Funeral of Pope Benedict XVI. – news.ORF.at

In the morning in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, the deceased Pope Benedict XVI. adopted. The Mass, led by Pope Francis and celebrated by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, took place in front of tens of thousands of faithful in St. Peter’s Square. Kings, nobles, heads of state, and clergy from all over the world traveled to Rome. Austria is present at the funeral through former Federal President Heinz Fischer.

His successor, Alexander van der Bellen, asked Fischer to attend the ceremonies in Rome, since he was in office during the reign of Pope Benedict XVI. And his visit to Austria in 2007 Federal President. Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, Archbishop Franz Lackner of Salzburg as President of the Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Wilhelm Krautwaschl of Graz and Bishop Agidius Zivkovic of Eisenstadt will participate in the funeral service as representatives of the Church.

Even before the funeral service in St. Peter’s Square, a liturgy took place in St. Peter’s Basilica in the morning, closed to the public. The body hitherto laid was placed in a coffin made of cypress trees and solemnly transferred from St. Peter’s Basilica to the square. Believers had the opportunity to pray the rosary for the deceased.

Triple coffin

At the end of the Mass, the remains of Benedict XVI will be buried. to the caves. Then the cypress coffin is placed in a welded and sealed zinc coffin, which, in turn, is placed in a wooden box. This is then buried in a crypt under St. Peter’s Basilica – in the former tomb of his predecessor John Paul II, who died in 2005. After the Polish pope was beatified in 2011, his body was reburied in a chapel in the aisle of St. Peter’s. … St. Peter’s Basilica.

ORF broadcasts the funeral ceremony live and provides analysis and background reporting as well as diverting conversations to Rome and Berlin.