The rites and rituals following the death of a pope, his funeral and burial, explained

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

The rites and rituals following the death of a pope, his funeral and burial, explained

By NICOLE WINFIELD
Updated 5:15 AM EDT April 21, 2025

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The death of a pope sets in motion a series of carefully orchestrated rites and rituals well before the conclave to elect his successor begins. They involve the certification of death and public display of his body for the faithful to pay their respects, followed by the funeral and burial.

Pope Francis, who died on Monday, revised various rites last year, simplifying the funeral rituals to emphasize his role as a mere bishop and allowing for burial outside the Vatican in keeping with his wishes. But the core elements remain, including the three key moments that must be observed between the death of a pope and his burial.

The reforms are incorporated into the slim red volume “Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis,” Latin for “Rite of Burial for Roman Pontiffs.”

Why were changes to the funeral rites necessary?

While popes often tinker with the rules regulating the conclave that elects their successor, a revision of the papal funeral rites hadn’t been undertaken since 2000.

-snip-

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/pope-francis-funeral-burial-rites-rituals-2eb13a689d09d3403f08027081fe3753

[sabbat hunter]

1. Do they really

have to hit the deceased pope on the head with a small silver hammer to make sure he is dead? Being serious here. It sounds both BS and something that is entirely possibly given the church's long history. Not like the smash him over the head, but a light tap.

[Dennis Donovan]

2. Hope they do a better job than they did with Pope Pius XII

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Pius_XII#Botched_embalming

Botched embalming
Pius XII's physician, Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi, reported that the pontiff's body was embalmed in the room where he died using a novel process invented by Oreste Nuzzi.

Pope Pius XII did not want the vital organs removed from his body, demanding instead that it be kept in the same condition "in which God created it". According to Galeazzi-Lisi, this was the reason why he and Nuzzi, an embalmer from Naples, used an atypical approach with the embalming procedure. In a controversial press conference, Galeazzi-Lisi described in great detail the embalming of the body of the late pontiff. He claimed to have used the same system of oils and resins with which the body of Jesus Christ was preserved.

Galeazzi-Lisi asserted that the new process would "preserve the body indefinitely in its natural state". However, whatever chance the new embalming process had of efficaciously preserving the body was obliterated by intense heat in Castel Gandolfo during the embalming process. As a result, the body decomposed rapidly and the viewing of the faithful had to be terminated abruptly.

Galeazzi-Lisi reported that heat in the halls, where the body of the late Pope lay in state, caused chemical reactions which required it to be treated twice after the original preparation. Swiss Guards stationed around Pius XII's body were reported to have become ill during their vigil.

/snip

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Yikes! I looked into the face of Vladimir Lenin and he died in 1924!

[Dennis Donovan]

6. Yeah, they didn't use the same embalmers

[Rhiannon12866]

7. From what we were told, he's reembalmed periodically

And the method of embalming is passed on from father to son. And they're very strict, no one is allowed to enter wearing a long coat or carrying anything. Apparently, sometime in the past someone brought a gun in and tried to shoot him.

[Deep State Witch]

3. Or watch Conclave

The movie "Conclave" was the best depiction of what happens when a Pope dies.

[Deep State Witch]

4. Short Explanation of the Process