Funeral Pope: What changes did Francisco propose?

He pope Francis has simplified the funeral ritual of the pope and his body will not be on public display, as revealed in the book ‘The Heir’, where he addresses his relationship with Benedict XVI for the first time and confirms that he will be buried in the Basilica of Santa María Maggiore and not in the Vatican caves.

In this book-interview written by a Spanish journalist Javier Martínez-Brocal, Francisco assures that the funeral of Benedict XVI It was the last one that was carried out with valid funeral protocol, and in the case of the Pope Emeritus, everything was decided by his historical secretary, the German Georg Gänswein.

“I believe you one thing, it will be the last vigil held like this, s the pope’s body exposed outside the coffin, in the hearse. I spoke with the master of ceremonies and we eliminated that and many other things – he says.

“It will be dignified, like any Christian, but not on pillows. In my opinion, the current ritual was too much. Holding two vigils seemed excessive to me,” he said.

“Let it be done alone and with the pope already in the coffin, as in all families. I changed a few things, in accordance with the reform already made by Paul VI and John Paul II,” he explains in the book.

During the vigil of Benedict in Saint Peter, The basilica closed its doors around seven in the afternoon and did not open until seven thirty in the morning.

However, the entrance was organized through a side door so that close people and guests of the residents of the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, where the pope emeritus lived, could pray there all night.

“There will be no more ceremony of closing the coffin. Everything will be done in the same ceremony, as with every Christian. Furthermore, in my case, they will have to take me to the Basilica of Santa María Maggiore. When the funeral is over, let them take me there,” he confirmed. Papa.

And he explains: “I have a great devotion to Santa María la Mayor, since before I was Pope, always. Everything is already prepared there. Right after the sculpture of the Queen of Peace, there is a small space, a door that leads to the room where the candlesticks were kept.

“I saw and thought: That’s the place, and the grave site is already prepared there. They confirmed to me that it is ready,” he adds.