Pope Francis will preside over the funeral of his predecessor Benedict XVI on Thursday, it has been announced. On New Year’s Eve Francis kept with tradition and visited the nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square, despite Benedict’s death earlier in the day. From Monday, the first German pope of the modern era will lie in state in St Peter’s Basilica. Joseph Ratzinger, as he was then known, taught theology in the medieval Bavarian city of Regensburg and there the catholic faithful have been remembering him. European leaders pay tribute to former Pope Benedict XVI”He was really a great man in my e…