(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 04.25.2025).- At 8:00 p.m., beneath the towering baldachin of the Altar of the Confession inside St. Peter’s Basilica, the Church marked the final rite in the earthly journey of Pope Francis: the solemn closure of his casket.
It was not a public event, but a liturgical act wrapped in intimacy. Presided over by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Camerlengo of Holy Roman Church, the ceremony followed the ancient Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis—the precise funeral order used only for Roman Pontiffs. The rite’s centerpiece was the reading of the “rogito,” a handwritten declaration detailing the life and papacy of Jorge Mario Bergoglio. This brief yet historic document, recounting his journey from Buenos Aires to the Chair of Peter, was folded and placed into the coffin alongside other sacred items, sealing not just the wooden casket, but a chapter of the Church itself.
The ritual ended quietly by 9:00 p.m., but the Basilica would not return to stillness. Throughout the night, members of the Chapter of St. Peter’s took turns in prayer and vigil at the foot of the Pontiff’s body, continuing the age-old tradition of guarding the Successor of Peter until his final Mass.
While this inner liturgy unfolded, it was the people—the ordinary faithful—who had written the prologue to this moment. Over the course of just three days, more than 250,000 pilgrims and mourners filed past the body of Pope Francis, lying in state before the main altar. From early Wednesday to late Friday, a river of humanity flowed through the marble columns of St. Peter’s, weaving together stories from every continent. Many came alone, some in groups, others with children in tow. They brought tears, prayers, silence, and, at times, even a gentle smile—recalling a Pope who was as likely to crack a joke as to call for global justice.
Among those present for the casket rite were members of the Pope’s family, including Mauro Bergoglio, his nephew who had arrived from Buenos Aires just hours earlier thanks to a private donation. Their quiet presence added a deeply human note to the solemn ecclesial ceremony: the world may have come to mourn a global figure, but in the end, Francis was also simply a brother, an uncle, a son.
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