Pope’s coffin sealed in private ceremony after 250,000 visit basilica

After the funeral Mass on 26 April, Pope Francis’ remains will be brought from the Vatican through Rome to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for burial.

Pope Francis’ coffin was closed and sealed in a private ceremony on Friday evening after more than 250,000 people paid their final respects to the late Pope over three days of public mourning.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo of the papal household, presided over the rite of the closing and sealing of the coffin in St Peter’s, which was attended by cardinals of the Roman Curia, the Pope’s secretaries, and several of his relatives.

Priests of the Chapter of St Peter, a group responsible for the liturgical and sacramental care of the basilica, will keep vigil over the coffin during the night until the funeral Mass in St Peter’s Square on Saturday morning.

The liturgy, which lasted one hour, began with the reading of the rogito, a two-page Latin summary of Francis’ life and papacy.

The choir chanted the Canticle of Zachariah, there was a moment for silent prayer, and then Farrell read a prayer in Latin asking the Lord that Pope Francis’ face, “which scrutinised your ways to show them to the Church, now see your fatherly face”.

Following the prayer, Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli, the Vatican’s master of ceremonies for papal liturgies, covered Pope Francis’ face in a white silk veil. Farrell sprinkled holy water on the late pontiff’s body, and Ravelli placed inside the coffin a copy of the rogito and a bag with the coins minted during Francis’ pontificate.

The interior zinc coffin was closed and sealed. A cross, Pope Francis’ coat of arms, and a plaque with his papal name, the length of his life – 88 years, four months, and four days – and the length of his pontificate – 12 years, one month, and eight days – was marked on its outside.

Then, the outer wooden coffin, bearing a cross and the coat of arms of Francis, was closed.

The rite concluded with the singing of psalms and antiphons, including the Marian antiphon for the Easter season, the Regina Caeli.

After the funeral Mass on 26 April, Pope Francis’ remains will be brought from the Vatican through Rome to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where he will be buried in another private ceremony.

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