Pope Francis’s coffin is already in the Basilica of San Pedro for the last goodbye

At 9:00 in the morning of today, April 23, the transfer of the coffin began with the remains of Pope Francis for the Basilica of San Pedro. The ceremony began after a moment of prayer in the chapel of the Santa Marta house, where Cardinal Camarlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, sprayed the body of the pontiff with holy water.

Pope Francis returned, for the last time, to the Plaza de San Pedro. His coffin, escorted solemnly by the Swiss Guard, advanced in a deeply moving procession.

The “Vatican thirst”, in charge of carrying in the past the gestatorial chair of the pontiffs, have transported the coffin to the square of San Pedro.

The cardinals present in Rome also accompanied the coffin with the mortal remains of Pope Francis. From the Santa Marta house to the Vatican Basilica, the courtship was accompanied by faces full of emotion. Some could not contain tears while they continued, in respectful silence, the “Pope of the last.”

Upon entering the square, around 20,000 thousand faithful welcomed him with an applause sense loaded with gratitude. Many gathered on the sides, trying to see for the last time the Holy Father, who barely three days before he had traveled that same place in his papamóvil.

When crossing the threshold of the Basilica of San Pedro, the Kyrie eleisonthe song that implores the mercy of God. Inside, hundreds of faithful waited in overwhelming silence.

While they entered the basilica, they sang the litanies of the saints to which they responded with the phrase “pray for him.” Priests, bishops and employees of the Vatican have also participated.

Not all. The elderly such as Cardinals Bertone and Ruini have waited directly within the Basilica for their mobility problems.

The body of Pope Francis, placed in a single coffin of zinc and wood, but not on pillows, following his will, is covered with the red liturgical walls and intertwining in his hands a rosary.

The procession, which has entered the Basilica through the central door, previously toured the surroundings of the Pontiff’s residence in the Vatican, where he returned on March 23 after spending 38 days admitted to the Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital in Rome through bilateral pneumonia.

The procession advanced with a firm step until reaching the altar of the confession, at the foot of the majestic Bernini bucket, where Pope Francis’s remains will temporarily rest before his final grave.

After the Latin reading of the Gospel of St. John (17:24), the Camarlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, introduced the prayer of intercession: “We raise fervent supplications to God the Father to welcome our deceased pastor in the eternal abode and grow our faith in the resurrection of the dead.”

Next, the prayer of the faithful took place, in which it was requested in particular by the soul of the Holy Father. Finally, Cardinal Farrell said Rest in peace (Rest in peace), and the Salve Regina was sung.

After the liturgy, the cardinals, bishops, priests and faithful who were in the basilica approached in a row to venerate the body of Pope Francis and give him a last goodbye.

The body of the Holy Father will be exposed for three days until the funeral that will be celebrated by the dean of the Cardinal College, Cardinal Battista Re, at 10:00 (local time) on Saturday, April 26.

The doors of the Basilica will open again at 11:00 in the morning so that the faithful who wish can enter to present their last greeting to Pope Francis.

The Vatican Basilica will remain open until midnight and open its doors on Thursday at 7:00 (local time). On Friday, he will again be open from 7:00 (local time) at midnight. Only during the early morning it will remain closed to allow the technical maintenance of the basilica.