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Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Vatican releases details of start of conclave to elect new pope
The Vatican announced details on Tuesday of the schedule for the start of the conclave on May 7, the eagerly anticipated secret election of a new pontiff following the death of pope Francis. The cardinals will first gather at 10 am (0800 GMT) for a Mass known in Latin as "Pro Eligendo Romano Pontefice" (For the Election of the Roman Pontiff) in St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, the announcement said. At 4:15 pm, the cardinals eligible to vote will assemble in the Pauline Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, from where they will process into the Sistine Chapel at 4:30 pm, it said. The Vatican did not initially provide further details. Traditionally, however, the cardinals must, after the solemn procession, swear an oath to observe the conclave's rules and maintain absolute secrecy about the election. The master of the papal liturgical celebrations then calls out "Extra omnes" (Everyone out), instructing all non-electors to leave the chapel. The process for the first ballot on the first day is already clear. The subsequent rhythm consists of two ballots in the morning and two in the afternoon. For a new pope to be elected a two-thirds majority of the voting cardinals is required. There is no time limit for the conclave. Two cardinals absent for health reasons Two cardinals will be absent from the conclave for health reasons, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told journalists on Tuesday. A total of 135 cardinals are eligible to vote in the conclave. After the cancellations, there are now only 133 who will vote from Wednesday next week. Bruni did not name any names, but the emeritus archbishop of Valencia, Antonio Cañizares, 79, stated a week ago that he would not be able to travel to Rome for health reasons. The emeritus archbishop of Sarajevo, Vinko Puljić, 79, had excused himself for the same reason. A few days after his cancellation, Puljić told the broadcaster Radio Medjugorje that his doctor had then allowed him to travel. Dismissed cardinal agrees not to take part in conclave Disgraced Cardinal Angelo Becciu has backed down in the dispute over his participation in the conclave, the secret meeting that will elect the next pope. "I have decided to obey — as I have always done — the will of Pope Francis not to enter the conclave, while remaining convinced of my innocence," a personal statement from the Italian said on Tuesday. Becciu's announcement of his intention to participate in the conclave to elect a new pope, despite his involvement in a financial scandal, caused a stir in the runup to Francis' funeral. In 2020, Francis stripped the 76-year-old of the rights associated with the cardinalate in the wake of the major fraud scandal. His exact status has not been entirely clear since then, but Becciu was listed as a "non-elector" in a Vatican list for the conclave. He said he made his decision to withdraw for "the good of the Church," the Sardinian-born cardinal wrote. He said he wanted "to contribute to the communion and serenity of the conclave." The conclave to elect a successor to Francis, who died on April 21, is set to begin on May 7. At the end of 2023, Becciu became the first cardinal in the history of the Catholic Church to be sentenced by a Vatican court to a prison term of five years and six months. The trial involved questionable multimillion-dollar deals in a real estate scandal in which he was implicated.
