Pope Francis praises Benedict as Vatican prepares for funeral

By Philip Pullella VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican on Wednesday served up a surreal moment in which a living pope spoke to some of the faithful in one part of the tiny city-state while others a short distance way were honouring a deceased former pontiff. Pope Francis held his general audience in a large modern hall, a routine event for a Wednesday. "I would like us to join with those here beside us who are paying their respects to Benedict XVI," Francis told several thousand people at the start of his audience, in which he is concluding a catechesis, or religious teaching. Francis, 86, wh...