Perhaps because he was going to be 88 years old on December 17, or because he was not feeling well, or for whatever reasons, Pope Francis had been thinking for some time that he wanted an even simpler funeral than the one arranged for Benedict XVI, which reduced the existing rules and also sought to a simple farewell.
As will be recalled, the remains of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI rested from December 31 to the early hours of January 2 in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery, and at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, his body was exposed for the visit of the faithful in St. Peter's Basilica.
Already on Thursday 5, in the atrium of St. Peter's Basilica, the Holy Father Francis presided at the Funeral Mass for the late Supreme Pontiff Emeritus. It was the first time in history that a Pontiff has presided over the funeral of his immediate predecessor, for whom asked for prayers before he passed away.
A Pastor, not a world power
Pope Francis wanted a rite that would highlight that "the funeral of the Roman Pontiff is that of a shepherd and disciple of Christ, and not that of a powerful person of this world," explained Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of the Liturgical Celebrations of the Pontiffs.
In addition, the Pope asked, as he declared on several occasions, "simplify and adapt some rites so that the celebration of the funeral of the Bishop of Rome would better express the Church's faith in the Risen Christ," the archbishop added, according to the official Vatican agency.
New rules for funerals of a Pope
And at the end of the year, the Holy See made public the new rules of the '.Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis'.The liturgical book that regulates the rituals of the funeral rites of the Pastor of the Catholic Church.
The liturgical book was presented as a new edition of the previous one, the typical edition of the 'Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis' approved in 1998 by St. John Paul II and published in 2000, which was used at the funerals of the same Pontiff in 2005 and, with adaptations, at those of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in 2023.
The modifications refer to the so-called 'three stations', that is, the house of the deceased Pope, where he dies; the funeral at St. Peter's; and the transfer of the coffin to the tomb, the burial.
Among the novelties introduced, as reported by Vatican News, are the confirmation of death no longer in the room of the deceased but in the chapel, the immediate deposition inside the coffin, the exposition to the veneration of the faithful of the Pope's body inside the open coffin, and the elimination of the traditional three coffins made of cypress, lead and oak.
Cardinal Camerlengo and the three classic 'seasons'.
In the Catholic Church, it falls to the Cardinal Camerlengo to certify the death of a Pope, after the corresponding medical opinion, and to head the Church when the see is vacant due to death or resignation. Currently, it is Cardinal Kevin Farrell.
As we have said, the new Ordo maintains the three classic 'stations': the home of the deceased, the Vatican Basilica and the place of burial, although Monsignor Ravelli pointed out that "the internal structure of the 'stations' and of the texts has been revised in the light of the experience acquired with the funeral rites of St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI, of current theological and ecclesial sensibilities, and of the recently renewed liturgical books".
In Santa María la Mayor
The necessary indications "for a possible burial in a place other than the Vatican basilica" should be mentioned here: this answers to the anticipated desire Pope Francis to be buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome..
In this Basilica is the icon of Our Lady 'Salus Populi Romani', patron saint of Rome, to whom the Roman Pontificie always used to go to pray before and after his apostolic journeys, and to whom he also prayed. went to to pray before being elected to the See of Peter.
Simplification of pontifical titles
One of the most significant novelties is the simplification of the pontifical titles: the terminology used in the third edition of the Missale Romanum (2008) has been retained, that is, the appellatives Pope, Episcopus (Romæ) and Pastor, while in the general premises and rubrics the expression Romanus Pontifex has been chosen, in accordance with the title of the liturgical book, the Vatican agency added.
In the Italian translation, the vocabulary used in the second edition of the Rite of Eucharist (2010) edited by the Italian Episcopal Conference has been taken over, from which much of the terminology of the Italian version of the Rite has been updated, for example preferring the term coffin to indicate the body already closed in the coffin.
Some details
Regarding the 'stations', it can be reiterated that 'in the house of the deceased' includes the novelties of the ascertainment of death in his private chapel.
The second station has been remodeled: since the deposition in the coffin has already taken place after the confirmation of death, the coffin is closed on the eve of the funeral Mass, and only one transfer to St. Peter's is envisaged. In the Vatican Basilica, the body of the deceased Pope is exposed directly in the coffin and "no longer in a high bier".
Finally, the third station 'at the place of burial' includes the transfer of the coffin to the grave and burial, as recounted.
The 'novendiales': masses of suffrage for 9 days
The fourth and final chapter of the liturgical book is dedicated to the dispositions for the 'novendiales', the Masses in suffrage of the deceased Pope celebrated for nine consecutive days beginning with the funeral Mass.
The ritual includes four - no longer three - forms of prayers, since those offered in the Missale Romanum for the deceased Pope and that of the deceased diocesan bishop have been included.
The new edition does not include the appendix with the Ordinary of the Mass, the collections of penitential and gradual psalms and the chants of the Ordinary with Gregorian notation.
"The Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis," explained Msgr. Ravelli, "is not conceived as a 'plenary missal,' but as an Ordo in the proper sense of the term, that is, it contains the ritual indications, the development of the rites and the proper texts, but refers for everything else to the liturgical books in use, that is, the missal, the lectionary and the gradual.
The funeral of Pope Francis
On April 21, 2025 at eight o'clock in the evening, the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church presided over the rite of confirmation of the death of Pope Francis and the placing of the body in the coffin. According to the Director of the Holy See Press Office, it is most likely that from Wednesday, April 23, the faithful will be able to come to St. Peter's Basilica to bid farewell to the Pope.
During a meeting that will take place on Tuesday morning, the cardinals will decide how to proceed concretely for the funeral of the Holy Father, while little by little the entire College of Cardinals arrives in Rome to participate in the future Conclave that will begin in 20 days at the latest.
