Pope Benedict XVI's tomb opens to the public

STORY: Former Pope Benedict was buried on Thursday (January 5) in the same spot in the crypts under St. Peter's Basilica where Pope John Paul II was originally interred in 2005 before his body was moved up to a chapel in the basilica in 2011.

Benedict's death on December 31 brought to an end a decade of the former and present pope living side-by-side in the Vatican and it was the first time in more than 200 years that a pontiff had led the service for his predecessor.

His death was a loss for conservatives who yearned for a return to a more traditional Church symbolised by Benedict, who shocked the world in 2013, by becoming the first pope in 600 years to resign instead of reigning for life.