By Jonah McKeown
CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2025 / 10:13 am
Pope Francis’ coffin will be sealed in a liturgical rite this evening ahead of his solemn funeral, set to take place the next morning on Saturday, April 26.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo, will preside at the Rite of Sealing of the Coffin beginning at 8 p.m. Rome time April 25, the Vatican announced. After his death on April 21, the pope’s body — dressed in red liturgical vestments with the miter and pallium — had been placed in a simple wooden coffin with a zinc lining.
Cardinals Giovanni Battista Re, Pietro Parolin, Roger Mahony, Domenique Mamberti, Mauro Gambetti, Baldassare Reina, and Konrad Krajewski have been invited to attend the ceremony, according to Vatican News. Other Holy See officials will be present to assist with the ceremony.
The liturgy closing the coffin will end the three days of Pope Francis’ lying in state at St. Peter’s Basilica, during which a massive number of Catholics from around the world have come to pay their respects. As of Thursday evening, an estimated 90,000 people have entered St. Peter’s Basilica — many waiting hours in line — to catch a glimpse of the late pope.
According to a booklet provided by the Holy See that lays out the liturgy, the master of pontifical liturgical celebrations, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, will read what is known as the “rogito,” or deed, a document summarizing the life and works of the pope that “recalls [Francis’] life and his most important works, for which we give thanks to God the Father.”
After the reading of the deed, the Canticle of Zechariah will be sung.
