The sounds of bells and prayerful chants by thousands of faithful echoed throughout Vatican City as Francis’ body was carried in a simple wooden coffin through the square.
In a solemn procession yesterday morning, two long columns of cardinals and Vatican officials escorted Pope Francis’ body from the Domus Sancta Marta, the residence where he died, to St. Peter’s Basilica, where it will remain until his funeral on Saturday.
In the square, a large crowd of mourners waited to pay their final respects to the pontiff, who was dressed in a red chasuble and a white miter on his head, with a rosary wrapped around his fingers. Loud applause filled the square as the coffin was escorted by Swiss Guards.
Teresa Piuvano, a New Jersey resident who has been in Rome since March volunteering at Vatican events for the Jubilee year, saw Francis’ appearances on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. Easter, she said, “was the most special. I think he wanted to do that to say goodbye to the people because he rode around the whole square even though he was very ill.”
Inside the basilica, the pope was laid on a simple podium instead of the wooden structure, called a catafalque that has traditionally held a pope’s coffin as he lies in state. The ceremony that concluded the procession, led by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who as camerlengo is charged with overseeing the logistics of the pope’s funeral, referred to Francis in humble terms such as “bishop” and “pastor.”
“Dearest brothers and sisters, with great emotion we accompany the mortal remains of our Pope Francis into the Vatican basilica where he often exercised his ministry as the bishop of the church that is in Rome and as pastor of the universal church,” Farrell said in the prayer service.
After the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, Francis changed the protocol for papal funerals to streamline and simplify the procedures. The pope wanted his own funeral to reflect the life of a pastor and not of a powerful king or politician, he said in interviews.
After the ceremony, cardinals proceeded to bow one by one in front of the coffin before the mourners lined up in the square were admitted.
Nearly 20,000 people visited the basilica yesterday, according to the Vatican, which added that it would ensure that all who wish to pay their final respects to the pope have a chance by staying open after midnight if necessary.
