The congregation in honor of St. Rose of Lima where all the sisters are named Rose

Votes are counted in Dublin, Ireland, on March 9, 2024, after voters in the country went to the polls March 8 to decide on a pair of referendums proposing wording changes to the Irish constitution aimed at reflecting secular values. / Credit: Ch… […]

Pope Benedict XVI’s coffin is carried in St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 5, 2023. / Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jan 5, 2023 / 06:14 am (CNA).

Benedict XVI was buried in the Vatican on Thursday in a strictly private ceremony.

His wooden coffin was placed in the crypt under the central part of St. Peter’s Basilica in the first tomb of St. John Paul II, following the Jan. 5 funeral Mass presided over by his successor, Pope Francis.

The casket was carried from St. Peter’s Square through the main entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica toward the altar, flanked by cardinals, before being brought to the crypt underneath.

Benedict XVI’s coffin was closed in the evening of Jan. 4 after three days of public visitation in St. Peter’s Basilica. The private ceremony took place in the presence of Benedict’s personal secretary, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, and a number of cardinals, including Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Before the casket was closed, a one-page summary in Latin of Benedict XVI’s papacy, called a “rogito” in Italian, was rolled into a metal cylinder and placed inside.

According to the Vatican, 195,000 people visited the body of Benedict XVI during the three days of public viewing.

He was laid to rest in the same tomb where St. John Paul II was buried before his beatification.

Before the burial, a ribbon was placed around the coffin, along with three seals: from the Apostolic Chamber, the Pontifical Household, and the office of liturgical celebrations. The coffin was then placed in a zinc coffin and sealed. 

The zinc coffin was placed in another wooden coffin and then entombed on the north side of the central part of the Vatican crypt. On the wall above the spot there is an image of the Virgin Mary and the child Jesus flanked by angels. 

Queen Christina of Sweden, who died on April 19, 1689, is buried in a sarcophagus immediately to the right.

Cardinals Giovanni Battista Re, Pietro Parolin, Angelo De Donatis, Fernando Vérgez Alzaga, Edgar Peña Parra, Mauro Gambetti, and the consecrated women of the pope emeritus’ household were present for the closing of the coffin on Jan. 4.

St. John Paul II’s tomb was in the crypt from the date of his funeral April 8, 2005, until April 29, 2011, when his casket was moved to the upper part of St. Peter’s Basilica a few days before his beatification ceremony.

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Pope Francis speaks to Italian bishops’ conference meeting in Rome on May 24, 2021. / Screenshot

Rome Newsroom, May 24, 2021 / 11:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis met with Italy’s bishops Monday as the national bishops’ conference began a general assembly to “start a synodal journey.”

The pope gave unscripted remarks as he opened the Italian bishops’ spring assembly on May 24, speaking to a conference hall full of bishops for roughly five minutes before the live video feed of his speech was abruptly cut off by Vatican Media.

Before Pope Francis began speaking, he could be heard over the microphone asking those on stage if journalists were present in the room. When the response was negative, the pope replied: “Good, so we can speak freely.”

Earlier in the day, Pope Francis visited the offices of the Vatican Dicastery of Communication and spoke live on Vatican Radio about the importance of Vatican media reaching the people.

The pope said: “There are a lot of reasons to be worried about the Radio, L’Osservatore, but one that touches my heart: How many people listen to the Radio? How many people read L’Osservatore Romano?”

“Because our work is to reach the people: that what we work on here, which is beautiful, it is great, it is laborious, reaches the people, both with translations and also with short waves.”

In the broadcast portion of Pope Francis’ unscripted remarks to the Italian bishops, the pope said that Italy’s synodal journey must “begin from the bottom up” in parish communities.

“This will require patience. It will require work. It will require us to let the people speak so that the wisdom of the people of God may emerge because a synod is not something other than making explicit what Lumen Gentium states,” the pope said.

Pope Francis also told the bishops that he was happy with the steps they had taken regarding diocesan tribunals and stressed the importance of seminary formation.

“There is a very great danger in making mistakes in formation,” he said. “We must use prudence in admitting seminarians.”

The pope returned to Vatican City after his visit to the Italian bishops’ conference meeting at the Ergife Palace Hotel and Conference Center in Rome, where he also prayed evening prayer with the assembled bishops to open their 74th General Assembly.

The theme of the assembly taking place May 24-27 is “Announce the Gospel in a time of rebirth: To start a synodal journey”.

Cardinal Bassetti, the president of the Italian bishops’ conference, told the pope at the start of the assembly that the bishops’ national “synodal path wants to walk in harmony with that of the Synod of Bishops.”

“It is also an opportunity for our churches in Italy. In fact, in every particular church, the holy and Apostolic Church of Christ is truly present and at work.”

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