Biden absent from Pope Benedict’s funeral

On Tuesday, in response to a question, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said that “the US ambassador to the Holy See, Joe Donnelly, will represent the United States at the funeral of the pope in line with the wishes of the late pope and the Vatican. This is what their requests were.”

Biden had an awkward exchange on Wednesday with reporters who asked why he was not attending the funeral.

Before boarding Marine One on his way to Kentucky, EWTN's Owen Jensen asked Biden, "You're not attending his funeral tomorrow though, why?"

He replied, "Well, why do you think?"

"Well, you tell me," Jensen responded.

Biden answered, "you know why," as the reporter followed up with, "you can tell me."

"The reason I'm not attending the funeral tomorrow is it would take an entourage of a thousand people to show up," Biden said. "We would move everything in the wrong direction," adding "we would just get in the way."

According to the Vatican’s press office, only two official state delegations, those from Germany and Italy, were invited to the funeral.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said, “following the wishes of the pope emeritus, the funeral will be held under the sign of simplicity,” adding that the occasion would be a “solemn but sober funeral.”

He continued, “The express request on the part of the emeritus pope is that everything be simple, both with regard to the funeral as well as the other celebrations and gestures during this time of pain.”

Even though only two state delegations were officially invited to attend the funeral, some heads of state chose to attend the funeral in an unofficial capacity.

According to NCA, “Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala, and Slovenian President Nataša Pirc Musar” are among those who attended the funeral in St. Peter's Square, as well as “European royals Queen Sofia of Spain and King Philip and Queen Mathilde of Belgium.”

Benedict XVI passed away at the age of 95 on Dec. 31 and according to his personal secretary Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the pope emeritus’ last words were “Signore, ti amo!” (Lord, I love you).

Pope Francis presided over the ceremony at the Vatican and the late pope will be buried later in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica.