Thousands of people gathered at the Square of St. Peter, where the body of the deceased Pope Francis will be exhibited by Friday evening.
On the Square of St. Peter in Rome and the adjacent streets met on Wednesday morning thousands of people waiting for the transport of the body of the deceased Pope Francis to the Basilica of Sts. Peter, where it will be exhibited until Friday 19:00. Informed DPA, writes TASR.
The first people were allowed to the square shortly after 07:30 in the morning. Transport of the body from the chapel of the Pension House of St. Marty is scheduled for 09:00. After its exhibition in the Basilica of Sts. Petra will be held by the word service.
Funeral plans
The funeral mass will be celebrated on Saturday 26 April at 10:00. In the area in front of the Basilica of Sts. Peter, according to the rules of the Roman burial order for the Pope (Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis). According to the Vatican News website, this was announced on Tuesday by the Liturgical Festival Office, which informed that the funeral liturgy will be chaired by Cardinal Giovanni Battista RE, which is the dean of the College of Cardinals.
The final ceremonies of Ultima Commendatio and Valedictio will be followed by the final ceremonies of the Eucharistic celebration. Subsequently, the coffin with the body of the deceased Pope will be transferred to the Basilica of Sts. Peter and from there to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where the deceased Pope wanted to be buried.
Several representatives of states and governments have already announced their participation in Saturday’s funeral.
Pope Francis, real name Jorge Mario Bergoglio, died on Easter Monday, April 21, at the age of 88 in his apartment in the House of Sts. Marty for the consequences of stroke and cardiovascular collapse.
Francis simplified the funeral ceremonies during his lifetime, giving up some of the traditional elements, such as a triple coffin or a papal catafalk. The funeral will be followed by a nine -day funeral mass (Novendiali), after which the cardinals will begin the process of choosing a new Pope.
The rules of the Conclave
The Conclave must be started within 20 days of the death of the pontification – no later than 10 May. All cardinals younger than 80 years have the right to vote and be elected. In the meantime, two have already informed that they would not participate for health reasons and the conclave. This reduced the number of conclave participants to 133. Their absence also means that the two -thirds majority for election of the new Pope is reduced from 90 to 89 votes.
