In a solemn ceremony held Friday evening inside St. Peter’s Basilica, the coffin of Pope Francis was officially sealed, marking the final rites before his funeral Mass began on Saturday morning.

The private ceremony attended by Vatican officials and some of the Pope’s family members followed three days of public mourning, during which nearly 250,000 people filed past the Pope’s body to pay their respects.

According to Vatican News, the deceased Pope lay in state in front of the Confessio altar in a wooden coffin, wrapped in a red chasuble, with a white mitre and a rosary clasped in his hands – the coffin resting at ground level, without a catafalque—a detail the late Pontiff had specifically requested.

The ceremony, led by Cardinal-Camerlengo Kevin Farrell, began with the reading of a document listing the stages of Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s life and his most important activities as Pope. It stated that the memory of the 266th Pope “remains in the heart of the Church and of all humanity”.

Among the milestones mentioned were his stay in Germany at the end of the 1980s and his multifaceted work in Argentina: “He was a simple and popular pastor in his archdiocese, who travelled far and wide, even by metro and bus. He lived in a flat and prepared his own food because he felt like a normal person.”
A white silk veil was then gently spread over the Pope’s face by Archbishop Diego Ravelli, followed by a blessing with holy water.


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