Pope Francis says ‘everything is ready’ for his burial

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ANSA – Pope Francis revealed that “everything is ready” for his future burial and that he ordered a simplification of the funeral rituals of pontiffs, whose bodies will no longer be exposed outside the coffins.

The statements were made to Spanish journalist Javier Martínez-Brocal in the interview book “El sucesor” (“The Successor”, still unpublished in Portuguese), in which the 87-year-old leader of the Catholic Church confirmed that he will be buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, the main Marian temple in Rome.

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“There is a room where they kept the candelabra, this is the place. They have already confirmed to me that everything is ready,” said Francis, who used to frequent the basilica to pray even before he became pope.

The pontiff also revealed that, after his death, he will be exposed in the coffin, and not on a catafalque, a type of platform where the Catholic Church usually places the bodies of popes during their funeral rites.

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According to Jorge Bergoglio, Benedict XVI’s funeral, in early 2023, was the “last celebrated in this way, with the pope’s body outside the coffin, on a catafalque”. “I spoke to the master of ceremonies and we eliminated that and many other things. The current ritual was very overloaded,” he said.