Source : NEW INDIAN EXPRESS NEWS
VATICAN CITY: The Vatican opened St. Peter’s Basilica to the general public on April 23 to pay their final respects to Pope Francis, with thousands of people filling the central aisle and Swiss Guards standing at attention.
Francis’ body will lie in state in the basilica until Saturday’s funeral and burial.
Francis died on Monday at age 88.
Earlier, the bells of St. Peter’s tolled as his body was transferred from the Vatican hotel where he lived into the basilica, escorted by a procession of solemn cardinals and Swiss Guards through the same piazza where the pontiff had greeted the faithful from his popemobile just days before in what became his final good-bye.
Pallbearers carried the simple wooden coffin on their shoulders through the Vatican’s archway gates, out into St. Peter’s Square and into the basilica, the cardinals in their scarlet cassocks, bishops in their purple robes and the Swiss Guards in their golden and blue uniforms processing slowly behind.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who is running the Vatican temporarily until a new pope is elected, led the procession, with clouds of incense preceding him as the church choir began chanting the Litany of Saints hymn. In pairs, the cardinals approached the casket, bowed and made a sign of the cross, followed by small groups of bishops, ushers, priests and nuns.
Heads of state are expected for Francis’ funeral Saturday, but the three days of public viewing in the basilica will allow ordinary Catholics to grieve the 88-year-old pope, who died Monday after suffering a stroke. The basilica was being kept open until midnight to accommodate the crowds, a mourning period that will end on Friday at 7 p.m., when Francis’ casket is closed and sealed.
Mourners in the piazza watched as Francis’ casket passed them by, along the same path the pope had travelled just days before, on Easter Sunday, in what became his final popemobile tour through the faithful. It was a surprise salute, which Francis decided at the last minute after being assured by his nurse he could do it despite his continued frail health from pneumonia.
Simplified rituals reflect Francis’ wishes
Francis’ death and funeral inaugurates a carefully orchestrated period of transition in the 1.4-billion strong Catholic Church, with cardinals gathering over the coming week before entering into a conclave, the secretive ritual voting in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope. There are 135 cardinals under age 80 and eligible to vote in the conclave, and the new pontiff will likely come from within their ranks. The conclave is not expected to begin before May 5.
Francis first lay in state in the Domus Santa Marta hotel in a private viewing for Vatican residents and the papal household. Images released by the Vatican on Tuesday showed Francis lying in an open casket, wearing the traditional pointed headdress of bishops and red robes, his hands folded over a rosary. The Vatican’s No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, was pictured praying by Francis.
Once inside the basilica, Francis’ casket wasn’t put on an elevated bier — as was the case with past popes — but was just placed on an inclined ramp the main altar of the 16th-century basilica, facing the pews, with four Swiss Guards standing at attention by its side. It was in keeping with Francis’ own wishes for all the rituals surrounding a papal funeral to be simplified and reflect the pope’s role as a simple pastor, not a world leader.
“Look kindly, Lord, on the life and works of your servant, our Pope Francis,” Farrell said from the altar. “Welcome him into the dwelling of perpetual light and peace and grant that your faithful people may follow fervently in his footsteps, bearing witness to the Gospel of Jesus.”
SOURCE :- NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
