In One Image Prelude to a Funeral By Tomás Munita and Peter Robins
The rituals of the Vatican can seem timeless, impervious to change. But look closer.
The Swiss Guards accompanying Pope Francis on his final journey still wear the colors of the Medici family, 420 years after the last Medici pope.
But the coffin has changed. This one is far plainer than the nested trio long used by popes — a simplification ordered by Francis himself.
And while the world has long followed papal transitions closely, much of it now does so in real time.
Still, many of the faithful wanted to see Francis with their own eyes one last time on earth. Some came thousands of miles to throng St. Peter’s Square.
Even lost traditions leave traces. These pallbearers are a remnant of the papal sediari, who once carried the pope on a throne at public appearances. That ended under Pope John Paul II.
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In One Image
Prelude to a Funeral
Francis set the stage for his own mourning late last year, when he approved a simplified procedure for papal funeral rituals.
Simplicity, of course, is relative — in this case to the breathtaking grandeur bequeathed by centuries of Roman Catholic tradition.