Here’s how the funeral of Pope Francis break with tradition Blogging Sole

Even before Saturday funeral For Pope Francis In the Vatican, the leader known as “the Pope of the People” has already broken with certain traditions in the way that the pontiffs are put to rest. His body was lying down For three days in the Saint-Pierre basilica, where public members have deposited a past to pay tribute.

Unlike its predecessors, which were buried in three nested coffins – one in cypress, a lead and an elm – the humble Francis chose to be buried in a simple wooden coffin.

This change came as part of recently updated Funeral planning For Pontiff, published at the end of last year and approved by Francis.

The Ordo Exequesiliarum Romani Pontificis, as it is called in Latin, also says that the public will be able to see the body of the Pope in an open coffin.

Here’s how the funeral of Pope Francis break with tradition

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People made their farewell to Pope Francis in his coffin opened in the Saint-Pierre basilica on his last day of bed in the state, April 25, 2025.

Christoph Reichwein / Picture Alliance via Getty Images

Another rupture of tradition is his direction that the verification of the death of the pope should take place in a chapel, not his room.

“A second edition (official funeral rites for pontiffs) has become necessary, first of all because Pope Francis has asked for it, as he himself declared it from the need to simplify and adapt certain rites so that the celebration of the funeral of the bishop of Rome can better express (SIC) the faith of the Church in the Risen a declaration published by the Vatican.

Archbishop Ravelli also said: “The renewed rite also had to emphasize even more than the funeral of the Roman pontiff is that of a pastor and a disciple of Christ and not of a powerful person of this world.”

The other major breakdown of Papal funeral tradition is the place where Francis has chosen to be buried.

In his Last will and willPublished shortly after his death, Francis asked that he be heard outside the Vatican, in the papal basilica of St. Mary Major (Santa Maria Maggiore, in Italian). He has often visited this old church in Rome to pray before and after his travels.

Pope Francis
Pope Francis celebrates the sacred mass in private on the altar of Saint Ignace de Loyola in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, December 8, 2020.

Grzegorz Galazka / Archivio Grzegorz Galazka / Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images

Many popes are buried inside the Vatican, in the Vatican caves, a safe system at the lower level of the Saint-Pierre basilica. The Church says Seven The popes in history have been buried in St. Mary Major, but Francis will be the first in centuries.

“I hope that my last terrestrial trip ends precisely in this former Marian sanctuary where I went for prayer at the beginning and at the end of each apostolic trip to entrust my intentions with confidence to the Immaculate Mother and to thank her for her docile and maternal care,” said Francis in her will.

“The grave must be on earth; simple, without any particular decoration and with the only inscription: Franciscus,” he said. It is also a gap compared to other popes whose graves include an inscription honoring their papacy.

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