Video screenshot [Vatican News/ YouTube]
CV NEWS FEED // The fourth General Congregation of the College of Cardinals was held on April 25 at 9:10 a.m. local time. During the meeting, Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations Archbishop Diego Ravelli explained Pope Francis’ funeral rites.
Vatican News reported that the meeting included prayer and a continued reading of Universi Dominici Gregis through paragraph 32.
Archbishop Ravelli, Vatican News states, told the cardinals that Pope Francis’ April 26 funeral will be the “funeral of a shepherd, not of a sovereign.”
The pope’s remains will not be displayed on the raised platform called a catafalque, he also announced.
The funeral procession will go from the Perugino Gate to the Vatican to St. Mary Major Basilica, and it will not pass through St. Peter’s Square, Director of the Holy See Press Office Matteo Bruni said in a press conference. The procession will take about half an hour.
On the afternoon of April 25, the Vatican will release a list of delegations to the pope’s funeral, including the presidents of Argentina and Italy. Pope Francis’ burial will be private, Bruni added.
On April 27, the cardinals will visit Pope Francis’ tomb at 4 p.m. and then pray vespers in the Pauline Chapel.
Bruni told reporters that 150,000 faithful had paid their respects at Pope Francis’ coffin as of noon local time April 25. The line for viewing will close at 6 p.m., and the Vatican Basilica will close at 7 p.m.
Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Farrell will preside at the Rite of Sealing of the Coffin at 8 p.m. April 25.
