant workers wanting to tell the world of their experiences in Qatar, a country that will this month host one of sport’s greatest, most lucrative, spectacles – the World Cup, a tournament which usually unites the world as millions watch the spectacular goals and carefully-choreographed celebrations.

It will be a historic event, the first World Cup to be held in the Middle East, but one also mired in controversy. Much of the build-up to this tournament has been on more sober matters, that of human rights, from the deaths of migrant workers and the conditions many have endured in Qatar, to LGBTQ and women’s rights.

Kamal says he has yet to be paid the 7,000 Qatari Riyal bonus (around $1,922) he says he is entitled to from his previous employers, nor 7,000 Riyal in insurance for injuring two fingers at work.

“I wasn’t told why I was being arrested. People are just standing there … some are walking with their grocery [sic], some are just sitting there consuming tobacco products … they just arrest you,” he adds, before explaining he could not ask questions as he does not speak Arabic.

A worker is seen inside the Lusail Stadium during a stadium tour on December 20, 2019, in Doha, Qatar. Francois Nel/Getty Images

Describing the conditions in the cell he shared with 24 other Nepali migrant workers, he says he was provided with a blanket and a pillow, but the mattress on the floor he had to sleep on was riddled with bed bugs.

“Inside the jail, there were people from Sri Lanka, Kerala (India), Pakistan, Sudan, Nepal, African, Philippines. There were around 14-15 units. In one jail, there were around 250-300 people. Around 24-25 people per room,” he says.

“When they take you to the jail, they don’t give you a room right away. They keep you in a veranda. After a day or two, once a room is empty, they keep people from one country in one room.”

Using a smuggled phone, he spoke to friends, one of whom, he says, brought his belongings – including his passport – to the jail, though he says he was sent home after the Nepali embassy had sent a paper copy of his passport to the jail. CNN has reached out to the embassy but has yet to receive a response.

“When they put me on the flight, I started thinking: ‘Why are they sending workers back all of a sudden? It’s not one, two, 10 people … they are sending 150, 200, 300 workers on one flight,’” he says.

“Some workers who were just roaming outside wearing (work) dress were sent back. They don’t even allow you to collect your clothes. They just send you back in the cloth you are wearing.”

Kamal believes he was arrested because he had a second job, which is illegal under Qatar’s 2004 Labour Law and allows authorities to cancel a worker’s work permit. He says he worked an extra two to four hours a day to supplement his income as he was not making enough money working six eight-hour days a week.

Qatar has a 90-day grace period in which a worker can remain in the country legally without another sponsor, but if they have not had their permit renewed or reactivated in that time they risk being arrested or deported for being undocumented.

He says he received paperwork upon his arrest, which Amnesty International says would likely have explained why he was being detained, but as it was in Arabic he did not know what it said and no translator was provided.

Laborers rest in green space along the corniche in Doha, Qatar, on June 23. Christopher Pike/Bloomberg/Getty Images/FILE

A Qatari government official told CNN in a statement: “Any claims that workers are being jailed or deported without explanation are untrue. Action is only taken in very specific cases, such as if an individual participates in violence.”

The official added that 97% of all eligible workers were covered by Qatar’s Wage Protection System, established in 2018, “which ensures wages are paid in full and on time.” Further work was being done to strengthen the system, the official said.

Some workers never returned home

With the opening match just days away, on-the-pitch matters are a mere footnote because this tournament has come at a cost to workers who left their families in the belief that they would reap financial rewards in one of the world’s richest countries per capita. Some would never return home. None of the three Nepali workers CNN spoke to were richer for their experience. Indeed, they are in debt and full of melancholy.

The Guardian reported last year that 6,500 South Asian migrant workers have died in Qatar since the country was awarded the World Cup in 2010, most of whom were involved in low-wage, dangerous labor, often undertaken in extreme heat.

The report did not connect all 6,500 deaths with World Cup infrastructure projects and has not been independently verified by CNN.

Hassan Al Thawadi – the man in charge of leading Qatar’s preparations – told CNN’s Becky Anderson that the Guardian’s 6,500 figure was a “sensational headline” that was misleading and that the report lacked context.

A government official told CNN there had been three work-related deaths on stadiums and 37 non-work-related deaths. In a statement, the official said the Guardian’s figures were “inaccurate” and “wildly misleading.”

“The 6,500 figure takes the number of all foreign worker deaths in the country over a 10-year period and attributes it to the World Cup,” the official said. “This is not true and neglects all other causes of death including illness, old age and traffic accidents. It also fails to recognize that only 20% of foreign workers in Qatar are employed on construction sites.”

It has been widely reported that Qatar has spent $220 billion leading up to the tournament, which would make it the most expensive World Cup in history, though this likely includes infrastructure not directly associated with stadium construction. A spokesperson for the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC) which, since its formation in 2011, has been responsible for overseeing the infrastructure projects and planning for the World Cup, told CNN that the tournament budget was $6.5 billion, without expanding on what that cost covered.

