Pope Francis’ face was forever hidden from the world when his coffin was closed at 8 o’clock on Friday evening, April 25, just as the sun was setting over Rome.
The private prayer service and ancient rite in St. Peter’s Basilica were presided over by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo (chamberlain) and the deceased pope’s trusted friend.
The closing of the coffin took place after more than 250,000 Romans and pilgrims had filed past Pope Francis’ body, paying their last respects as he lay in state. Countless thousands more would have done the same but did not have the chance to do so, as the Vatican had to close the entrance to the basilica for the ceremony of the closing of the coffin.
Inside the casket was a scroll that summarized the life and ministry of the pope, who died April 21 at the age of 88.
It noted how, in Argentina, “he was a simple and well-loved pastor in his archdiocese, traveling far and wide, including by subway and bus. He lived in an apartment and made his own dinner, because he felt like one of the people.”
A piece of silk cloth was laid over the face of the pope, who was dressed in a red chasuble and was wearing the worn black shoes he always wore.
Pallbearers will bring the coffin from the basilica and place it in front of the altar overlooking St. Peter’s Square at 10 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, April 26, for the funeral Mass that will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 91, the dean of the College of Cardinals.
Seated on the right-hand side of the altar will be delegations from no fewer than 112 nations, reigning monarchs from 12 countries, top representatives from the main international organizations and the major world religions. Among the high dignitaries will be the presidents of Argentina, Javier Milei; Italy, Sergio Mattarella; and the present and past presidents of the United States, Donald J. Trump and Joseph R. Biden. The secretary general of the United Nations, António Guterres, and the president of the EuropeanCommission, Ursula von der Leyen, will also be present.
The cardinals will be seated on the left-hand side of the altar. As of this morning, 149 of the 252 members of the College of Cardinals had arrived in Rome from five continents. They will concelebrate the Mass together with hundreds of bishops and priests, a Mass that it is estimated some 250,000 people will attend.
At the end of Mass, there will be special prayers for the deceased Argentine and Jesuit pope, and then his coffin will be taken back into the basilica, placed in a hearse and taken to the place he has chosen to be buried: St. Mary Major’s Basilica.
This final stage of Pope Francis’ funeral will be like something not seen in Rome for 100 years. As his coffin is taken from St. Peter’s Basilica to St. Mary Major’s Basilica, a funeral hearse, followed by a small motorcade including cardinals, the pope’s relatives and the secretaries, nurses and butlers who cared for him, will follow the ancient Papal Way.
It is the route the popes took in the Middle Ages when they traveled, usually on horseback, from St. Peter’s Basilica, following their consecration as successors of St. Peter, to the basilica of St. John Lateran to take possession of that church and the palace.
The last time the body of a pope was carried along this route was 1924, when Pope Leo XIII’s coffin was taken from St. Peter’s Basilica to the Basilica of St. John Lateran, where, according to his wish, the 93-year-old pope was buried.
The hearse carrying Pope Francis’ coffin will travel the same four-mile route “at walking pace,” the Vatican decided. It will pass through the heart of Rome.
It will be taken from St. Peter’s Basilica out of the Vatican, through the the Perugino Gate (Porta del Perugino) that is next to Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse where Francis lived since his election on March 13, 2013, and where he died on Easter Monday, April 21. From there the procession will continue to the bridge of the Principe Amadeo Savoia Aosta (with Castel Sant’ Angelo visible on the left side), and along the Corso Vittorio Emmanuele II, through Piazza del Gesu, passing by the church of the Gesú, the mother church of the Society of Jesus, to Piazza Venezia.
It will then proceed slowly along the Via dei Fori Imperiali, passing by what was once the Roman Senate, and the Colosseum, where early Christians met their death, along the Via Labicana, leaving the Basilica of St. John Lateran on the right, and then moving along the Via Merulana to the square and the basilica of St. Mary Major.
There, on the steps of the basilica, a group of 40 poor and needy people, including migrants, prisoners, the homeless and transgender people will welcome the coffin containing the remains of “the pope of the poor.”
On his first meeting with the press on March 16, 2013, Pope Francis said, “How I want a poor church and for the poor.” It is fitting that on this day the poor will be near him as he goes to his final place of rest on earth.
Cardinal Re, who will celebrate the requiem Mass, paid a special tribute to Pope Francis today in an interview with the Italian daily La Repubblica. He recalled that “in the [pope’s] last days,” he was close to him because of the responsibilities of his office as dean of the College of Cardinals. “As a man,” he said, “I was upset at seeing how he was suffering.” But, he said, “What surprised me was to ascertain how he was determined to serve the church and to love his people with all his energies to the very end.”
He revealed that at one moment he was so greatly impressed by Pope Francis that he felt himself to be “a privileged witness” in front of “a giant of the faith.” It happened “on Easter [Sunday] morning when the pope presented himself, seated in a wheelchair, on the Loggia of Blessings of St. Peter’s Basilica.” He saw Francis “suffering, almost deprived of strength and with a pallid face, tense and downcast, [but] nevertheless wanting to give the Urbi et Orbi blessing.”
He said the pope was “forced to omit some formal aspects [of the prayers] because of his precarious condition,” but “he pushed himself to give the Easter greetings with a weak voice. It was the last time we heard him [speak].”
He recalled that when Pope Francis returned from the balcony after giving the blessing, “without listening to the advice of those who invited him to return to Casa Santa Marta to rest, with force he wanted to go down to St. Peter’s Square to be among the people. It was his choice, [he was] determined, I would say stubborn, but certainly driven by his fatherly desire to want to greet one more time the faithful and the pilgrims gathered within the colonnades [of St. Peter’s Square] waiting for him.
“And he, drawing on his few remaining strengths, didn’t want to disappoint them. I had never seen him so determined in wanting to go among the pilgrims, without knowing that it was his last time.”
Material from Catholic News Service was used in this report.
