In a solemn and intimate ceremony on Friday evening, April 25, 2025, the coffin of Pope Francis was closed and sealed inside St. Peter’s Basilica after more than 250,000 faithful had come to pay their final respects during three days of public visitation.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, presided over the rite attended by members of the Roman Curia, the Holy Father’s secretaries, and several of his relatives. The priests of the Chapter of St. Peter, guardians of the basilica’s sacred traditions, began their vigil over the late pope’s coffin, continuing through the night until the funeral Mass set for the morning of April 26.
The ceremony, lasting about an hour, began with the reading of the rogito, a two-page Latin document summarizing Pope Francis’ life and pontificate. As the choir sang the Canticle of Zachariah, a moment of profound silence followed, and Cardinal Farrell offered a prayer, asking that the pope’s face, which so often sought the ways of the Lord to guide the Church, might now behold the eternal face of the Father.
In keeping with tradition, Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli, Master of Papal Liturgical Celebrations, gently placed a white silk veil over the Holy Father’s face. Holy water was sprinkled upon the body, and a sealed metal cylinder containing the rogito, along with a bag of coins minted during Pope Francis’ pontificate, were placed inside the coffin — a testament to the temporal and spiritual legacy he leaves behind.
The ceremony unfolded in reverent stages: first sealing the zinc inner coffin, which bore a cross, Pope Francis’ papal coat of arms, and a plaque commemorating his 88 years of life and 12-year pontificate. The wooden outer coffin, adorned similarly with a cross and coat of arms, was then closed.
The rite concluded with psalms and antiphons, culminating in the joyful Regina Caeli — the Marian hymn of the Easter season — a fitting close as the Church commended her beloved shepherd to the mercy and glory of the Risen Christ.
Following the funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis’ mortal remains will be transported across Rome for a private burial at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major — a church he often visited to entrust his journeys and his papacy to Our Lady under her title Salus Populi Romani.
As the Church prepares to lay Pope Francis to rest, Catholics throughout the world are united in prayer, gratitude, and hope — trusting in the promise of the Resurrection that the Holy Father proclaimed so often in life: “Christus vivit — Christ is alive!”