Eight new stadiums rose from the desert, and the Gulf state expanded its airport, constructed new hotels, rail and highways. All would have been constructed by migrant workers, who – according to Amnesty International – account for 90% of the workforce in a near-three million population.

An aerial view of Al Janoub stadium at sunrise on June 21 in Al Wakrah, Qatar. David Ramos/Getty Images

Since 2010, migrant workers have faced delayed or unpaid wages, forced labor, long hours in hot weather, employer intimidation and an inability to leave their jobs because of the country’s sponsorship system, human rights organizations have found.

However, the health, safety and dignity of “all workers employed on our projects has remained steadfast,” a statement from the SC read.

“Our efforts have resulted in significant improvements in accommodation standards, health and safety regulations, grievance mechanisms, healthcare provision and reimbursements of illegal recruitment fees to workers.

“While the journey is on-going, we are committed to delivering the legacy we promised. A legacy that improves lives and lays the foundation for fair, sustainable and lasting labour reforms.”

Last year, in an interview with CNN Sport anchor Amanda Davies, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said that while “more needs to be done,” progress had been made.

“I’ve seen the great evolution that has happened in Qatar, which was recognized – I mean not by FIFA – but by labor unions around the world, by international organizations,” said Infantino.

‘It was difficult to breathe’

We are, unusually, writing about a World Cup in November because the competition had to be moved from its usual June-July slot to Qatar’s winter as the heat is so extreme in the country’s summer months – temperatures can reach around 43 degrees Celsius (109 degrees Fahrenheit) in June – that playing in such conditions could have posed a health risk to players.

Hari is 27 years old and, like many of his compatriots, left Nepal for Qatar as his family – he was one of five siblings with just his father at home – desperately needed money, primarily to eat. Since 2013, Nepal’s government-mandated minimum wage has been set at $74 a month, according to minimum-wage.org. He says that his monthly wage in Qatar was 700 Rial a month ($192).

After moving to Qatar in 2014, he worked in four places during his four-year stay: at a supermarket, a hotel and airport, but the most difficult job, he says, was in construction when he had to carry tiles up buildings “six to seven stories above” in overbearing heat, plus lay pipelines in deep pits.

“It was too hot,” he tells CNN. “The foreman was very demanding and used to complain a lot. The foreman used to threaten to reduce our salaries and overtime pay.

“I had to carry tiles on my shoulder to the top. It was very difficult going up through the scaffolding. In the pipeline work, there were 5-7 meters deep pits, we had to lay the stones and concrete, it was difficult due to the heat. It was difficult to breathe. We had to come upstairs using a ladder to drink water.

“It never happened to me, but I saw some workers fainting at work. I saw one Bengali, one Nepali … two to three people faint while working. They took the Bengali to medical services. I’m not sure what happened to him.”

During his time in Qatar, government regulations generally prohibited workers from working outdoors between 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. from June 15 to August 31. He said one company he worked for followed these rules.

He added: “At some places, they didn’t have water. Some places, they didn’t provide us water on time. At some places, we used to go to houses nearby asking for water.”

In this photo taken in May 2015 during a government organized media tour, workers use heavy machinery at the Al-Wakra Stadium being built for the 2022 World Cup. Maya Alleruzzo/AP/FILE

Working long hours in extreme heat has, some non-governmental organizations believe, caused a number of deaths and put lives at risk in Qatar.

In 2019, research published in the Cardiology Journal, exploring the relationship between the deaths of more than 1,300 Nepali workers between 2009 and 2017 and heat exposure, found a “strong correlation” between heat stress and young workers dying of cardiovascular problems in the summer months.

The government official told CNN that there had been a “consistent decline” in the mortality rate of migrant workers, including a decline in heat stress disorders, “thanks in large part to our comprehensive heat stress legislation.”

“Qatar has always acknowledged that work remains to be done, notably to hold unscrupulous employers to account,” the government official added. “Systemic reform does not happen overnight and shifting the behavior of every company takes time as is the case with any country around the world.”

‘Heat does not typically injure on its own’

Natasha Iskander, Professor of Urban Planning and Public Service at New York University, tells CNN that heat can kill “in ways that are confusing and unclear.”

“Fatal heat stroke can look like a heart attack or a seizure. Sometimes, heat kills through the body, amplifying manageable and often silent conditions, like diabetes and hypertension, and turning them into sudden killers,” she explains.

“As a result, Qatar, in the death certificates that it has issued after migrant construction workers have collapsed, has been able to push back against the correlation between heat stress and deaths and claim instead that the deaths are due to natural causes, even though the more proximate cause is work in the heat.”

Determining the number of workers injured by heat is even harder, she says, because many injuries may not become apparent until years later, when migrants have returned home and young men “find that their kidneys no longer function, that they suffer from chronic kidney disease, or that their hearts have begun to fail, displaying levels of cardiac weakness that are debilitating.”

