Cardinals hold first meeting after pope's death

ATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Cardinals already present in Rome and those who were able to get to the city after Pope Francis' death April 21 held their first meeting at the Vatican April 22.

About 60 cardinals met in the Vatican Synod Hall at 9 a.m. to decide when to move the pope's body from the chapel of his residence to St. Peter's Basilica and when to hold the funeral, Matteo Bruni, head of the Vatican press office told reporters.

They decided the funeral Mass of Pope Francis will be celebrated April 26 in St. Peter's Square after the deceased pope's body is taken into St. Peter's Basilica for public viewing and prayer early April 23. The public viewing was scheduled to end late April 25 with another prayer service to close the coffin.

During the cardinals' meeting, which lasted about an hour and a half, the cardinals also drew lots to determine the three cardinals who will serve a three-day term to assist the chamberlain of the church, U.S. Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, with the general governance of the church during the period without a pope.

The three cardinals chosen April 22 were Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, former Vatican secretary of state; Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, archpriest of Rome's Basilica di St. Mary Major; and Italian Cardinal Fabio Baggio, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. After three days, cardinals present in Rome will draw lots once again for the three cardinals to serve the next three-day term, Bruni said.

The meeting began with a prayer of suffrage for the pope and a reading of the "Adsumus, Sancte Spiritus," a prayer invoking the grace of the Holy Spirit for an assembly, he said.

Paragraphs 12 and 13 of the apostolic constitution, "Universi Dominici Gregis," were read, offering guidance on how the formal pre-conclave meetings of cardinals, called general congregations, will work. They read aloud the oath written in paragraph 12 that is taken by cardinals entering the general congregations, Bruni said.

Cardinal Farrell also read aloud Pope Francis' brief final testament in which he had asked to be buried at Rome's Basilica of St. Mary Major and had offered his suffering for peace in the world.

The cardinals also decided that all beatifications that had been scheduled are postponed until the next pope decides the new date for the ceremonies.

Many cardinals arrived at the Synod Hall at the Vatican through a back entrance, while just a few passed through the Petriano entrance to the Vatican next to St. Peter's Square and the flock of journalists crowding around it.

Among them was retired Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi who, at 82, is no longer eligible to vote in a conclave.

"The first meeting is less theoretical, it will be the ones that follow -- once cardinals arrive from all over the world -- that there will be indications on the points of view that will be taken up by who participates in the conclave, as happened in 2013," he told reporters before entering the Vatican.

The first meeting of cardinals "is more organizational," focusing on the ceremonies associated with a papal death, he explained, "also because Pope Francis wanted them to be simplified and calmer."

The cardinal said that Pope Francis' decision to be buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major "with a particular simplicity" is a kind of "final message that he gives, above all recalling that he wanted to be buried in the shadow of a woman, in this case Mary, and this is significant also for the desire that the church do more for women."

Cardinal Ravasi, who was president of the Pontifical Council for Culture from 2007-2022, said the late pope had an "instinctive sensibility regarding contemporary culture," particularly in cultural matters concerning women, young people, science and technology, including artificial intelligence, and communications.

"He was above all someone who was innovative with the language of the church itself," the cardinal said, recalling phrases the pope would often invoke: "Third World War in piecemeal, the smell of the sheep, the field hospital."

"All of these expressions were very influential and allowed people to feel directly and immediately in sync" with the church, he said.

The next closed-door meeting for all cardinals who are able to be in Rome will be April 23 in the afternoon, Bruni said.

The faithful were invited to gather in St. Peter's Square to pray the rosary for the repose of Pope Francis' soul led by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica, at 7:30 p.m. local time April 22.

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Contributing to this story was Justin McLellan at the Vatican.