Irish Daily Mirror
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Irish Daily Mirror
Pope Francis funeral: Start time, how to watch, attendees and burial details
Pope Francis's funeral is set to reflect the tenets of his papacy by breaking away from traditions and choosing sobriety over pomp. Francis died on Easter Monday at the age of 88, with his funeral due to take place on Saturday morning at St Peter's Square in Rome at 10am local time (9am Irish time). It will be streamed live on the Vatican's YouTube channel. Tens of thousands of people have already made their way into St Peter's Basilica, where the late pontiff is to lie in state for several days ahead of the funeral. But where his predecessors St John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI lied upon an elevated bier, Francis's body rests inside a simple coffin barely raised from the floor of the basilica. This change is one of several Francis introduced in November 2024 following a revision of the 'Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis' – the 'Funeral Rites of the Roman Pontiff' – with the view to simplifying the ceremonies. Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of pontifical liturgical ceremonies, had then told Vatican News the simplification of the rites was 'to emphasise even more that the funeral of the Roman pontiff is that of a pastor and disciple of Christ and not of a powerful person of this world'. When a pope dies, the official verification of his death by the camerlengo – the prelate who runs the Vatican between a pope's death and the election of his successor – would traditionally take place at the location where he died. Francis's revision of the funeral rites scrapped this requirement, asking that the certification of death be carried out inside the late pontiff's private chapel instead. In Francis's case, this rite was carried out in the chapel of the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta where he lived – having declined to move into the papal apartments at the Apostolic Palace following his election in 2013. The new rites then ask that the late pontiff be placed directly into a simple, open wooden coffin lined with zinc, where previous traditions saw a pope entombed in three different coffins – one of cypress wood, one of lead and one of oak. Previously, the pope's body would also be placed inside the three coffins only after its lying-in-state at St Peter's Basilica. The funeral rites are traditionally divided into three stations: the home of the deceased pope, the Vatican basilica and the burial place. With Pope Francis having requested the first station be a chapel instead – though it did form part of his 'home' at the Casa Santa Marta residence – his body was then transferred directly to St Peter's Basilica on Wednesday morning. The coffin did not pass through the Apostolic Palace for another exposition, as was done previously for John Paul II, and was not displayed on an elevated bier – the so-called 'Canaletto' or 'death bed' – as happened with both John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Francis lay in public view for three days until Friday evening, when his coffin was sealed in the presence of several cardinals and officials from the Holy See – the central governing body of the Catholic Church and the Vatican. The funeral mass will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the college of cardinals, and concelebrated by patriarchs and cardinals wearing their white damask mitre. Archbishops and bishops of the Catholic Church have also been invited to join wearing liturgical vestments, which they will put on in St Peter's Square, according to the Holy See. President of Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina, Taoiseach Micheal Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris will be in attendance at the funeral. The Prince of Wales will attend on behalf of the King, while UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Scotland's First Minister, John Swinney, will attend as part of the UK delegation. US President Donald Trump has said he will be there with his wife Melania. While a requiem mass is usually a standard length of around an hour, the number of people expected to attend, including those wishing to receive Holy Communion, means the service is likely to run closer to 90 minutes, according to Joe Ronan from the Catholic Voices media charity. According to the traditional rites, and unless a pope has chosen otherwise, his remains are to be moved after the funeral mass to the grotto of St Peter's Basilica for burial. But the 2024 revision also decreed a pope can be buried outside of the Vatican if he so wishes. Pope Francis left instructions in which he asked to be buried in a simple underground tomb in Rome's papal basilica of Saint Mary Major. This makes Francis the first pontiff in more than a century not to be buried at St Peter's Basilica as the last pope who asked to be buried outside of the Vatican was Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903. In his will, Francis wrote: 'I have always entrusted my life and priestly and episcopal ministry to the Mother of Our Lord, Mary Most Holy. 'Therefore, I ask that my mortal remains rest, awaiting the day of resurrection, in the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major. 'I wish that my final earthly journey conclude precisely in this ancient Marian shrine, where I go to pray at the beginning and end of every Apostolic Journey… 'I ask that my tomb be prepared in the burial niche in the side nave between the Pauline Chapel and the Sforza Chapel of the aforementioned Papal Basilica, as indicated in the enclosed plan. 'The tomb should be in the ground; simple, without particular ornamentation, and bearing only the inscription: Franciscus.' A 'group of poor and needy people' will be present on the steps leading to Saint Mary Major to pay their last respects to Francis before he is entombed, the Holy See said on Thursday. The funeral on Saturday will mark the first day of nine memorial masses called 'the novendiali' for the nine days during which they will take place. The final day of the novendiali will be on Sunday May 4. The secret meeting of cardinals, known as the conclave, is expected to begin between 15 and 20 days after the pope's death.
