The funeral Mass for the archpriest emeritus of St. Peter’s Basilica took place at 8 o’clock this morning in the Vatican basilica.
Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, celebrated the funeral liturgy, and Pope Francis gave the final rites of testimony and farewell for Cardinal Francesco Marchisano who, at 85, died this Sunday in Urbe, northern Italy.
Rome’s cardinals, archbishops and bishops gathered in the basilica to remember the long-serving Italian prelate.
Appointed cardinal at the 21 October 2003 Consistory, Cardinal Marchisano had exercised a variety of prominent roles in the Church, including president of the Pontifical Commission for the Cultural Heritage of the Church as well as of the Pontifical Commission for Sacred Archaeology.
Moreover, the archpriest emeritus had been vicar general for the Pope as well as president of the Fabricca di San Pietro and the Central Labor Office of the Apostolic See.
Earlier this week, Pope Francis sent his condolences in a telegram in which he says the cardinal “leaves a lifetime witness in his generous vocation as priest and bishop, for all the needs of the faithful and sensitive to the world of art and culture.”
It closes with the Holy Father saying, “I raise my prayers of suffrage so the Lord welcomes him in joy and in eternal peace, and I send to all those that share in suffering for his loss an apostolic blessing.”
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On Zenit’s Web page:
Telegram: http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/pope-s-telegram-on-death-of-cardinal-marchisano
