What to Know About Pope Francis’s Funeral Rites


Pope Francis died on Monday on the age of 88, after a stroke, the Vatican mentioned. His funeral shall be held on Saturday, and, per custom, there are a sequence of rituals that can happen over the following few days earlier than he’s buried.

Francis had beforehand revised and simplified the funeral rites that will be used upon his demise, based on The Related Press. Nonetheless, lots of the rituals over the following a number of days will comply with centuries-old custom. On Monday, church leaders adopted Catholic custom in closing the pope’s residence on the Apostolic Palace by placing a pink ribbon on the door handles and sealing the knot with wax, based on the AP.

Right here’s what to know in regards to the funeral rituals for Pope Francis.

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On Monday evening, the camerlengo, who runs the Vatican after the demise or resignation of the pope and earlier than the election of the following pontiff, oversaw the ceremony of ascertainment of Francis’ demise and the location of his physique within the coffin. The camerlengo is Cardinal Kevin Farrell. Medical doctors, different cardinals, and members of Francis’s household had been current for the ceremony.

Francis’s physique will relaxation in his private chapel till his coffin is transferred to St. Peter’s Basilica for public viewing on Wednesday. The camerlengo will lead the procession. As a part of the reforms he made, Francis eliminated the requirement that the pope’s physique be laid on an elevated bier for public viewing; as an alternative, the pope’s physique shall be positioned in a easy coffin dealing with the pews, based on AP.

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Francis will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica till his funeral, which is scheduled to start out at 10 a.m. native time on Saturday in St. Peter’s Sq.. The Vatican mentioned that the dean of the School of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, will preside over the ceremony. Francis’s revisions for the funeral rites permits burial outdoors the Vatican. The Vatican introduced on Tuesday that Francis shall be buried in St. Mary Main Basilica positioned in Rome; Francis beforehand mentioned he wished to be buried there, fairly than in St. Peter’s Basilica or its grottoes, which is the place many of the popes are buried, AP reported.

9 days of official mourning, known as the “Novemdiales,” will start after the pope’s funeral.