“Heat does not typically injure on its own,” she adds. “Workers are exposed to heat and heat dangers through the labor relations on Qatari worksites. The long hours, physically intense work, the forced overtime, the abusive conditions, the bullying on site all shape how exposed workers are to heat. Additionally, conditions beyond the worksite also augmented heat’s power to harm – things like poor sleep, insufficient nutrition or a room that was not cool enough to allow the body to reset after a day in the heat. In Qatar, the employer housed workers in labor camps, and workers as a matter of policy were segregated to industrial areas, where living accommodations were terrible.”

Foreign laborers working on the construction site of the Al-Wakrah football stadium, one of Qatar's 2022 World Cup stadiums, walk back to their accomodation at the Ezdan 40 compound after finishing work on May 4, 2015, in Doha's Al-Wakrah southern suburbs. Marwan Naamani/AFP/Getty Images/FILE

According to Amnesty International, Qatari authorities have not investigated “thousands” of deaths of migrant workers over the past decade “despite evidence of links between premature deaths and unsafe working conditions.” That these deaths are not being recorded as work-related prevents families from receiving compensation, the advocacy group states.

In its statement, the SC said that its commitment to publicly disclose non-work-related deaths went beyond the requirements of the UK’s Health and Safety Executive Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences regulations (RIDDOR), which defines and provides classification for how to document work-related and non-work-related incidents.

The statement added: “The SC investigates all non-work-related deaths and work-related fatalities in line with our Incident Investigation Procedure to identify contributory factors and establish how they could have been prevented. This process involves evidence collection and analysis and witness interviews to establish the facts of the incident.”

Amnesty International’s Ella Knight told CNN Sport that her organization would continue to push Qatar to “thoroughly investigate” deaths of migrant workers, including past deaths, to “ensure the families of the deceased have the opportunity to rebuild their lives.”

Barun Ghimire is a human rights lawyer based in Kathmandu whose work focuses on the exploitation of Nepali migrants working abroad. He tells CNN that the families he advocates for have not received satisfactory information on their loved ones’ deaths. “Families send out healthy, young family member to work and they receive news that the family member died when they were sleeping,” he says. In a separate interview, he told CNN last year: “The Qatar World Cup is really the bloody cup – the blood of migrant workers.”

Last year, Qatari legislation was strengthened regarding outdoor working conditions, expanding summertime working hours during which outdoor work is prohibited – replacing legislation introduced in 2007 – and additionally putting into law that “all work must stop if the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) raises beyond 32.1C (89.8F) in a particular workplace.” The regulations also mandate annual health checks for workers, as well as mandatory risk assessments.

“We recognize that heat stress is a particular issue in the summer months in Qatar,” a Qatari government official said. “In May 2021, Qatar introduced a requirement for companies to conduct annual health checks for workers, as well as mandatory risk assessments to mitigate the dangers of heat stress. Companies are expected to adopt flexible, self-monitored working hours where possible, adjust shift rotations, enforce regular breaks, provide free cold drinking water and shaded workspaces, and adhere to all other guidelines with respect to heat stress outlined by the Ministry of Labour.

“Every summer, Qatar’s labor inspectors carry out thousands of unannounced visits to work sites across the country to ensure that heat stress rules are being followed,” the official added. “Between June and September 2022, 382 work sites were ordered to close for violating the rules.”

Workers walk to the Lusail Stadium -- one of the 2022 Qatar World Cup stadiums -- in Lusail on December 20, 2019. Hassan Ammar/AP

Iskander said a heat point of 32.1C WBGT was “already dangerous.”

“Working at the physical intensity that construction workers do in Qatar for any amount of time at that temperature is damaging to the body,” she explained.

“The regulation relied on the assumption that workers would be able to self-pace and rest as needed whenever they experienced heat stress. Anyone who has ever spent any amount of time on a Qatari construction site knows that workers have no ability to self-pace.”

Knight adds: “The fact investigations into migrant workers deaths are often not happening precludes the possibility of greater protections being implemented because if you don’t know what is really happening to these people how can you then implement and enforce effective measures to increase their protection?”

For the majority of his time in Qatar, Hari said he felt sad. He would watch planes take off during his six months tending the airport gardens and question why he was in the country. But he had paid 90,000 Nepali rupees ($685) to a Nepali recruitment company that facilitated his move. He was also told, he says, by the company he had joined that he would have had to pay 2,000 to 3,000 Riyal ($549-$823) to buy himself out of his contract.

His friends, he said, counseled him as he continued to work long, lonely days for, Hari says, not enough money to live and save for his family. Amnesty International says many migrants pay high fees to “unscrupulous recruitment agents in their home country” which make the workers scared to leave their jobs when they get to Qatar.