NZ Herald
25-04-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Pope Francis' funeral: Thousands gather in Vatican City to farewell head of the Roman Catholic Church
The funeral is set to begin at 10am local time (8pm NZT), following plans laid out by the Funeral Rites of the Roman Pontiff – a 20-page document dubbed The Shepherd of the Lord's Whole Flock. The service – expected to be conducted entirely in Latin – will last about two and a half hours and will be led by the dean of the College of Cardinals, 91-year-old Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. A sermon will pay tribute to Pope Francis' life. The Swiss Guards, who provide personal security for the Pope, also have a role in the funeral service; kneeling for the consecration of the host and the blessing of the bread and wine. The guards were reportedly put under a strict curfew in February when Pope Francis became severely ill with pneumonia. It was reported they were undergoing protocol drills in preparation for the Pope's death. PM Chris Luxon, Prince William, US President Donald Trump among mourners Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will represent New Zealand at the Pope's funeral today, joining a host of world leaders and dignitaries paying their respects in person. Luxon travelled from Turkey yesterday, where he gave a speech at the Gallipoli Peninsula as part of the annual Anzac Day commemorations. United States President Donald Trump and the First Lady, Melania Trump, will also attend the papal funeral, as will Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Italian PM Giorgia Meloni, British PM Sir Keir Starmer, Argentina's President Javier Milei and France's President, Emmanuel Macron, are all on the confirmed guest list. Other world leaders and dignitaries confirmed to attend the funeral today include Ireland's President Michael Higgins, India's President Droupadi Murmu, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Central African Republic Faustin-Archange Touadera, Slovakian President Peter Pellegrini, Israel's ambassador to the Holy See Yaron Sideman and Croatian President Zoran Milanovic. The Prince of Wales, Prince William, will be there in place of his father, King Charles. Traditionally, British sovereigns do not attend funerals. When Pope John Paul II died in April 2005, the then-Prince Charles attended the funeral to represent his mother, Queen Elizabeth II. Other royal families represented include Queen Mary of Denmark, Belgium's King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, and Monaco's Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene. Final resting place breaks with tradition A funeral bell will toll after the funeral service, as the body of the Pope is taken through what is known as the door of death, to the left of the altar at St Peter's. In keeping with the pontiff's wishes, Pope Francis will be laid to rest at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore – outside of the Vatican, where many Popes before him are buried. He will be the first Pope to be buried at Saint Mary Major since the 17th century, when Pope Clement IX was laid to rest there.
The Independent
24-04-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
How Pope Francis' funeral will be different from those held for predecessors
Pope Francis 's funeral, scheduled for Saturday morning in St Peter's Square, Rome, is expected to mirror the late pontiff's humble and reformist papacy. Breaking with tradition, the ceremony will prioritize simplicity over elaborate displays of grandeur. More than 50,000 mourners have already visited St Peter's Basilica to pay their respects, where Francis lies in state in a plain coffin placed close to the basilica floor. This starkly contrasts with the elevated biers used for his predecessors, Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. This shift reflects changes Francis himself introduced in November 2024, revising the "Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis" – the "Funeral Rites of the Roman Pontiff" – to streamline and simplify the proceedings. Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of pontifical liturgical ceremonies, explained to Vatican News at the time that the revisions aimed to underscore the Pope's role as "a pastor and disciple of Christ," rather than a worldly power figure. – Certification of death When a pope dies, the official verification of his death by the camerlengo – the prelate who runs the Vatican between a pope's death and the election of his successor – would traditionally take place at the location where he died. Francis's revision of the funeral rites scrapped this requirement, asking that the certification of death be carried out inside the late pontiff's private chapel instead. In Francis's case, this rite was carried out in the chapel of the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta where he lived – having declined to move into the papal apartments at the Apostolic Palace following his election in 2013. The new rites then ask that the late pontiff be placed directly into a simple, open wooden coffin lined with zinc, where previous traditions saw a pope entombed in three different coffins – one of cypress wood, one of lead and one of oak. Previously, the pope's body would also be placed inside the three coffins only after its lying-in-state at St Peter's Basilica. – Funeral The funeral rites are traditionally divided into three stations: the home of the deceased pope, the Vatican basilica, and the burial place. With Pope Francis having requested the first station be a chapel instead – though it did form part of his 'home' at the Casa Santa Marta residence – his body was then transferred directly to St Peter's Basilica on Wednesday morning. The coffin did not pass through the Apostolic Palace for another exposition, as was done previously for John Paul II, and was not displayed on an elevated bier – the so-called 'Canaletto' or 'death bed' – as happened with both John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Francis will lie in public view for three days until Friday evening, when his coffin will be sealed in the presence of several cardinals and officials from the Holy See – the central governing body of the Catholic Church and the Vatican. The funeral mass will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the college of cardinals, and concelebrated by patriarchs and cardinals wearing their white damask mitre. Archbishops and bishops of the Catholic Church have also been invited to join wearing liturgical vestments, which they will put on in St Peter's Square, according to the Holy See. The Prince of Wales will attend on behalf of the King, while Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Scotland's First Minister, John Swinney, will attend as part of the UK delegation. US President Donald Trump has said he will be there with his wife Melania, while President of Ireland Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina, Irish premier Micheal Martin and deputy Irish premier Simon Harris will also attend. While a requiem mass is usually a standard length of around an hour, the number of people expected to attend, including those wishing to receive Holy Communion, means the service is likely to run closer to 90 minutes, according to Joe Ronan from the Catholic Voices media charity. – Burial According to the traditional rites, and unless a pope has chosen otherwise, his remains are to be moved after the funeral mass to the grotto of St Peter's Basilica for burial. But the 2024 revision also decreed a pope can be buried outside of the Vatican if he so wishes. Pope Francis left instructions in which he asked to be buried in a simple underground tomb in Rome's papal basilica of Saint Mary Major. This makes Francis the first pontiff in more than a century not to be buried at St Peter's Basilica as the last pope who asked to be buried outside of the Vatican was Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903. In his will, Francis wrote: 'I have always entrusted my life and priestly and episcopal ministry to the Mother of Our Lord, Mary Most Holy. 'Therefore, I ask that my mortal remains rest, awaiting the day of resurrection, in the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major. 'I wish that my final earthly journey conclude precisely in this ancient Marian shrine, where I go to pray at the beginning and end of every Apostolic Journey… 'I ask that my tomb be prepared in the burial niche in the side nave between the Pauline Chapel and the Sforza Chapel of the aforementioned Papal Basilica, as indicated in the enclosed plan. 'The tomb should be in the ground; simple, without particular ornamentation, and bearing only the inscription: Franciscus.' A 'group of poor and needy people' will be present on the steps leading to Saint Mary Major to pay their last respects to Francis before he is entombed, the Holy See said on Thursday. The funeral on Saturday will mark the first day of nine memorial masses called 'the novendiali' for the nine days during which they will take place. The final day of the novendiali will be on Sunday May 4. The secret meeting of cardinals, known as the conclave, is expected to begin between 15 and 20 days after the pope's death.
Irish Examiner
24-04-2025
- General
- Irish Examiner
How will Pope Francis's funeral differ from those held for predecessors?
