Joanne M. Pierce is a professor emeritus of religious studies at College of the Holy Cross.
The 88 -year -old pontiff was well aware of his fragile state and his advanced age. From 2015, Pope Francis had expressed desire be buried in The Basilica of Santa Maria MaggioreA fifth century church in Rome dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. He was so devoted to Mary and his basilica that after each of his more than 100 trips abroad, he visited him after his return to Rome to pray and meditate.
No pope was buried in Santa Maria Maggiore since the 17th century, when Pope Clement IX was buried there.
I am a Catholic liturgical history specialist. Over the previous centuries, the papal funerals were developed affairs, the ceremonies suitable for a prince of the Renaissance or another royal figure. But in recent years, the The rites were simplified. As Pope Francis has forced it, here are the stages that the ritual will follow.
First station: body preparation
Funeral rites take place in three parts, called stations. The first takes place in the Pope’s private chapel after health professionals certified His death. Until recently, this stage had taken place at the bedside of the Pope.
After the body is in rest in the chapel, the cardinal serving as Camerlengo of the Pope – The Pope’s chief of staff – will make the arrangements for the funeral. He is also responsible for executing the Vatican to a The new pope is elected. The current Camerlengo is Cardinal Kevin Joseph FarrellAppointed by Francis in 2019.
As has been done for centuries, Camerlengo will officially call the Pope who died by the full name which was given to him when he was baptized as an infant – Jorge Mario Bergoglio. There are stories or legends saying that at present, the Pope has also been typed three times on the front with a small silver hammer. However, there is no documented evidence that it was done in previous centuries to verify the death of a Pope.
Traditionally, another old rite will also take place after the declaration of the Pope’s death: the degradation of the Pope’s ring. Each pope has a tailor-made ring with an image engraved with a man fishing for a boat, listening to the Gospel of Matthew, where Jesus calls Saint-Pierre a “men’s fisherman. “This ring of this fisherman, with the name of The current pope engraved on the imagecould act as a seal on official documents. Camerlengo will break the ring of Francis and break the seal with a hammer or another instrument to prevent any other person from using it.
Pope’s apartments will also be locked, with No one is allowed to enter; Traditionally, this has been done to prevent looting.
Second station: see the body
The deceased pope will be dressed in his flexible white cassoche and his simple red clothes, then placed in a simple wooden coffin. This will be transported in procession to the Saint-Pierre Basilica, where the visualization of the public will take place for the next three days.
The Pope’s body will be left in the open coffin and open during this viewing period in order to highlight the humble role of the Pope as a pastor, Not a head of state. The previous practice would have been to place the body on a large raised platform, called catafalque; It ended with the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI in 2022.
Pope Benoît was also the last pope to be buried in the traditional Three coffins of cypress, lead and elm. Two coffins contained specific documents on his pontificate; The first coffin also held the Three traditional parts of parts – gold, silver and copper – representative each year of his pontificate.
During Francis funerals, after the visualization of the public, an ordinary white fabric will be placed on the pope’s face while it is in the oak coffin, a continuous part of papal funerals. But it will be the first time that only a A single coffin will be used; He will probably contain a document describing his pontificate and a bag of parts of his pontificate Also.
The funeral mass will then be celebrated in Saint-Pierre, most likely inside because of the end of winter, and there will probably be a crowd of believers outside, assembled on the square. Homely will think about the life and spirituality of the deceased pope; Francis Himself preached During the funeral of his retired predecessor, Pope Benoît. And the future Pope Benoît, like Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, preached At the funeral of Pope St. John Paul II When Ratzinger was the chief, or the dean, of all the senior church officials – what is called the College of Cardinals.
The current dean is 91 years old Cardinal Giovanni Battista ReAnd it is not clear if it will be able to continue this tradition because of its advanced age. The masses will continue to be said in the memory of Francis for nine days after his death – a period called the novinalis. This ritual was inspired by an ancient Roman tradition prescribing a period of mourning ending the ninth day After a death.
Third station: burial
Popes in the past have been buried in several different places. Until the legalization of Christianity in the Roman Empire at the beginning of the fourth century, the popes would be buried in the catacombs, the place of burial on the outskirts from Rome.
Subsequently, the popes could be buried in a certain number of different places, such as the Basilica of Saint -Jean -Lustran – the official Cathedral of Rome – or other churches in Rome and the surrounding area. Some were even buried in France In the 14th century, when the papacy moved to the French border for political reasons.
Most popes are buried in the caves under Saint-Pierre, and since Pope Leo XIII Burial at St. John Leterran in 1903, each pope was buried in St. Peter’s. According to the wishes of Francis, however, there will probably be a procession through Rome to Santa Maria Maggiore, including the hearse and the cars by transporting others that will witness this private ritual.
After a few final prayers and a pinch of holy water, the coffin will be placed in its final location inside the church. It is only later that the area will be open to the public for prayers and veneration.
After so many trips from Rome to visit Catholic communities in the countries of the world, and so many visits to this basilica for prayer and meditation, it seems appropriate that at the end of the trip of his life, Francis would make a last trip to the church that he loved so much to rest forever.
This article is republished from The conversation Under a creative communs license.