Now, he is a father-of-two, and work is plowing fields in Nepal as a tractor driver, but Hari hopes one day to work abroad again, his heart set on Malaysia. “I don’t want my children to go through what I did. I want to build a house, buy some land. That’s what I am thinking. But let’s see what God has planned,” he says.

‘Our dreams never came true’

Sunit has been back in Nepal since August after working just eight months in Qatar. He had expected to be there for two years, but the collapse of the construction company he worked for meant he and many others returned with money still owed to them, he says. He struggles to find work in Nepal, meaning feeding his two children and paying school fees is difficult.

He had dreamed of watching World Cup matches from the rooftop of the hotel he had helped build. One of the stadiums – the name of which he does not know – was a 10-minute walk from the hotel. “We used to talk about it,” he says of the World Cup. “But we had to return, and our dreams never came true. The stadium activities were visible from the hotel. We could see the stadium from the hotel rooftop.”

In helping construct the city center hotel, the name of which he doesn’t remember, he would carry bags of plaster mix and cement, weighing from 30 to 50 kilos, on his shoulders up to 10 to 12 floors, he says.

“The lift was rarely functional. Some people couldn’t carry it and dropped it halfway. If you don’t finish your job, you were threatened saying the salary would be deducted for that day,” he says. “The foreman used to complain that we were taking water breaks as soon as we got to work. They used to threaten us saying: ‘We will not pay you for the day.’ We said: ‘Go ahead. We are humans, we need to drink water.’

“It was very hot. It used to take 1.5 to two hours to get to the top. I used to get tired. I used to stop on the way. Then proceed again slowly. Yes, the supervisors used to yell at us. But what could we do?”

He says he had paid an agent in Nepal 240,000 Nepali rupees (around $1,840) before leaving for Qatar. He says he has filed a case with the police about the agent as he had been unable to fulfill his two-year contract, but there have been no developments. He says the owners of the company he worked for in Qatar were arrested because they did not pay laborers. The company did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment, neither did it respond to questions from the Business & Human Rights Centre, an advocacy group, about protests over unpaid wages.

Qatar has expanded its airport, constructed new hotels, and rail and highways over the last decade. Britta Pedersen/picture alliance/Getty Images

For a month, he says, he was in his accommodation with no work or money to buy food – he borrowed to eat – so he and his fellow workers called the police, who brought food with them.

“The police came again after 10-15 days and said we have arrested the company people. (The police) distributed food again,” he says. “They told us the company has collapsed and the government will send all the workers back home.”

“I’m extremely sad,” he adds. “I mean, it is what it is. Nothing would change by regretting it. I get mad (at the company) but what can I do? Even if I had tried to fight back, it would have been my loss.”

The SC said it has established what it claims is a “first-of-its-kind” Workers’ Welfare Forum, which it said allowed workers to elect a representative on their behalf and, when companies failed to comply with the WWF, it steps in, demands better and alerts the authorities.

Since 2016, the SC said 69 contractors had been demobilized, 235 contractors placed on a watch list and a further seven blacklisted. “We understand there is always room for improvement,” the statement added.

‘Expertise and heroism’

Qatar, a peninsula smaller than Connecticut and the smallest World Cup host in history, is set to host an estimated 1.5 million fans over the month-long tournament, which begins on November 20. There are already reports of accommodation concerns for such a vast number of visitors.

The spotlight is no doubt on this Gulf state, as has progressively been the case since it was controversially awarded the tournament over a decade ago – though Qatari officials have previously “strongly denied” to CNN the allegations of bribery which has surrounded its bid.

Such attention has brought about reforms, significantly dismantling the Kafala system which gives companies and private citizens control over migrant workers’ employment and immigration status.

In Qatar, migrant workers can now change jobs freely without permission from their employer. But Knight adds: “Another aspect of the Kafala system, the criminal charge of absconding still exists, and this, along with other tools that are still available to employers, means that, fundamentally, the power balance between workers and employers, the imbalance remains great.”

Knight says unpaid wages is still an issue as the wage protection system “lacks enforcement mechanisms,” while she also says employers can cancel a worker’s ID at a “push of a button,” meaning they risk arrest and deportation. Additionally, labor committees intended to help workers are under-resourced and “lack the capacity to deal with the number of cases that are coming to them.”

Migrant laborers work at a construction site at the Aspire Zone in Doha on March 26, 2016. Naseem Zeitoon/Reuters/FILE

Ghimire agrees that there have been a few positive changes to employment laws but adds that it is “more show and tell.”

“Many workers who work in construction are untouched, so there’s still exploitation going on,” he tells CNN.

Qatar’s government official told CNN work remained to be done but that “systemic reform does not happen overnight, and shifting the behavior of every company takes time as is the case with any country around the world.

“Over the last decade, Qatar has done more than any other country in the region to strengthen the rights of foreign workers, and we will continue to work in close consultation with international partners to strengthen reforms and enforcement.”

