A Pope’s Funeral

Pope Francis’ requests for his funeral had an instruction unassociated with papal proceedings. He wanted it to be simple.

He had written in his will that he was to be burried ‘in the earth; simple,’ in an undecorated tomb with only the inscription ‘Franciscus.’ According to one writer (Aldo Cazzullo in the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera), “Even in death, (the pope had) distanced himself from the curia, from a certain idea of the papacy.”

The funeral was simple. Sort of.

A bright day had broken out, and more than an estimated 2.5 lakh individuals had filled up St. Peter’s Square, some of them having slept in churches nearby, to get prime spots for the funeral. According to the Italian interior minister, at least 4 lakh people had turned up at the Vatican and lined Rome’s streets for the funeral. When the bells tolled a death knell – slow and mournful, so different from the ecstatic tolls of 2013, when he was elected pope – a silence, noticeable even on television screens, fell over the piazza, and the simple wooden coffin bearing the pope’s body was brought out of St. Peter’s Basilica. Among the visitors, were dozens of the world’s most powerful men and women – heads of states, monarchs and other dignitaries.

The proceedings – an open-air affair – may have been pared down. But a papal funeral after all is a papal funeral. And for the rest of the morning, a somber but majestic funeral took place, resplendent with Catholic pageantry in all its glory. There were Latin hymns and psalms, Gregorian chants, incense and cardinals in their brilliant red vestments.

With so many world leaders in attendance, papal funerals can also be something of a diplomatic nightmare. There are diplomatic opportunities too, yes, but plenty of scope for awkwardness. The last funeral of a serving pope – that of Pope John Paul II in April 2005 – provided for much diplomatic kerfuffle, from Prince (then) Charles shaking the hand of Robert Mugabe (after the uproar, a statement clarified, ‘the prince finds the current Zimbabwean regime abhorrent’) to Israel’s then president Moshe Katsav shaking the hand of his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Khatami (the latter denied it took place).

With two big conflicts raging, in Europe and in the Middle East, and some whimsical leaders on the world stage, this funeral had the potential for plenty of diplomatic awkwardness.

Should you keep Donald Trump away from Volodymyr Zelensky? Where do you seat Joe Biden – close to Trump or away from him? And what about Emmanuel Macron? Mercifully, Putin had declared he would be skipping it. And who, among the leaders, gets first dibs on the front seats?

As ‘working funerals’ go, this one seemed to have been a success. Trump and Zelensky met on its sidelines for the first time after that testy exchange at the White House, in what the White House described as a ‘very productive’ meeting. The pictures of this meeting between the two show them seated on two chairs, as though drawn hastily at the very last minute, having what appears like an intense conversation. It may not look the most friendly, but it did not look unfriendly either.

At the funeral service, the cardinals stood out in their brilliant red vestments. There is another reason beyond their visual appeal that possibly attracts our eyes to them. In a few days from now, all of them will seclude themselves from the rest of the world, and emerge only after they have decided who among them will be the next pope.

The election of a pope is as much a spiritual exercise as a political balancing act. Will the next pope be a ‘progressive’, as Pope Francis was seen to be, or will he be a ‘traditionalist’? Will he be a European, or will he come from the ‘global south’ (which is where Christianity is growing)? The demographics of the Christian world may be shifting, but its power continues to remain in the West. Progressive factions within the church might like to see a Pope from outside Europe, but most contenders from the ‘global south’, and in particular Africa, are seen to be traditionalists. Whoever is selected, it will have to be one who satisfies, at least to some degree, all these factions, and hopefully be someone who can expertly lead the faith in an increasingly polarised world.

After the service drew to a close, the popemobile drove the coffin to Saint Mary Major, a church in Rome the pope loved and which he selected as his final resting place. It was a fair distance away, the route passing through some well-known spots across Rome. Throughout that streets, on its sides, thousands of devotees pressed one another to catch a last glimpse of the pope.

Whoever is selected next, he would do well to inspire such love.

Also See Photo Gallery: The Last Day of the Faithful

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