Vatican City (AP) — Cardinals set Saturday as the funeral date after Pope Francis’ death, allowing ordinary faithful to pay the final respect brought to St. Peter’s Cathedral from Wednesday.
The Cardinals first met at the Vatican Synod Hall on Tuesday, charting the next steps before Conclave began choosing a successor to Francis.
The Cards set up a funeral at St. Peter’s Square at 10am on Saturday and was celebrated by the Dean of the Cardinal of College College Giovanni Batista Re Cardinal.
US President Donald Trump has announced plans for him and First Lady Melania Trump to attend Saturday’s funeral.
Francis passed away Monday at the age of 88 after he suffered a stroke that caused him to fall asleep and failed his heart. He was hospitalized for five weeks with pneumonia before recovering in his apartment. He made his final public appearance on Sunday, delivering Easter blessings and looping around St. Peter’s Square with his final greetings to his followers from Popemovie.
Looking back, his Easter appearance from the same loggia, introduced to the world as the first pope from the Americas on March 13, 2013, was the perfect bookend for the Pope for 12 years, which sought to shake up the church and return it to the Gospel-mandated mission of caring for the poor with the gospel covered.
“He gave himself to the end,” said Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, head of the Italian Bishops’ Conference, who considered him the next candidate to be the Pope. “Tell me to go out and see everyone, talk to everyone, and congratulate you all.”
The first image of Francis’ body was released on Tuesday, where he showed him in a wooden cas, a red feeder and his bishop’s miter, and the Vatican Secretary of State prayed him in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta Hotel, where he lived and died.
In his final will, Francis confirmed that he would be buried outside the Vatican and in Major St. Mary’s Basilica, home to the Virgin Mary’s favorite icon. Before and after his foreign trip, Francis goes to the Cathedral, praying before a Byzantine-style painting featuring images of Mary covered in blue robes, embracing the young Jesus and holding a golden book of jewels.
After 38 days of hospitalization, Francis stopped by the Basilica on his way back from Gemeri Hospital on March 23rd to deliver flowers in front of the icon. He returned on April 12th and finally prayed before Madonna.
The world reacts
Bells rang in chapels, churches and cathedrals around the world, and flags were announced by Vatican Camerlengo before flying to half staff in Italy, India, Taiwan and the United States. The Italian-Argentina soccer match was stopped in honor of the Argentine Pope, a lifelong fan of the San Lorenzo soccer club.
World leaders praised Francis for his moral leadership and compassion, and ordinary loyal people remembered his simplicity and humanity.
“I think he was a rebel, like all Argentina,” said 23-year-old Catalina Fabaro. “He may have been contradictory, but that was good too.”
In East Timor, where Francis’ last outdoor masses pulled almost half its population last September, President Jose Ramos Horta praised Francis for his courage. “Papa Francis was a brave man who was not afraid to speak to the rulers of the world who wanted war but didn’t want peace,” said Ramos Horta.
“He challenged the power to act with justice, called a nation that welcomes strangers, and reminded us that our common home – this earth is a gift that must be protected for future generations,” said Nigerian Muslim President Bora Tinubu. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, with around 30 million Catholics, accounting for around 14% of the total population.
See the Pope’s co
The official apartments of the Pope at the Apostle Palace and the Santa Marta Hotel were sealed on Monday evening, following ceremonies that were ceremonies aged centuries. As Kamerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who had the task of announcing the death after the cause was determined, had the main side of the ritual.
However, rather than living in the palace, Francis chose to live in a two-room suite in Santa Marta, on the other side of the Vatican city. He died there and his body was transferred to the hotel chapel in the lobby. There was private viewing held on Tuesday for Vatican officials and members of the Pope family.
In the changes made by Francis last year, his body was not placed on three wooden ffin, as was for the previous Pope. Rather, Francis was placed in a simplified wooden ffin with a co of zinc inside.
Upon reaching St. Peter, his ffin will not be placed on the elevated beer, but will be placed in a paschal candle nearby and simply face the pews.
“He was a Pope, but he didn’t change his path when it became dirty,” said Cardinal Bardassar Reina, pastor of Francis in Rome, at his Mass of Honor. “For him, the poor and immigrants were the sacraments of Jesus.”
Choose the next Pope
After the funeral there will be nine days of official mourning known as “Novendiali”. During this period, the Cards will arrive in Rome and meet individually before the Conclave.
To give everyone time to assemble, the conclave must start 15-20 days after the “Sede Vacante” is declared, but if the Cardinals agree, they can start early.
Once the Conclave begins, the Cardinals vote in a secret session at Sistine Chapel. After the voting session, the votes are burned on a special stove. The black smoke indicates that the Pope is not elected, while the white smoke indicates that the Cardinals chose the next head of the Catholic Church.
Those who secure two-thirds of the vote win. If he accepts, his election was announced by the cardinal of the loggia of St. Peter, who conveys the Latin word “Havemus Papam” to the world, “We have the Pope.”