Human Rights Watch’s #PayUpFIFA campaign wants Qatar and FIFA to pay at least $440 million – an amount equal to the prize money being awarded at the World Cup – to the families of migrant workers who have been harmed or killed in preparation for the tournament.

Families of workers who have died face uncertain futures, HRW says, especially children. Those who survived and returned home, cheated of wages or injured, remain trapped in debt, it says, “with dire consequences for their families.”

Ghimire says compensation is key, but so too is making the world aware of what has taken place to make this tournament happen.

“People are concerned about clothing brands, and the meat they eat, but what about mega events? Isn’t it time we ask how this was possible?” he asks.

“Everyone who will watch should know at what cost this was even possible and how workers were treated. Players should know, sponsors should know.

“Would it be the same situation if it was European workers dying in Qatar? If it was Argentinean workers, would Argentina be concerned about playing?

“Because it’s migrant workers from poor south Asian countries, they’re invisible people. Forced labor, death of workers, while making a World Cup is unacceptable. As a football fan, it makes me sad; as a lawyer, it makes me really disappointed.”

Earlier this month, Qatar’s Labor Minister Ali bin Samikh Al Marri rejected the prospect of a remedy fund.

A Qatar government official said the country’s Workers’ Support and Insurance Fund was “effective in providing compensation for workers and their families” with the fund reimbursing workers with more than $350 million so far this year.

In terms of the SC’s efforts to ensure repayment of recruitment fees, as of December 2021, workers have received $22.6 million, with an additional $5.7 million committed by contractors, according to FIFA.

Last month, FIFA’s Deputy Secretary General Alasdair Bell said “compensation is certainly something that we’re interested in progressing.”

A general view shows the exterior of the Al-Thumama Stadium in Doha -- one of eight stadiums that will host World Cup matches KARIM JAAFAR/AFP/AFP via Getty Images

It has been widely reported that FIFA has urged nations participating in the World Cup to focus on football when the tournament kicks off.

FIFA confirmed to CNN that a letter signed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the governing body’s secretary general Fatma Samoura was sent out on November 3 to the 32 nations participating in the global showpiece but would not divulge the contents. However, a number of European federations have issued a joint statement saying they would campaign at the tournament on human rights and for a migrant workers center and a compensation fund for migrant workers.

The motto for Qatar’s bid team in 2010 was ‘Expect Amazing.’ In many ways, this year’s World Cup has replicated that maxim.

As NYU’s Iskander says: “One of the things that is not really covered in the coverage of the World Cup and the coverage of this enormous construction boom is the expertise and heroism of the workers who built it.

“They built buildings that were unimaginable to everyone, including the engineers and designers, until they were built. They performed acts of bravery that are unsung. They operated at levels of technical complexity and sophistication that are unparalleled. And yet their contribution to building the World Cup is really rarely featured, downplayed.

“They are represented, generally speaking, as exploited and oppressed. And it’s true that they have been exploited and oppressed, but they are also the master craftsmen that built this Cup, and they are enormously proud of what they have built.”

Hosting this tournament has undoubtedly put Qatar under the global spotlight. The question is whether the world can enjoy watching what the migrant workers built, knowing the true cost of this billion-dollar extravaganza.

Aimee Lewis Pramod Acharya Sugam Pokharel

Stone Age child's grave site in Finland reveals surprises | CNN

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CNN —

The burial site of a young child who lived 8,000 years ago has been discovered in Eastern Finland, providing a rare glimpse into how Stone Age humans treated their deceased.

The Majoonsuo grave first drew the attention of researchers in 1992 in the municipality of Outokumpu when bright red ocher, a clay rich in iron, was spotted on the surface of a new service trail in the forest. Red ocher has been associated with rock art as well as ornamentation and burials.

The Finnish Heritage Agency began excavating the spot in 2018 due to concerns over erosion and motor traffic.

Little was found in the grave, but the surrounding soil revealed its secrets in a recent microscopic analysis published in September in the journal PLOS One.

Bright red ocher marked the spot of the grave, uncovered on a service road in a forest in Eastern Finland. Kristiina Mannermaa

Finland’s Stone Age societies buried their dead in pits in the ground. The soil is so acidic in Finland that little remains preserved after thousands of years, which means traces of archaeological evidence are extremely rare.

The teeth of a child were found in the grave, as well as fragments of bird feathers, plant fibers and canine hair strands after an analysis using a painstaking protocol to uncover the microscopic evidence.

Together, these clues paint a portrait of the deceased.

Researchers determined that the teeth belonged to a child between 3 and 10 years old. Two quartz arrowheads and two other quartz objects, thought to be grave goods, were also recovered.

About 24 tiny feather fragments were found, and seven of them were associated with waterfowl. They represent the oldest feather fragments ever found in Finland. It’s possible that the child was laid to rest on a bed of down feathers, or the child was wrapped in clothing made from waterfowl, like an ancient parka or anorak.

