The President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has decreed this Thursday a day of national mourning as a gesture of homage for the late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, coinciding with the funeral that will take place this Thursday at the Vatican.
The Portuguese Presidency announced the day of mourning in a brief statement. Rebelo de Sousa, a practicing Catholic, has also confirmed that he will attend the funeral in memory of Joseph Ratzinger, who died on Saturday at the age of 95.
During his pontificate, Benedict XVI visited Portugal on one occasion, in 2010, and celebrated a mass in the sanctuary of Fatima.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
