Vatican City
Reuters
Former Pope Benedict, a hero to Roman Catholic conservatives who shocked the world by resigning nearly a decade ago, will be given a final farewell on Thursday at a funeral presided over by his successor.
Chairs are laid outside St Peter’s Basilica in preperation for former Pope Benedict’s funeral, while the formerPope’s body lies in state at the Basilica, at the Vatican, on 4th January, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Kai Pfaffenbach
Benedict died at 95 last Saturday in a monastery within the Vatican gardens where he moved after becoming the first pontiff in 600 years to stand down, opening the way for the election of Pope Francis, who has proved a more reformist, hands-on leader.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to attend Thursday’s funeral in front of the imposing St Peter’s Basilica. In keeping with Benedict’s wishes, the ceremony will be simple, sombre and sober, the Vatican has said.
GUIDE TO THE FUNERAL OF POPE EMERITUS BENEDICT ON THURSDAY
Pope Francis will preside at a funeral Mass in St Peter’s Square on Thursday for his predecessor former Pope Benedict, who died on Saturday at the age of 95.
More than 60,000 people are expected to attend. There will be official delegations from Italy and Benedict’s native Germany. Other leaders, including the King and Queen of Belgium and the Queen of Spain, and about 13 heads of state of state or government, will attend in a private capacity. Most countries will be represented by their ambassadors to the Vatican.
Here is a guide to what is expected to happen:
END OF LYING IN STATE
Since Monday, the body of the Emeritus Pope has been lying in state in St Peter’s Basilica, where more than 160,000 people had filed past to pay their respects as of midday Wednesday. The viewing is due to end at 7pm. The body will then be placed in a coffin made of cypress wood, along with several papal items such as vestments symbolising his role as pope and bishop, and coins and medals that were minted during his pontificate. Also included will be a lead tube with a deed in Latin listing the key points in his pontificate. The cypress coffin will be closed privately in the presence of a few close aides, such as Archbishop Georg Ganswein, who was Benedict’s long-time secretary, and other members of the household where he lived after he resigned the papacy in 2013, the first pope to do so in 600 years.
PROCESSION, PRAYERS AND MASS
At 8:45am on Thursday, ushers known as papal gentlemen will carry the coffin in procession out of the basilica and place it on the steps facing St Peter’s Square. The faithful will pray the rosary for about 45 minutes. The funeral Mass presided over by Pope Francis is due to start at 9:30am. At first, the Pope will sit before the coffin facing the crowd. The Sistine Chapel choir will start its singing with the introductory rites. The Pope will then move to a chair to the side of the altar and preside from there, sitting most of the time because of knee aliment that impedes him from standing for too long. The celebrant standing at the altar will be Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals. Francis will deliver the homily at the Mass, which will be con-celebrated by 120 cardinals, 400 bishops and nearly 4,000 priests. At the end of the Mass, Francis will recite “The Final Commendation and Farewell” asking God to “console the Church”. The liturgy for the funeral Mass is based mostly on that for a pope who dies while reigning, with some minor modifications, particularly in a few prayers and readings. One prayer will include petitions to God for both Benedict and Francis. Near the end of the Mass, Francis will sprinkle holy water on the coffin and incense it. He will say in Latin: “Gracious Father, we commend to your mercy Pope Emeritus Benedict, whom you made successor of Peter and shepherd of the Church, a fearless preacher of your word and a faithful minister of the divine mysteries.” The choir will then sing in Latin: “May the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs come and welcome you and take you into the holy city, the new and eternal Jerusalem.”
PRIVATE SERVICE AND BURIAL
The pall bearers will then carry the cypress coffin back into the basilica for a private service in which it will be sealed and wrapped in ribbons. It will then be placed into a zinc coffin, which will be soldered shut. Both will then go into a larger, wooden coffin. Benedict will then be buried according to his wishes in the same spot in the crypts under St. Peter’s Basilica where Pope John Paul II was originally interred in 2005 before his body was moved up to a chapel in the basilica in 2011. The burial will also be a private service.
– PHILIP PULLELLA
The open-air service will start at 9:30am and last around two hours.
The lying-in-state ended on Wednesday evening and the body was put into a plain cypress wood coffin ready for the funeral. A one-page account of Benedict’s papacy, along with other items, including Vatican coins minted during his reign, were also tucked into the coffin.
After the ceremony, the coffin will be taken back inside the basilica and encased in zinc before being sealed in a second wooden casket.
Because Benedict was no longer a head of state when he died, only two countries, Italy and his native Germany, will send official delegations to the funeral.
Others leaders, including the king and queen of Belgium and the queen of Spain, and about 13 heads of state of state or government, will attend in a private capacity. Most nations were being represented by their ambassadors to the Holy See.
It is a far cry from the last papal funeral in 2005, when dozens of kings, presidents and prime ministers joined more than a million people who flooded the streets around the Vatican to pay their respects to Benedict’s charismatic predecessor, John Paul II.
An intellectual theologian, Benedict was always likely to rule in the shadow of John Paul, who was credited with helping end the Cold War. But his time in charge was to a degree spent trying to overcome problems the Church had ignored or covered up in previous decades, including rampant sexual abuses by clerics.
Benedict himself acknowledged he was a weak administrator, and after eight years in the job he stunned the world’s 1.3 billion Catholics in 2013 by resigning, saying he was no longer strong enough to lead the Church due to his “advanced age”.
Standard bearer
Even though he largely avoided public appearances in subsequent years, he remained a standard-bearer for Catholic conservatives, who felt alienated by reforms ushered in by Francis, including cracking down on the old Latin Mass.
Over the past three days almost 200,000 people have filed past Benedict’s body dressed in a mitre and red vestments, his hands wrapped in a rosary, which was placed on a bier in St Peter’s Basilica without any papal regalia.
“He was a great pope, a marvellous pope. He was able to explain the scriptural matters of faith and also the traditional teachings of the Church,” said Father Callistus Kahale Kabindama, a priest from Zambia.
At his request, Benedict will be buried in the underground Vatican grottoes in the niche where first Pope John XXIII and then John Paul II were interred before their remains were transferred to more prominent places in the basilica above.
More than 1,000 Italian security personnel were called up to help safeguard the event and air space around the tiny Holy See has been closed off for the day. Italy ordered that flags around the country be hung at half staff.
While many leading figures have praised Benedict since his death, criticism has also been aired, including by victims of clergy sexual abuse, who have accused him of seeking to protect the church at all costs.
“Much like John Paul II, Benedict was more concerned about the Church’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.