A falcon’s feather was also found in the grave, thought to be part of an arrow likely once attached to an arrowhead, or used as decoration on the child’s clothing.

Fine hairs found at the child’s feet belonged to either a dog or a wolf. It’s possible that one was buried at the child’s feet, or the child was wearing shoes made from the fur of a dog or wolf.

This image shows a possible canine hair from the grave viewed beneath an electron microscope. Tuija Kirkinen

“Dogs buried with the deceased have been found in, for example, Skateholm, a famous burial site in southern Sweden dating back some 7,000 years,” said study coauthor Kristiina Mannermaa, researcher and associate professor in the University of Helsinki’s department of cultures, in a statement.

“The discovery in Majoonsuo is sensational, even though there is nothing but hairs left of the animal or animals — not even teeth. We don’t even know whether it’s a dog or a wolf. The method used, demonstrates that traces of fur and feathers can be found even in graves several thousands of years old, including in Finland.”

Lead study author Tuija Kirkinen, a postdoctoral researcher in the University of Helsinki’s department of cultures, carried out the analysis of the plant- and animal-based materials within the soil.

The team collected 60 bags of soil samples and carefully separated organic matter from the soil using water. Three laboratories were used to search the samples for microparticles, fatty acids and carry out an analysis of the soil. The soil, stained by the red ocher, had to be gently sieved and was closely studied using electron microscopes and high-resolution images.

She works on the Animals Make Identities project, led by Mannermaa. The research group studies “social links between humans and animals in hunter-gatherer burial sites” in Northeast Europe. These links can unlock more insights into the deceased, who lived between 7,500 and 9,000 years ago. Kirkinen’s work is focused on developing methods to search for the minute remnants that help share ancient stories.

Kirkinen also found plant fibers that likely came from willows or nettles, which may have been used to make fishing nets, cords used to attach clothing or string bundles. The protocol she developed to search for fibers and fragments in the soil takes time, but it produced results.

“The work is really slow and it really made my heart jump when I found minuscule fragments of past garments and grave furnishings, especially in Finland, where all unburnt bones tend to decompose,” she said.

“This all gives us a very valuable insight about burial habits in the Stone Age, indicating how people had prepared the child for the journey after death.”

Former Pope Benedict is 'very sick', Pope Francis says | CNN

Rome CNN —

Pope Francis has said that his predecessor Pope Benedict, the 95-year-old former pontiff who resigned from the post nine years ago, is “very sick” after a deterioration in his health on Wednesday.

“I want to ask you all for a special prayer for Pope Emeritus Benedict who sustains the Church in his silence. He is very sick,” Francis said during his general audience at the Vatican on Wednesday.

“We ask the Lord to console and sustain him in this witness of love for the Church to the very end.”

A Vatican spokesman later confirmed that “in the last few hours there has been a deterioration due to the advancement of (Benedict’s) age.”

“The situation at the moment remains under control and continually monitored by his doctors,” the spokesman, Matteo Bruni, said, adding that Francis visited his predecessor at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in Vatican City after his general audience.

Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington, DC, asked Catholics and “folks of good will to pray for Benedict XVI,” in a Twitter post Wednesday.

“He served our Church in many roles - priest, scholar, diocesan bishop, curial official, & Pontiff. May Christ reward him for his loving service,” Gregory said of Benedict.

In 2013, Pope Benedict XVI shocked the world by making the almost unprecedented decision to resign from his position, citing “advanced age.”

Benedict’s announcement marked the first time a pope had stepped down in nearly 600 years. The last pope to resign before his death was Gregory XII, who in 1415 quit to end a civil war within the Catholic Church in which more than one man claimed to be pope.

In 2020, the Vatican said Benedict had suffered from a “painful but not serious condition,” following reports in German media that he was ill.

Two years earlier, in a rare public letter published in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Benedict wrote that “in the slow waning of my physical forces, inwardly I am on a pilgrimage toward Home.”

Benedict’s legacy has been clouded by recent scrutiny of his time as Archbishop of Munich and Freising, between 1977 and 1982, after a Church-commissioned report into abuse by Catholic clergy there was published in January.

The report found that he had been informed of four cases of sexual abuse involving minors – including two during his time in Munich – but failed to act, and that he had attended a meeting about an abusive priest.

Benedict later pushed back against those allegations, admitting he had attended the meeting but denying he intentionally concealed his presence.

In a statement shared with CNN, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) spoke of the “mixed feelings” the public may have of Benedict. “Sadly, many clergy abuse victims are not out of the woods in terms of healing from their wounds and getting the justice they deserve,” SNAP wrote.

Delia Gallagher Rob Picheta
Delia Gallagher
Rob Picheta

Joseph Ratzinger, former Pope Benedict XVI, shaped Catholic ...

CNN —

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, whose death at 95 was announced Saturday, was a powerful intellectual force who shaped the Catholic Church’s theology for more than a quarter century before shocking the world by resigning in 2013.