Pope Francis's funeral is set to reflect the tenets of his papacy by breaking away from traditions and choosing sobriety over pomp. Francis died on Easter Monday at the age of 88, with his funeral due to take place on Saturday morning at St Peter's Square in Rome. More than 50,000 people have so far made their way into St Peter's Basilica where the late pontiff is to lie in state for several days ahead of the funeral. But where his predecessors St John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI lied upon an elevated bier, Francis's body rests inside a simple coffin barely raised from the floor of the basilica. Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, lying in a wooden coffin dressed in red, with rosary beads draped across his hands (Vatican Media) This change is one of several Francis introduced in November 2024 following a revision of the 'Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis' – the 'Funeral Rites of the Roman Pontiff' – with the view to simplifying the ceremonies. Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of pontifical liturgical ceremonies, had then told Vatican News the simplification of the rites was 'to emphasise even more that the funeral of the Roman pontiff is that of a pastor and disciple of Christ and not of a powerful person of this world'. – Certification of death When a pope dies, the official verification of his death by the camerlengo – the prelate who runs the Vatican between a pope's death and the election of his successor – would traditionally take place at the location where he died. Francis's revision of the funeral rites scrapped this requirement, asking that the certification of death be carried out inside the late pontiff's private chapel instead. In Francis's case, this rite was carried out in the chapel of the Vatican's Casa Santa Marta where he lived – having declined to move into the papal apartments at the Apostolic Palace following his election in 2013. People queue to pay their respects to Pope Francis at the Vatican (Gregorio Borgia/AP) The new rites then ask that the late pontiff be placed directly into a simple, open wooden coffin lined with zinc, where previous traditions saw a pope entombed in three different coffins – one of cypress wood, one of lead and one of oak. Previously, the pope's body would also be placed inside the three coffins only after its lying-in-state at St Peter's Basilica. – Funeral The funeral rites are traditionally divided into three stations: the home of the deceased pope, the Vatican basilica, and the burial place. With Pope Francis having requested the first station be a chapel instead – though it did form part of his 'home' at the Casa Santa Marta residence – his body was then transferred directly to St Peter's Basilica on Wednesday morning. The coffin did not pass through the Apostolic Palace for another exposition, as was done previously for John Paul II, and was not displayed on an elevated bier – the so-called 'Canaletto' or 'death bed' – as happened with both John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Francis will lie in public view for three days until Friday evening, when his coffin will be sealed in the presence of several cardinals and officials from the Holy See – the central governing body of the Catholic Church and the Vatican. The funeral mass will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the college of cardinals, and concelebrated by patriarchs and cardinals wearing their white damask mitre. Archbishops and bishops of the Catholic Church have also been invited to join wearing liturgical vestments, which they will put on in St Peter's Square, according to the Holy See. President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris will be there, and US President Donald Trump will also attend. Britain's Prince William will attend on behalf of his father, King Charles, while British prime minister Keir Starmer and Scotland's First Minister, John Swinney, will attend as part of the UK delegation. While a requiem mass is usually a standard length of around an hour, the number of people expected to attend, including those wishing to receive Holy Communion, means the service is likely to run closer to 90 minutes, according to Joe Ronan from the Catholic Voices media charity. A nun prays in Westminster Cathedral following the announcement by the Vatican of the death of Pope Francis (PA/James Manning) – Burial According to the traditional rites, and unless a pope has chosen otherwise, his remains are to be moved after the funeral mass to the grotto of St Peter's Basilica for burial. But the 2024 revision also decreed a pope can be buried outside of the Vatican if he so wishes. Pope Francis left instructions in which he asked to be buried in a simple underground tomb in Rome's papal basilica of Saint Mary Major. This makes Francis the first pontiff in more than a century not to be buried at St Peter's Basilica as the last pope who asked to be buried outside of the Vatican was Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903. In his will, Francis wrote: 'I have always entrusted my life and priestly and episcopal ministry to the Mother of Our Lord, Mary Most Holy. 'Therefore, I ask that my mortal remains rest, awaiting the day of resurrection, in the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major. 'I wish that my final earthly journey conclude precisely in this ancient Marian shrine, where I go to pray at the beginning and end of every Apostolic Journey… 'I ask that my tomb be prepared in the burial niche in the side nave between the Pauline Chapel and the Sforza Chapel of the aforementioned Papal Basilica, as indicated in the enclosed plan. People line up to enter St Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis (Emilio Morenatti/AP) 'The tomb should be in the ground; simple, without particular ornamentation, and bearing only the inscription: Franciscus.' A 'group of poor and needy people' will be present on the steps leading to Saint Mary Major to pay their last respects to Francis before he is entombed, the Holy See said on Thursday. The funeral on Saturday will mark the first day of nine memorial masses called 'the novendiali' for the nine days during which they will take place. The final day of the novendiali will be on Sunday May 4. The secret meeting of cardinals, known as the conclave, is expected to begin between 15 and 20 days after the pope's death.
