The Catholic Church on Thursday laid to rest Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in front of a fog-shrouded St Peter’s Basilica with an extraordinary funeral presided over by his own successor, Pope Francis, a final peculiarity to end a strange era in the modern church in which two popes, one resigned and one in power, one conservative and one liberal, coexisted in the tiny confines of the Vatican.

“Benedict, faithful friend of the Bridegroom,” Francis said in his homily, referring to Jesus’ role as husband to the church, “may your joy be complete as you hear his voice, now and forever!”