A ceremony of about two hours celebrated in St. Peter’s Square. The Vatican released Tuesday, January 3, the details of the funeral celebration of Benedict XVIwhich will be chaired on Thursday 5 January by the pope francis.
After three days of paying homage to the pope emeritus, including the body has been on display since Monday January 2 in St. Peter’s Basilica, the body of the predecessor of Francis will be placed, Wednesday January 4 at the end of the afternoon and as is customary for the popes, in three coffins (of lead, supper or elm and cypress). As tradition dictates, medals and coins minted during his pontificate, between 2005 and 2013, will be deposited there, as well as his palliums as bishop and pope, and a brief text describing his pontificate.
8:50 am, the coffin of Benedict XVI will be carried to the square
Thursday, January 5 at 8:50 a.m., the coffin of Benedict XVI will be carried to Saint Peter’s Square, before the tens of thousands of faithful expected to begin to recite the rosary. The ceremony itself will start 10 minutes later. It will be presided over by Pope Francis himself – an unprecedented fact, since it is the first time in history that a pope has buried his predecessor. The ceremony will be celebrated by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the Dean of the College of Cardinals.
Texts chosen by François
After the penitential act and the Kyrie, four texts will resonate: the first is a passage from the book of Isaiah (29,16-19) which will be read in Spanish, the second is Psalm 22, sung in Latin, the third is an extract from the letter of Saint Peter (1,3-9), read in English. Then a passage from the Gospel of Saint Luke (29,39-46) will be read in Italian. And Pope Francis, who personally chose the texts, will deliver the homily.
The intentions of the universal prayer, read in French, German, Arabic, Portuguese and Italian, will be dedicated in particular to Benedict XVI, but also to Pope Francis and to the leaders of nations.
At the end of the ceremony, the celebrant will say a final farewell, before Benedict XVI’s coffin is transported to the Vatican grottoes, on the lower floor of the basilica. He will be buried where John Paul II was buried. and John XXIII before being proclaimed blessed, then saints.