Pope Francis' coffin will be sealed on Friday evening
Kyiv • UNN
The ceremony of closing the coffin with the deceased Pope Francis will take place in St. Peter's Basilica. The pontiff's funeral will take place on Saturday morning in St. Peter's Square.
The coffin of Pope Francis will be sealed during a liturgical rite to be held in St. Peter's Basilica on Friday at 8:00 p.m. local time, ahead of the pontiff's funeral on Saturday morning, Vatican News, a news service provided by the Dicastery for Communication of the Holy See, reports UNN.
On Friday, April 25, at 8:00 p.m. (local time), the rite of closing the coffin with the deceased will take place in St. Peter's Basilica, which will be led by Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Farrell.
Several cardinals and representatives of the Holy See will take part in the liturgical rite, and it will be broadcast on Vatican News channels.
This will mark the end of the public farewell in St. Peter's Basilica, where tens of thousands of people paid tribute to the deceased Pope. While his mortal remains are resting, more than 50,000 people passed by the Altar of Confession 24 hours after the Vatican Basilica was opened to the faithful on Wednesday morning. St. Peter's Basilica remained open until 5:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, closing for an hour and a half, and then reopening at 7:00 a.m. local time.
On Wednesday, April 23, the day of the liturgical commemoration of the Holy Martyr George, the name day of Pope Francis, who before being elected Successor of St. Peter bore the name Jorge, that is, Yuriy in Spanish, his body was transferred to St. Peter's Basilica and placed in front of the main altar, built above the burial place of the first Pope, the Holy Apostle Peter.
For two days, Wednesday and Thursday, the basilica will be open until 24:00 local time, and on Friday – until 19:00 local time, so that the faithful can say goodbye to the pastor who led the Catholic Church for more than 12 years.
As it became known, everyone will enter the temple through the Holy Door, opened on the occasion of the Jubilee. On Saturday, April 26, the funeral will be held in St. Peter's Square, from where Pope Francis will make his "last pilgrimage" to the Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary, where, according to his will, his body will remain for eternal rest in the hope of resurrection.
The funeral mass of Pope Francis will be held on Saturday, April 26, at 10:00 a.m. local time in St. Peter's Square, marking the beginning of Novemdiales, an ancient tradition of nine days of mourning and masses for the repose of the soul of the deceased Pope.
Masses will be held daily at 5:00 p.m. local time in St. Peter's Basilica, with the exception of the Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 28, which will be held at 10:30 local time in St. Peter's Square.