Pope Benedict XVI's funeral Thursday will at least in part respect his wishes for simplicity but also feature some of the pomp reserved for a leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
Pope Benedict XVI held one of the world's highest--profile positions but in his final years expressed a desire to be "hidden to the world." While his body had been on display this week for three days, his funeral Thursday will at least in part respect his wishes for simplicity but also feature some of the pomp reserved for a leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
Benedict died at 95 on Dec. 31 in the monastery on the Vatican grounds where he had spent nearly all of his decade in retirement, his days mainly devoted to prayer and reflection. This week, as the Catholic Church bids farewell to its 265th pontiff, it will use a mixture of rituals -- some ancient, some tweaked for modern times.On Wednesday evening, after the last visitors left St.
A one-page written account of his papacy -- known in Italian as a "rogito," a word indicating an official deed -- is rolled up and slipped inside a cylindrical tube, then placed inside the coffin. Also being buried with Benedict are the palliums, distinguished hallmarks of his clerical career. A slender stole, fashioned from lambs wool by nuns at a cloister in Rome, it is a potent symbol of popes, who are also the bishop of Rome, and, as such pastors of the flock of Catholic faithful.
At the funeral's conclusion, Benedict coffin returns to the basilica and is brought down to the grottoes under the main floor. There, near the underground crypt where he chose as his final resting place, the cypress coffin will be placed inside one made of zinc. That coffin in turn will be placed inside a third one, made of oak.The coffin will return to the public's view about 8:45 a.m. Thursday when it is carried out of the basilica. The faithful in St.
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