By Philip Pullella
VATICAN&nbsp;CITY (Reuters) -Pope&nbsp;Francis marked the Roman Catholic Church's traditional World Day of Peace on Sunday but the start of the&nbsp;new&nbsp;year&nbsp;at the&nbsp;Vatican&nbsp;was overshadowed by the&nbsp;death&nbsp;of his predecessor,&nbsp;Benedict.
Francis presided at a Mass in St. Peter's Basilica as the body of&nbsp;Benedict, who died on Saturday at the age of 95, was being prepared for three days of public viewing in the same church starting Monday.
On Sunday the&nbsp;Vatican&nbsp;released the first images of the late&nbsp;Benedict, showing him dressed in red and gold liturgical vestments and laying in state in the chapel of the monastery where he died.
His body will be moved privately to the basilica, unlike what followed the&nbsp;death&nbsp;in 2005 of&nbsp;Pope&nbsp;John Paul, whose body was moved in a solemn outdoor procession that was televised live around the world.
In accordance with&nbsp;Benedict's wishes, his funeral on Thursday will be simple and solemn. It will be the first time in many centuries that a sitting&nbsp;pope&nbsp;will preside at the funeral of his predecessor.&nbsp;Benedict, who stepped down in 2013, had been the first pontiff in 600&nbsp;years to resign.
Jan. 1 is also the feast of the Mother of God and in his homily, Francis asked the Madonna to accompany "our beloved"&nbsp;Pope&nbsp;Emeritus&nbsp;Benedict&nbsp;"on his passage from this world to God".
Benedict&nbsp;was also remembered in one of the prayers at the Mass.
In his homily, Francis urged his listeners to work actively for peace, and not "waste time glued to a keyboard in front of a computer screen" but to "dirty our hands and to do some good".
Later at his Sunday blessing in St. Peter's Square, Francis made another appeal for an end to the conflict in Ukraine, saying it was "intolerable contrast" with the theme of the day.
PRAISE, BUT ALSO CRITICISM FOR&nbsp;BENEDICT
On Saturday night the&nbsp;Vatican&nbsp;released&nbsp;Benedict's two-page "spiritual testimony" written in 2006, a&nbsp;year&nbsp;after his election as&nbsp;pope. There was no explanation why&nbsp;Benedict&nbsp;did not update it as he became older and more frail.
In it, he asked in a general, spiritual way, that God would welcome him to internal life "despite all my sins and insufficiencies".
Francis on Saturday called&nbsp;Benedict&nbsp;a noble, kind man who was a gift to the Church and the world.
While tributes to the&nbsp;former&nbsp;pope&nbsp;continued to be made by world leaders, and conservative members of the faithful, others were highly critical of his pontificate.
Some recalled the severe discipline he meted out to progressive theologians, particularly in Latin America, when he was head of the&nbsp;Vatican's doctrinal department under&nbsp;Pope&nbsp;John Paul II. Those actions prompted liberal Catholics to dub then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger "God's Rottweiler".
And while some have credited&nbsp;Benedict&nbsp;with taking important steps to formalise the&nbsp;Vatican's response to clergy sexual abuse, victims groups accused him of protecting the institution at all costs.
"In our view, the&nbsp;death&nbsp;of&nbsp;Pope&nbsp;Benedict&nbsp;XVI is a reminder that, much like John Paul II,&nbsp;Benedict&nbsp;was more concerned about the Church&rsquo;s deteriorating image and financial flow to the hierarchy versus grasping the concept of true apologies followed by true amends to victims of abuse," the anti-abuse group SNAP said.
Like many&nbsp;Vatican&nbsp;officials who worked with&nbsp;Benedict, Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet said he believed the German pontiff had left behind "a great legacy" as a man of God and a man of culture.
"I believe this is also a task for the future, to deeply rethink the Christian faith in the face of the challenges of our time," Ouellet told Reuters.
(Reporting by Philip PullellaEditing by Crispian Balmer and Frances Kerry)

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Death of former Pope Benedict overshadows New Year at Vatican