The Vatican has issued new rules for more streamlined funerals for popes.
Among the new features introduced in an update to the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis protocol are the certification of death no longer in the deceased's room but in the chapel, the immediate deposition inside the coffin, the exposure of the Pope's body to the veneration of the faithful already inside the open coffin, and the elimination of the traditional three coffins of cypress, lead and oak.
Another new element consists in the introduction of the necessary indications for possible burial in a place other than the Vatican Basilica.
Pope Francis had announced on several occasions: that for his funeral he would like a more streamlined ceremony, "with dignity but like every Christian".
In a couple of interviews he had said that he did not want to be exposed on a catafalque, as he also revealed that he will be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore and not in St. Peter's Basilica.
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