The Vatican has published a series of photographs of Pope Francis lying in an open coffin.
The Pontiff is lying in repose inside the private chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, his official residence where he breathed his last on Monday.
The pictures, taken on Monday and released this morning, show the 88-year-old hours after his death during the rite of the Confirmation of the Death of the Pontiff.
Dressed in red vestments with a bishop’s mitre on his head and a rosary placed in his hands, Pope Francis rests in an open wooden casket. The images captured Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin praying beside the body.
In one picture, Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo who will oversee the Holy See until a new Pope is elected, can be seen blessing Francis.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, a 77-year-old Irish-American prelate, has stepped in as the acting head of the Vatican during the period known as Sedes Vacans. As camerlengo, a role Pope Francis appointed him to in 2019, Farrell is responsible for certifying the pontiff’s death, sealing his private quarters, organising the funeral rites, and preparing for the conclave to elect the next pope. “The pope has returned to the home of the Father,” Cardinal Farrell announced, ushering in a new chapter of transition for the Catholic Church.
The pope will be taken to St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday morning .
The Vatican announced that Pope Francis died of complications following a severe cerebral stroke, which led to a coma and eventually irreversible heart failure. “The Holy Father suffered a severe cerebral stroke that resulted in a coma,” said Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, head of the Vatican’s health department. “Despite intensive care, it led to irreversible heart failure.”
He added that the pope’s existing conditions — including respiratory insufficiency, bilateral pneumonia, type 2 diabetes, and hypertension — had significantly complicated his recovery.
His funeral is set to take place at 10am on Saturday (9am BST) in St. Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
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