More than 120 cardinals, about 400 bishops and almost 4,000 priests will celebrate with the Pope the funeral of the Pope Emeritus tomorrow, Thursday, January 5, in St. Peter’s Square for which, according to the Prefecture of Rome, more than 60,000 pilgrims are expected to attend. In addition to Pope Francis, the dean cardinal, Giovanni Battista Re, will be at the altar.
On the other hand, more than 1,000 journalists from more than 30 countries have been accredited to cover the funeral of Benedict XVI, according to the latest data provided by the Vatican press office.
The ceremony will be solemn, but sober, respecting the will of the deceased. The Holy See has officially invited only the government and presidential delegations of Italy and Germany, Joseph Ratzinger’s homeland, as well as the entire diplomatic corps. On behalf of Spain, Queen Sofia, the Minister of the Presidency, Felix Bolaños, and the Spanish Ambassador to the Holy See, Isabel Celaá, will attend.
In addition, at least half a dozen Spanish bishops are expected to attend the funeral, including the president, vice-president and secretary general of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, the cardinal archbishop of Barcelona, Juan José Omella, the cardinal archbishop of Madrid, Carlos Osoro, and the auxiliary bishop of Toledo, César García Magán, respectively, who will attend on behalf of the Spanish Episcopal Conference.
Once the doors of St. Peter’s Basilica close this evening at 19:00, after three days of the funeral chapel, the preparation of the body for burial will begin. Close friends of Benedict XVI, among them his personal secretary, Georg Gänswein, who has been at his side all these years, are expected to be present to watch over his body as they did at the funeral chapel set up in the Vatican’s Mater Ecclesiae monastery when he died last Saturday.
Before closing the chapel, his face will be covered with a white silk veil, as was done at the funeral of St. John Paul II in 2005. On that occasion the funeral lasted three hours and was presided over by the then Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.
The coffin with the mortal remains of Benedict XVI will be transferred to St. Peter’s Square at 8:45 a.m. for the recitation of the Rosary by all the faithful.
His remains will be placed in a cypress coffin. This is the one that will be taken to St. Peter’s Square for the funeral. At the end, this coffin will be taken back to St. Peter’s Basilica and placed in two other coffins, which will contain each other. Thus, the first layer of the triple coffin is made of cypress, while the middle layer will be made of zinc and the third will be carved in oak. Both the preparation of the body for the burial, prior to the funeral, and the last passage will be private, and, therefore, it is not foreseen that there will be neither cameras nor journalists.
In the coffin, in addition, coins minted between 2005 and 2013, those of his pontificate that ended in resignation, will be placed. Meanwhile, in a metal tube, some texts with the most outstanding facts of his biography as Benedict XVI will be inserted.
The funeral will follow the same rite as that of a reigning pontiff -like that of St. John Paul II, which was held according to the rite ‘Ordo exequiarum Romani Pontificis’, as established by the Apostolic Constitution Universi Dominici Gregis (1996)-, although with some changes.
«Broadly speaking, the rite respects what is followed at the funeral of a Supreme Pontiff,» said the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni. In this way, he explained that «the basis is the same» although he added that «there are some elements that give originality to the rite» and «other elements that are missing referring to those more specific to a reigning Pope».
For example, the funeral of Benedict XVI will dispense with the prayers of the final supplications, those of the Church of Rome and the Eastern Churches, which are very specific to the active Pope.
On Wednesday evening, after 7 p.m. and the closing of the Basilica to the homage of the faithful, the cypress coffin will be closed and, according to tradition, the medals and coins minted during the pontificate, the pallium as Metropolitan Archbishop of Munich and Rome and then the rogito, the text briefly describing the pontificate of Pope Ratzinger, will be placed in a metal cylinder.
Official delegations from Germany and Italy are expected, as well as numerous ecumenical representatives, including Metropolitans Emmanuel of Chalcedon and Polycarp of Italy for the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, and Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, chairman of the Moscow Patriarchate’s Department for External Church Relations. And then bishops from many Orthodox Churches of Europe, America and Asia. The moderator of the Ecumenical Council of Churches, Bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, will also be present.
Preparations are being finalized for the celebration on Thursday, January 5, presided over by Pope Francis in the parvis of St. Peter’s Basilica, beginning at 9:30 am. More than 400 bishops and 4,000 priests will concelebrate. The prayers for the emeritus pontiff and all the rites that will precede and follow the funeral will be broadcast live on worldwide television.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