While not quite unprecedented, Benedict’s resignation was highly unusual. Popes typically hold office until death, and the last pope to step down was Gregory XII, who quit in 1415 to end a civil war within the church.

Bookended by globally popular and charismatic popes – St. John Paul II and Pope Francis – Benedict cut a different figure. Friends and biographers described him as quiet and scholarly, more at home among theological tomes than adoring crowds.

In typical fashion, Benedict announced his unexpected resignation in Latin. He was 85 at the time and cited his advanced age as ill-suited for the demands of running the Catholic Church.

The German-born Benedict saw himself, and the church, as a bulwark against secular trends in Western society, particularly what he called the “dictatorship of relativism.” He often insisted that Catholics maintain a fortress mentality, saying perhaps a smaller, “purer” church would best maintain Catholicism’s traditions and teachings.

As Pope, Benedict was a polarizing figure. He was hailed by conservatives who admired his erudite writings and careful theology. But critics, particularly in the postmodern West, called him “God’s Rottweiler” for his staunch insistence on fidelity to church’s doctrine and his willingness to silence dissent.

“He policed the boundaries of the faith,” said David Gibson, author of “The Rule of Benedict,” a biography of the former pope. “He was brilliant and brutally effective.”

Benedict also came under fire for his handling of the sexual abuse crisis that engulfed the Catholic church during his years as a senior cleric. A damning report published in January 2022 found that he knew about priests who abused children but failed to act when he was archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1982.

The son of a policeman

Joseph Ratzinger was born and raised in Bavaria, where he briefly served in the Hitler Youth, despite his objections, and the German military during World War II. His father, a policeman, loathed the Nazis, according to biographers.

Ratzinger, like his elder brother Georg, saw their future in the Catholic Church, entering a German seminary in 1945. Once ordained, Ratzinger rose quickly through the church, establishing himself as a leading theologian. Originally a liberal thinker, he turned conservative in 1968 in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, which upended a number of Catholic teachings.

In 1977, Ratzinger was appointed Archbishop of Munich and Freising. Later that year, former Pope Paul VI made the German scholar a cardinal, a sign of his growing reputation within the church.

From 1981 to 2005, Ratzinger ran the Vatican’s influential Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), the office responsible for stating and policing church doctrine. He was, in effect, Catholicism’s chief theologian during this time, said Gibson, Benedict’s biographer.

“His twenty-four years at the CDF were far more influential than his tenure as pope,” Gibson said.

His influence was certainly felt in the United States. In 1984, Ratzinger told the Order of Preachers, also known as the Dominicans, to investigate one of its monks, Matthew Fox, for heresy. The Vatican expelled Fox from the order in 1993.

In 1999, Ratzinger effectively silenced an American nun and priest engaged in LGBTQ ministry because they would not affirm the “Church’s teaching regarding the intrinsic evil of homosexual acts.” The nun and priest were “permanently prohibited from any pastoral work involving homosexual persons.”

But Ratzinger eventually tired of the job, reportedly asking Pope John Paul II to appoint him as a librarian at the Vatican’s library. John Paul refused.

‘Please don’t do this to me’

Ratzinger was dean of the College of Cardinals in 2005 when he became the sixth German to be picked as pope, the first since the 11th century. At the time, the church was facing several pressing issues, including declining popularity in parts of the world and a growing crisis over its role in handling sexual abuse accusations against priests.

As the conclave to appoint Pope John Paul II’s successor went on, Ratzinger said he quickly realized that he would be elected as the new Pope – though he was reluctant to assume the mantel of St. Peter.

“At a certain point, I prayed to God, ‘Please don’t do this to me,’” he told a German audience in 2005. “Evidently, this time he didn’t listen to me.”

Upon his election, Ratzinger took the name Benedict XVI as a nod to church history, he said. He chose the name to honor Benedict XV, who pursued peace during World War I, and the original St. Benedict, a monk “whose life evokes the Christian roots of Europe,” Ratzinger said.

At 78, he was the oldest person to have been elected pope since Pope Clement XII in 1730. Given his age, Benedict XVI was widely seen as a caretaker pope, a bridge to the next generation after the long tenure of John Paul II, a globe-trotting pontiff whose early youth and vigor gave way to such frailty in later years that he required help walking and was often hard to hear during public addresses.

In his tone, demeanor and actions, Benedict was notably different from his predecessor. Where John Paul wowed crowds around the world with his mastery of numerous languages, Benedict’s influence was felt through his erudite writings and theological rigor.

“In a world which he considered relativist and secular, his main thrust was to re-establish a sense of Catholic identity for Catholics themselves,” said Delia Gallagher, CNN’s Vatican correspondent.

As Pope, Benedict often championed a back-to-basics approach. Three of his encyclicals – letters from the Pope to Catholics around the world – were based on the theological virtues of faith, hope and love.

