Francis made changes to the ritual of the funeral of popes and talks about what his will be like

Pope Francis has simplified the funeral ritual for popes and his body will not be displayed in public, as revealed in the book 'The successor', where He addresses his relationship with Benedict XVI for the first time and confirms that he will be buried in the Basilica of Santa María Maggiore and not in the Vatican grottoes..

In this book-interview written by the Spanish journalist Javier Martínez-Brocal, Francisco assures that Benedict XVI's funeral was the last that was carried out with the current funeral protocol and that In the case of the pope emeritus, everything was decided by his historical secretary, the German Georg Gänswein..

“I trust you with one thing, it will be the last wake held like this, with the pope's body exposed outside the coffin, in a catafalque. I have spoken with the master of ceremonies and we have eliminated that and many other things,” he assures.

“It will be with dignity, like any Christian, but not on pillows. In my opinion, the current ritual was too overloaded. Holding two wakes seemed excessive to me. Let only one be held and with the pope already in the coffin, as in all families. I changed several things, in line with the reform that Paul VI and John Paul II already carried out,” he explains in the book.

During the days of Benedict's wake in San Pedro, The basilica closed its doors around seven in the afternoon and did not open again until seven thirty in the morning.

However, the entrance was organized through a side door so that close people and guests of the inhabitants of the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, where the pope emeritus lived, could also pray there throughout the night.

There will no longer be a ceremony for the closing of the coffin. Everything will be done in the same ceremony, as with any Christian.

“There will no longer be a ceremony to close the coffin. Everything will be done in the same ceremony, as with any Christian. Furthermore, in my case they will have to take me to the basilica of Santa María Maggiore. When the funeral is over , let them take me there,” the pope confirmed.

And he explains: “I have a lot of devotion to Santa María la Mayor, since before I was pope, always. Everything is already prepared there. Just after the sculpture of the Queen of Peace there is a small enclosure, a door that leads to a room that was used to store the candelabras.“.

“I saw it and thought: That's the place, and the burial site is already prepared there. They confirmed to me that it is ready,” he adds.