Vatican City (AP) – The cardinals made their first decisions after the death of Pope Francis, fixing Saturday as his funeral and allowing ordinary faithful to start making their last respects from Wednesday, when his coffin is brought to the Saint -Pierre basilica.
The cardinals met for the first time on Tuesday in the Synod Hall of the Vatican to trace the next steps before a conclave begins to choose the successor of Francis, while the condolences flock to the first Latin American pope in the history of the world.
The cardinals established the funeral on Saturday at 10 a.m. on Place Saint-Pierre, to be celebrated by the dean of the Cardinal College, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
US President Donald Trump announced that he and First Lady Melania Trump plan to attend the Argentine Funeral President on Saturday, Javier Milei is also planned.
Francis died Monday at 88 years after undergoing a stroke that put her in a coma and led his heart to fail. He had recovered in his apartment after being hospitalized for five weeks with pneumonia. He did Its last public appearance Sunday, offering a blessing from Easter and by doing what would be his last greeting to the followers of his Popemobile, in a loop on Place Saint-Pierre.
Retrospectively, his Easter’s appearance of the same Loggia where he was presented to the world as the first pope of the Americas on March 13, 2013, was a greenhouse greenhouse to a 12-year papacy who sought to shake the church and return it to his mission of evangelical association to take care of the poorest.
“He gave himself to the end,” said Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the head of the Italian bishops conference and considered a possible candidate as the next Pope. “To go out to meet everyone, talk to everyone, teach us to talk to everyone, to bless everyone.”
The first images of Francis’ body were released on Tuesday, showing him in the wooden coffin, in red clothes and the tab of his bishop, with the Secretary of State of the Vatican who prayed on him in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta hotel where he lived and died.
In his final testament, Francis confirmed that he would be buried at the Basilica St. Mary Major, who is outside the Vatican and who houses her favorite icon of the Virgin Mary. Before and after each foreign trip, Francis went to the basilica to pray in front of the Byzantine style painting which presents an image of Mary, draped in a blue dress, holding the infant Jesus, who in turn holds a golden book jewel.
Francis stopped at the Basilica when I returned from the Gemelli hospital on March 23, after his stay at the 38 -day hospital, to deliver flowers to be placed in front of the icon. He returned on April 12 to pray to Madonna for the last time.
The world reacts
Bells entered chapels, churches and cathedrals from around the world and flags stole from half of the staff in Italy, India, Taiwan and the United States after the announcement of Francis’ death by Vatican Camerlengo. Football matches in Italy and Argentina were suspended in honor of Argentinian pope Who was an always fan of San Lorenzo Soccer Club.
World leaders Francis Loué For its moral leadership and compassion, while the ordinary faithful remembered its simplicity and humanity.
“Like every Argentinian, I think he was a rebel,” said Catalina Favaro, 23, who had come to pay tribute to him in the church of Buenos Aires where Francis discovered his priestly vocation. “It may have been contradictory, but it was good too.”
In Eastern Timor, where Francis’s last external mass has almost attracted half of the population Last September, President Jose Ramos-Horta praised Francis’s courage. “Papa Francisco was a courageous man who was not afraid to denounce the leaders of the world who seek war, but do not want to seek peace,” said Ramos-Horta.
“He challenged the powerful to act with justice, called nations to welcome abroad and reminded us that our common house – this land – is a gift that we must protect for future generations,” said Nigeria president, Bola Tinubu, who is Muslim. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and has around 30 million Catholics, which represents around 14% of the total population.
Pope’s coffin display
The Pope’s formal apartments in the apostolic palace and at the Santa Marta hotel were sealed on Monday evening, after a secular ritual. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who Like Camerlengo had the task of announcing the death and confirming it once the cause has been determined, the rituals presided.
Francis chose not to live in the palace, but in a series of two rooms in Santa Marta on the other side of the city of Vatican. He died there and his body was transferred to the hotel chapel in the hall, where private viewing took place on Tuesday for the Vatican officials and the members of the Pontifical House.
In the modifications made by Francis last year, his body was not placed in three wooden coffins, as had been for previous popes. Francis was rather placed in a simplified wooden coffin with a zinc coffin inside.
Once in St. Peter’s, his coffin will not be put on a raised beer but will simply be placed simply in front of the benches, with the Easter candle nearby.
“He was a pope who did not change his way when it was a question of getting dirty,” said the vicar of Francis for Rome, Cardinal Baldassarre Reina, in a mass in her honor. “For him, the poor and migrants were the sacrament of Jesus.”
Choose the next pope
After the funeral, nine days ago of official mourning, known as “Novinali”. During this period, the cardinals arrive in Rome and meet in private before the conclave.
To give everyone enough time to come together, the conclave must start 15 to 20 days after the “vacant sede” – the “vacant See” – is declared, although it can start sooner if the cardinals agree.
Once the conclave begins, the cardinals vote in secret sessions in the Sistine Chapel. After the voting sessions, the ballots are burned in a special stove. Black smoke indicates that no pope was elected, while white smoke indicates that the cardinals have chosen the next head of the Catholic church.
The one who obtained Two thirds of the votes victories. If he accepts, his election is announced by a cardinal of the loggia of the Saint-Pierre basilica who tells the world “Habemus papam”, Latin for “we have a pope”.
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