Streamlined funerals for popes, new rules arrive. This is how they will be

Pope Francis had announced it on several occasions: for his funeral he would like a more streamlined ceremony, 'with dignity but like every Christian'. He had therefore said in a couple of interviews that he did not want to be displayed on a catafalque, as he also revealed that he will be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore and not in the basilica of San Pietro. Now, however, come, black on white, the new rules for the funeral, in general, of all Pontiffs. Among the novelties introduced are the ascertainment of death no longer in the room of the deceased but in the chapel, the immediate deposition inside the coffin, the exposure to the veneration of the faithful of the Pope's body already inside the open coffin, the elimination of the traditional three coffins of cypress, lead and oak. Another new element consists in the introduction of the necessary indications for possible burial in a place other than the Vatican Basilica.

The Office for Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff has therefore edited and published the second typical edition of the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis. It was already approved on 29 April 2024 by Pope Francesco, who received the first copy of the printed volume last 4 November. "A second edition became necessary," Archbishop Diego Ravelli, Master of the Liturgical Celebrations of Pontiffs, explained to the Vatican media, "first of all because Pope Francis asked, as he himself declared on several occasions, to simplify and adapt certain rites so that the celebration of the Bishop of Rome's funeral would better express the Church's faith in the Risen Christ. The renewed rite, moreover, had to highlight even more that the funeral of the Roman Pontiff is that of a pastor and disciple of Christ and not of a powerful man of this world".

The three classic 'stations' have been retained, the one at the home of the deceased, the one in the Vatican Basilica and the one at the place of burial. "However," Archbishop Ravelli goes on to explain, "the internal structure of the Stations and the texts have been revised in light of the experience gained with the funeral services of St John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Among the most relevant novelties is also the simplification of the pontifical titles. The first station "in the house of the deceased" includes the novelties of the ascertainment of death in his private chapel, instead of in the chamber, and the deposition of the body in the single wooden coffin and in the inner zinc coffin, before being transferred to the Basilica (the first transfer to the Apostolic Palace has been eliminated). The second station 'in the Vatican Basilica' considers a single translation to St Peter's, the closing of the coffin and the funeral Mass. In the Vatican Basilica, the body of the deceased Pope is exposed directly in the coffin and "no longer on a high bier". Finally, the third station "at the burial place" includes the translation of the coffin to the tomb and the burial. "This station," Ravelli explained to the Vatican media, "has undergone a significant streamlining due to the elimination of the deposition and closing of the cypress coffin in a second one made of lead and a third one of oak or other wood".