The Vatican released details on the private ritual for the closing of Pope Benedict XVI’s coffin.
The casket was closed in St. Peter’s Basilica on the evening of Jan. 4 after three days of public visitation to the late pope’s body.
Before the wooden coffin was closed, Pope Benedict XVI’s personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, and Monsignor Diego Giovanni Ravelli, the Vatican’s lead master of ceremonies for papal liturgies, placed a white veil over the late pope’s face. The action is part of the funeral rites for popes.
“Almighty God, Lord of life and death, we believe that the life of the Holy Father Benedict XVI is now hidden in you … May his face contemplate your beauty,” the prayer for the rite says.
Cardinals Giovanni Battista Re, Pietro Parolin, Angelo De Donatis, Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, Edgar Peña Parra, Mauro Gambetti, and the consecrated women of the pope emeritus’ household were present for the closing of the coffin.
Before the casket was closed, a one-page summary in Latin of Benedict XVI’s papacy, called a “rogito” in Italian, was rolled into a metal cylinder and placed inside.
Archbishop Gänswein kissed the top of the closed coffin, made of cypress.
Pope Benedict XVI’s funeral and burial in the Vatican crypt took place on the morning of Jan. 5.
