Catholics in Jerusalem mourned the loss of Pope Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, as church bells tolled and mourners gathered around the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where Christians believe Jesus was buried.

"(We) ask all Churches and monasteries to ring the bells as is our tradition," Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Holy See's top representative in Jerusalem, said in calling for celebration of Benedict XVI's life, Al-Monitor reported. "May the Lord grant him eternal rest!"

The loss of the only pope to resign in the past 600 years moved the world's 1.3 billion Catholics, including in Israel's capital city of Jerusalem.

"Pope Benedict was a great pope," seminarian Matteo Sassano told AFP, "also, a great companion of Pope Francis.

"We will accompany him with prayers."

Benedict was a conservative, traditional pope, something that drew criticism perhaps, but American visitor Don Faller, 65, remembered him as "a peaceful man."

"It's a continuation of old-style Catholicism which is very conservative," Faller told AFP.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recalled Benedict as a "true friend of the State of Israel and the Jewish people."

And Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hailed Benedict's "support for the freedom and independence of the Palestinian people."

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