Funeral of Benedict XVI, what you need to know about the ceremony and burial

The time is set: at 9.30 the funeral of Benedict XVI. Pope Francis gives the homily and final farewell rites in the ceremony in the churchyard of St. Peter’s Basilica. The cardinal dean Giovanni Battista Re celebrates with Francis at the altar for mass, over 120 cardinals, more than 400 bishops and almost four thousand priests concelebrate.

Inside the Basilica, in the last three days, the pope’s body has been visited by over 160,000 people and between 60 and 100 thousand are expected for the funeral.

This is the prayer at the collect: “O God, who in the design of your providence you have called your servant Benedict to lead the Church, grant him to participate in heaven in the eternal glory of your Son, whom he served as vicar on earth”.

Delegations

The only official delegations foreseen by the Vatican are those of Italy and Germany. The presence of President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Prime Minister Olaf Scholz is expected from Berlin. For Italy the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, the President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa, the President of the Chamber Lorenzo Fontana, the Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the President of the Consulta Silvana Sciarra.

The queen mother of Spain Sofia, the royals of Belgium Philip and Mathilde, the president of Poland Andrzej Duda and that of Portugal Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa, the presidents of Hungary, Katalin Novak, and Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar, participate privately. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin arrives for France.

Coffin

The coffin was closed in the late afternoon of Thursday 4 January: it is a cypress coffin. It contains the coins and medals minted during the pontificate, the palliums and the deed, a written text which briefly describes the pontificate. The pallium it is the white stole that is made for the Pope with the wool of two lambs of the Trappist monks of the Tre Fontane and woven, according to tradition, by the cloistered nuns of Santa Cecilia in Trastevere. The coffin leaves the basilica shortly after 8.50.

Ceremony

There will be no final supplications from the Diocese of Rome and the Eastern Churches, specific to a reigning Pope, and also the readings, in Spanish and English, will be different. The first of the five prayers of the faithful, in German, is for Pope Emeritus Benedict, the others are in French, Arabic, Portuguese and Italian.

Burial

It will take place in the Vatican Grottoes, in the same place where John Paul II was buried before his tomb was moved, following his canonization, to the upper part of the basilica. Before Pope Wojtyla, the tomb of John XXIII was located in the same place, until 2001, the year of the beatification of the good Pope.

A webbing, a thin strip of fabric, will be wrapped around the cypress coffin. It bears the seals of the Apostolic Chamber, of the Pontifical Household and of the Office for Liturgical Celebrations. The cypress coffin is then placed in a zinc box, closed and sealed, and finally in a third wooden box.

Funerals on TV

The funeral of Benedict XVI will be broadcast on Thursday 5 January at 9.30 by RaiUno, with live coverage starting an hour earlier, but also by Tv2000 and Radio inBlu2000.

Checks

To access Piazza San Pietro, from both sides, there are controls and metal detectors. The no fly zone goes beyond the square. There are helicopters, snipers, joint special departments including those of anti-terrorism, firefighters, 118 and local police for over a thousand agents employed. The sale and transport of glass containers and bottles is prohibited until 2 pm, three hours after the end of the funeral. There are also 500 Civil Protection volunteers available.

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