Dhe Holy See has more details on the funeral service and burial of Benedict XVI. announced. The emeritus pontiff will have a ceremony and a funeral like a pope, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni told journalists on Tuesday. However, there are minor changes to the usual ceremony. Among other things, prayers that are actually intended in the ceremony for a conclave to elect the successor will be dispensed with. There will be no papal election because Francis remains in office as the incumbent pontiff.
Benedict’s body was to be placed in a coffin made of cypress wood on Wednesday evening. He is currently lying in state in St. Peter’s Basilica so that the faithful can say goodbye to him. At the funeral service on Thursday in St. Peter’s Square, Benedict will no longer be seen.
Pope Francis will preside over the Mass, Bruni said. However, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re will celebrate the church celebration at the altar because the 86-year-old Argentinian is still suffering from knee pain. But Francis will preach.
After the service, according to Bruni, the coffin will be carried into St. Peter’s Basilica. In camera, this is placed in a zinc box, which is finally housed in its future resting place in the grotto of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Half the Bavarian cabinet travels to Rome
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will also take part in the funeral service in Rome on Thursday. This was announced by the Office of the Federal President and a spokesman for the Federal Government on Tuesday in Berlin.
The delegation also includes the President of the Bundestag, Bärbel Bas, the President of the Federal Council, Peter Tschentscher, and the President of the Federal Constitutional Court, Stephan Harbarth. This means that the heads of all five constitutional bodies of the Federal Republic will be present at the Pope’s funeral. According to the Office of the President, they are traveling on different planes. Steinmeier is also accompanied by his wife Elke Büdenbender. Steinmeier is a Protestant, Büdenbender a Catholic.
Steinmeier also signed the book of condolence on Tuesday, which has been on display in the Apostolic Nunciature in Berlin since Monday. His entry there reads: “I mourn Pope Benedict XVI with the Catholics from Germany and all over the world. His faith, his intellectual strength and his human modesty will remain in the memory of the people in his homeland Germany.”
Believers and representatives of politics, church and society from all over Bavaria also want to say goodbye to Benedict XVI personally in Rome. take. Delegations from all over the Free State are making their way to the funeral service for the Pope Emeritus on Thursday at St. Peter’s Square. Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) leads a 170-strong delegation from the Free State; half the cabinet is there. State President Ilse Aigner (CSU) and several parliamentary group leaders have also announced their presence.
