Sunday's Mass opened a heavy schedule of Holy Week appointments for the Pontiff, who was treated for a severe bout of bronchitis last week.
The Vatican said that the 86-year-old Roman Catholic pontiff would have to stay for "a few days" at Rome's Gemelli hospital for "appropriate" medical treatment.
New rules conform to other changes in the Catholic Church’s handling of abuses and address complaints of continued lack of transparency about the cases against senior clery and lay leaders.
Vatican authorities estimated some 100,000 would attend the ceremony of the resigned pope, higher than an original estimate of 60,000 according to media reports.
Earlier this week, Pope Francis disclosed that his predecessor was "very sick", and asked people to pray for him.
A 58-year-old religious sister has accused a Catholic priest of sexual abuse but she believes the priest was "protected" by the church hierarchy.
Catholic Church leader Pope Francis said the European Union member nations have to come together and collaborate on unified policy and help migrants.
About 30,000 worshippers join an open-air mass held by Pope Francis in Bahrain, the highlight of his outreach mission to the Gulf to build ties with Muslims.
Marc Ouellet is accused in a class action suit that targets more than 80 members of clergy in archdiocese of Quebec, court documents show.
The pontiff has given interviews to Italian and foreign media, but this was the first time that he answered questions on a talk show regularly followed by millions of viewers.
The European rights court says sexual abuses committed by Catholic priests for decades cannot be attributed to the Holy See.
Pope Francis spoke about the recent report that says some 330,000 French children were abused by clergy.
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