Pope Francis has approved the changes aimed at simplifying and adapting the funeral rites of pontiffs so that this ceremony reflects his mission as a pastor and disciple of Christ.
The Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff has been responsible for editing and publishing these variations, compiled in the second edition of the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, a liturgical book approved by Pope Francis on 29 April.
Among the most significant changes is that from now on, the confirmation of the death of the Pope will no longer take place in the room of the deceased, but in the chapel. This change refers to the so-called “first station”.
As for the “second station,” Pope Francis has eliminated the first transfer to the Apostolic Palace, decreeing that the body be placed immediately in the coffin and that the veneration of the faithful be carried out with the body of the Pontiff already inside the open coffin and without a catafalque, the ornate frame that is usually placed in a temple for solemn funeral honours.
It also establishes that the coffin must be closed the day before the funeral Mass and must be transported to St. Peter’s only once.
As for the “third station,” which includes the transfer of the coffin to the tomb and the burial, the traditional three coffins of cypress, lead and oak are eliminated. This is a tradition in which the cypress represents the mortality and humility of the Pope, the lead ensures the preservation of the body and the oak or walnut the dignity and honour of the Pontificate.
The Holy Father has therefore ordered that the body of the deceased Pope should be placed in a wooden coffin with an inner lining made of zinc.
It also confirms the possibility that he could be buried outside the Vatican. It should be remembered that Pope Francis wants his mortal remains to rest in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and not in St. Peter’s.
These variations, as reported by Vatican News, replace what was approved in 1998 by Saint John Paul II, which was used at the funeral of the same Pontiff in 2005 and in 2023, with some variations, at the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.
Archbishop Diego Ravelli, Master of Liturgical Celebrations of the Pontiffs, explained that with these changes Pope Francis expresses his desire to “simplify and adapt some rites so that the celebration of the funeral of the Bishop of Rome would better express the faith of the Church in the risen Christ.”
“The renewed rite was also intended to emphasize even more that the funeral of the Roman Pontiff is that of a pastor and disciple of Christ and not of a powerful man of this world,” the prelate said.
Pope Francis already expressed this desire during an interview with Spanish Vatican expert Javier Martínez-Brocal last April, in the context of the publication of his recent book The Successor: My Memories of Benedict XVI.
The objective of this renewal, as specified in the official Vatican media, has also been the adaptation to the Constitution Prædicate Evangelium published by Pope Francis in March 2022.