Bill Donohue, of the conservative US Catholic League, credited Benedict for working to reduce friction among adherents of various faiths, something that was a key part of John Paul’s mission as well.

But critics say Benedict didn’t always choose his words wisely. During a speech in Regensburg, Germany in 2006, he quoted a 14th century Byzantine emperor who criticized Islam, calling it violent, “evil and inhuman.”

His remarks were sharply criticized by heads of states in the Middle East and Muslim groups throughout the world. Effigies of Benedict were burnt in Basra, Iraq, and elsewhere in predominantly Muslim countries.

Benedict later apologized, saying he was “deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address.”

Criticism over sexual abuse crisis

Benedict became pope at the height of the molestation scandal involving Catholic priests, as complaints of sexual abuse and related lawsuits tore at the church and threatened its moral standing around the world.

In 2002, he asked Pope John Paul II to route all accusations of sexual abuse to his office, where he instituted changes meant to deal swiftly with accused priests. From 2004-2014, the Vatican defrocked 848 priests who raped or molested children and sanctioned another 2,572 with lesser penalties, according to the church. During that time, his office had received 3,400 accusations, according to the church.

The flood of accusations worldwide has waned at times but has never stopped.

In 2008, Benedict acknowledged “the shame which we have all felt” over abuse reports and said those responsible for the “evils” should face justice. Two years later he said abusive priests “disfigured their ministry” and brought “profound shame and regret” on the church.

That same year, 2010, he issued new rules aimed at stopping abuse. These included allowing church prosecution of suspected abusers for 20 years after the incidents occurred, up from 10 years previously. The rules also made it a church crime to download child pornography and allowed the pope to remove a priest without a formal Vatican trial.

In some cases, Benedict acted swiftly, as when he removed Marcial Maciel, a powerful Mexican priest who founded the conservative Legion of Christ, after years of allegations that he had sexually abused children.

“No one did more to successfully address the problem of priestly sexual abuse than Joseph Ratzinger,” Donohue said.

But others such as the late Barbara Blaine, the former president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the opposite was true.

“I would hate for him to be remembered as someone who did the right thing because from our perspective, Pope Benedict’s record has been abysmal,” said Blaine, who died in 2017.

In 2010, The New York Times reported that church officials, including Ratzinger, had failed to act in the case of a Wisconsin priest accused of molesting up to 200 boys. The Times reported that church officials stopped proceedings against the priest after he wrote Ratzinger.

Also in 2010, the Times reported that the future pope – while serving as the archbishop in Munich – had been copied on a memo informing him that a priest accused of molesting children was being returned to pastoral work. At the time, a spokesman for the archdiocese said Ratzinger received hundreds of memos a year, and it was highly unlikely that he had read it.

Twelve years later, a Church-commissioned report into abuse by Catholic clergy in the diocese found that Ratzinger had as archbishop been informed of four cases of sexual abuse involving minors – including two that had taken place while he was in office – but failed to act. In a letter published by the Vatican in February 2022, Benedict issued a general apology to survivors of abuse, writing: “Once again I can only express to all the victims of sexual abuse my profound shame, my deep sorrow and my heartfelt request for forgiveness.”

Over the years, victims’ groups pressed the International Criminal Court to prosecute Benedict in the sex abuse scandal.

David Gibson, Benedict’s biographer, said that, like many in the Vatican, the former pope was initially slow to recognize the magnitude of the church’s abuse crisis.

“Like so many in the church, he was part of the learning curve,” Gibson said.

The anti-Francis

Ultimately, however, Benedict showed little skill or interest in governing the vast and complex world of the Catholic Church, Gibson said.

In 2012, his butler was convicted of theft for leaking confidential papal documents to fight what he saw as deep corruption within the Holy See.

A year later, Benedict announced his resignation.

Since then, Benedict, who chose the name Pope Emeritus and continued to wear the traditional papal white, rarely left his monastery high on a hill in Vatican City, where he promised to live a “hidden life.”

Still, conservative Catholics tried to draw Benedict out, or at least use him as counterweight to the more liberal papacy of Francis. Some Catholics looked to him as an anti-Pope, or at least an anti-Francis.

The contrast between the two men was dramatized in a 2019 Netflix film, “The Two Popes,” which earned Anthony Hopkins an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Benedict.

The Rev. Joseph Fessio, an American Jesuit who studied under Benedict and has published his works at Ignatius Press, said the former Pope likely knew that conservatives were trying to pit him against Francis.

“In some ways, he has become the face of ‘the Resistance,’” Fessio said, “even though he hasn’t done anything to be a resistor.”

Benedict preferred to be called something more modest.

Before he left Rome in 2013, a crowd of 10,000 people gathered to bid him an emotional farewell.

“I am no longer the Pope but I am still in the church,” Benedict said. “I’m just a pilgrim who is starting the last part of his pilgrimage on this earth.”

Daniel Burke Hada Messia
Daniel Burke
Hada Messia