By Fr. OKHUELEIGBE OSEMHANTIE A

Today, Saturday, April 26, 2025 is the funeral ceremonies of Pope Francis. So, all eyes are turned toward the Eternal City. This piece is meant to prepare your mind for what the day holds.

When the Fisherman sleeps, the world watches. When the Successor of Peter breathes his last, the heavens pause, and the Church veils herself in awe. A papal funeral is not merely a ceremony; it is the symphonic culmination of centuries of sacred tradition, theological drama, ecclesiastical majesty, and a mystery steeped in divine symbolism. It is the earthly farewell to the Vicar of Christ and the eschatological anticipation of the beatific vision. It is Rome?eternal Rome?laying to rest not a man, but a Pontiff.

Let us walk through the splendour, one sacred element at a time.

1. Death in the Domus Sanctae Marthae: The Vigil of Silence

When the Pope dies, his passing is not just a biological end; it is a theological moment. In the papal residence, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the camerlengo, or Chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, solemnly pronounces death. He traditionally calls the Pope by his baptismal name thrice, and when no response comes, he gently closes the eyes of the dead Pontiff?eyes that once surveyed the flock of God across continents. The Fisherman?s Ring is removed and destroyed?a symbolic end to his authority. Here, power bows to mortality.

2. The Nine Days of Mourning (Novemdiales): Ecclesia in Luctu

For nine days, the Church is draped in penitential mourning. Each day unfolds a requiem Mass in different Roman churches, with cardinals in red?a colour not of joy, but of the blood of martyrdom and the intensity of ecclesial grief. Bells toll, not as mere noise, but as a weeping bronze chant that trembles over the Tiber and echoes across the seven hills of Rome. The Sistine Chapel remains hushed, preparing for another conclave, but now it weeps its ceiling of Michelangelo?s Last Judgment in silent gaze over a vacant throne.

3. The Lying in State: The People Gaze on Peter

The Pope's body is transferred to the Apostolic Palace or St. Peter?s Basilica, where he lies in state for the faithful to file past. Clothed in red papal vestments?unlike the white he wore in life?the Pope lies robed for martyrdom and eternity. The pallium rests on his shoulders, symbol of universal jurisdiction. A rosary rests in his fingers?shepherd?s beads of consolation. For the poor pilgrim from across the world, the moment is not mere spectacle?it is communion with the man who touched the hem of their humanity.

4. The Funeral Mass: A Liturgy Fit for Heaven

Then dawns the funeral Mass?majestic, solemn, celestial. Held in the open arms of St. Peter?s Square, beneath Bernini?s colonnade that gathers nations like a mother?s embrace, the Mass becomes a drama of divine farewell.

The cardinal protodeacon presides if there is no reigning pope, for only he may. Psalmody fills the air, and Gregorian chants rise like incense into the dome of heaven. The homily, brief yet profound, reflects not on political legacy but on Christian hope. As the Eucharist is consecrated, heaven kisses earth?Christ present as the Church farewells Christ?s Vicar.

5. The Triple Coffins: Mystery Within Mystery

The body is placed within three coffins?a ritual profound and layered. I discussed this in one of my pieces earlier. Note however, that Pope Francis requests that he be not buried with three coffins but one.

Within the coffin is placed a sealed parchment?the ?Rogito??a handwritten testimony of the Pope?s life and works, his encyclicals, canonizations, and travels. It is the final ecclesiastical diary, sealed for eternity.

6. The Tolling Bells and the Final Benediction

As the casket is carried out, bells of St. Peter?s ring?deep, slow, mournful. They toll not for death, but for glory?the kind only the Church understands. The people cross themselves. The cardinals bow. The Swiss Guard salute with swords raised. A cloud of incense envelopes the coffin?fragrant witness of prayer. The final ?In Paradisum? is sung, not merely by the choir, but by the heart of the Church herself. ?May the angels lead you into paradise??

7. Burial in the Grottoes: To Rest Among Shepherds

The Pope is buried in the Vatican Grottoes beneath St. Peter?s Basilica. Not above, but below?near the bones of the first Bishop of Rome, the Galilean fisherman crucified upside down. It is here that John Paul II was laid. Here, John XXIII. Here, in the eternal quiet of marble and prayer, the Pope lies?in pace?awaiting the resurrection.

A simple marble slab is placed, bearing his name. No crown. No throne. Just a name and dates?earthly proof of divine legacy.

8. The Universal Pause: Humanity Kneels

What makes the papal funeral splendid is not gold or grandeur?it is the convergence of humanity?s deepest longing with the Church?s highest expression of hope. Kings kneel. Presidents bow. Atheists pause. Catholics weep. For in the death of a Pope, the world is reminded: the Church is not an institution, it is a Bride; and the Pope, her guardian, now returns to her Bridegroom.

Epilogue: The Empty Chair

The sedia gestatoria is not carried. The papal chair remains empty. But it is not a symbol of absence?it is anticipation. The funeral is not an end but a hinge. The conclave will soon begin. The smoke will rise again. And the Spirit will whisper: Tu es Petrus.

Until then, the splendour remains. Not in spectacle, but in solemnity; not in the ritual, but in the mystery. For in the funeral of the Pope, heaven meets history, and the Church, ever ancient and ever new, walks once more from the tomb into the promise of Resurrection.

?Fr. Okhueleigbe Osemhantie Amos, PhD, is of the Catholic Institute of West Africa (CIWA), Port Harcourt, Nigeria.

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