Pope Francis’ wooden coffin is to be sealed on Friday night, in a private rite that officially ends three days of his body lying in state at the Vatican.
About 250,000 people filed through St. Peter’s Basilica to pay their final respects to Francis, who was the first pope from Latin America and the first from the Jesuit order.
The liturgical rite of sealing his coffin is being led by the Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Farrell, the acting head of the church, who is tasked with making arrangements for the pope’s funeral. Farrell, a Dublin-born cleric who became a naturalized American citizen, was formerly the Bishop of Dallas, in Texas.
Other church officials will assist, including the Venezuelan archbishop, the Brazilian prelate and the late pope’s secretaries. A US cardinal accused of mismanaging clerical sexual abuse – the retired archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger Mahony – has also been listed as playing an official role.
The ceremony, which will take place behind closed doors, includes several short songs, spoken prayers and a moment for silent prayer.
Farrell will spread a white silk veil over the late pope’s face and sprinkle the body with holy water, according to an order of service released by the Vatican press office earlier this week.
In keeping with tradition, the camerlengo will place several possessions inside the coffin before sealing it, including the pope’s pallium – the long white robe he wore – coins minted during his pontificate and a deed summarizing the highlights of his tenure.
The rite will conclude with a hymn to Mary.
As part of Francis’ push to simplify the papal funeral rites, his body is in a single wooden coffin, rather than having three nested coffins of cypress, lead and oak as was tradition.
Outside the basilica, the streets leading to the Vatican were much busier on Friday afternoon than they were earlier in the week, with thousands joining the line to file past the coffin before the church closed to the public at 7 p.m. local time (1 p.m. ET).
Friday marks the fourth day of national mourning in Italy and a public holiday – Liberation Day – meaning many locals had more time to join the line. Others traveled from much farther away following news of the pope’s death.
“It was wonderful to see him,” said Joana Veiga, from Porto, Portugal, who arrived with her sister in the morning. “It was very peaceful – calm.” Her sister missed a chance to see Francis last year in Portugal, and was thankful that they made it in time for his lying in state.
Pope Francis’ funeral will take place on Saturday on the steps outside of St. Peter’s Basilica at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET). That will mark the beginning of the ancient tradition of the Novemdiales, nine days of mourning for the deceased pope during which funeral Masses are held each day inside the basilica.
His final resting place, in Rome’s Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, will also be simple in style. It will be made of marble from Liguria, northern Italy, where his great-grandfather was from. He asked that the tomb not have ornate decoration, instead only including an image of the cross he wore as Archbishop of Buenos Aires and the Latin inscription of his papal name: Franciscus.
