A Simpler Funeral for Francis, Who Shunned Many Gilt Papal Trappings

New York Times

22-04-2025

Pope Francis' funeral will be held on Saturday in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, with simpler rituals than in the past, followed by a burial in a relatively unadorned tomb, in keeping with his desire to draw the Roman Catholic Church closer to the people, the Vatican said on Tuesday.
The ceremony, though undeniably grand in scale, will follow rules the Vatican issued last year, under Francis' direction, that reflect the humbler, down-to-earth style that became a hallmark of a pontiff who avoided many of the trappings of his predecessors and worked to refocus the church on the poor, the marginalized and the health of the planet.
Political and religious leaders, and thousands of ordinary worshipers from around the world, are expected to attend the funeral, presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals.
The pope's body will lie in one coffin rather than the traditional three-nested coffins, and it will be in the coffin, not on an elevated bier, for the public viewing. In his will, which the Vatican released on Monday, Francis also revealed more about his last wishes, including that 'the tomb must be in the earth; simple, without particular decoration.'
The Vatican announced the funeral plans as memorial Masses for Francis, who died on Monday at 88, were being offered across the world, from Manila Cathedral in the Philippines to Buenos Aires Cathedral in his home city. Flags flew at half-staff at government buildings and days of official mourning began in a number of countries including Italy, Brazil, Lebanon, India and Argentina, the pontiff's homeland.
The Rev. Vincent Breynaert, 57, a priest from France who was in Rome on Tuesday, said he was remembering the pope for his efforts to connect with Muslims and build bridges between religions. 'He was a man of peace, a man who by his humility, by his way of being, by his testimony of the Gospel, has tried to weave the human fraternity,' he said.
In his 12 years as pope, Francis was known for trying to make the papacy more approachable, and repeatedly denounced 'clericalism,' the tendency of many church leaders to put themselves above their flocks. He favored black shoes over fancy loafers and chose a Vatican guesthouse, Casa Santa Marta, as his residence instead of the ornate papal palace where his predecessors lived.
He died a day after he celebrated Easter by blessing thousands of jubilant worshipers from his wheelchair on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. Grace Etuk, 42, who runs a market stall in the southern Nigerian town of Eket, said in an interview that the timing of the pope's death was 'epic and spiritual.'
Tina Beattie, a professor emerita of Catholic Studies at the University of Roehampton in London, said that Francis would have appreciated being connected with the Easter period.
'He was a pope who placed great value on symbolism and seeing the deeper meaning in things,' she said. 'He would not see it as inappropriate to see the timing of his death as symbolic.'
Video released by the Vatican on Tuesday showed Francis' body in an open coffin in the chapel in Casa Santa Marta, dressed in red and white vestments and holding a rosary. On Wednesday, the coffin will be taken in a procession to St. Peter's Basilica to lie in state for about three days, with mourners allowed to visit and pay tribute.
After the funeral on Saturday, Francis will be laid to rest at the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, which was founded in the 5th century, and where seven other popes are buried. Francis had specified in his will, which was dated June 29, 2022, that he wanted his 'last earthly journey to end at this very ancient Marian shrine.'
He wrote that he had visited the church at the beginning and the end of every apostolic trip he took during his papacy. On his first day as pope in 2013, he slipped out of the Vatican to pray there.
Francis also visited Santa Maria Maggiore every time he returned to the Vatican after a hospital stay, including on March 23, when he left the hospital after 38 days for treatment of a life-threatening case of pneumonia. On that occasion, he did not get out of the car.
In his will, Francis asked that his tomb be placed in the aisle next to a chapel containing the Salus Populi Romani, a famed Byzantine icon painting of the Madonna and child. Francis said that in being buried there, he wanted to thank the Virgin 'for her docile and maternal care.'
Tradition holds that the icon was made by Saint Luke the Evangelist, the patron saint of painters.
In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, Francis had the icon brought to St. Peter's Square for a dramatic prayer delivered on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica. 'We find ourselves afraid,' the pope said. 'And lost.'
The world leaders planning to attend the funeral include Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain; President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine; President Javier Milei of Argentina; President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil, the world's largest Catholic country; and President Trump.
The funeral will be Mr. Trump's first foreign trip in his second term, and his first time seeing many of his global peers since he began to shake the world order with steep tariffs, erratic policy swings and dramatic deportations, which Francis openly criticized.