Pope Francis’s apartment, both that of his residence in the Santa Marta house and that of the Apostolic Palace, which he did not use, were sealed, as the tradition sends, after his death this Monday, at 88.
The rite of the seal is carried out so that, after the death, the safety of all the documents and belongings of the deceased Pope is guaranteed.
This afternoon we proceeded to seal, with a red ribbon and a sketch of the same color, the doors of the apartment of the Apostolic Palace, which Francisco did not use, since since his choice in 2013 he decided to reside in the most lively Casa Santa Marta.
At the sealing the American cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Camarlengo who must direct the administration of the Holy See during this vacant headquarters; the Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin; and the Venezuelan archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, responsible for general matters of the State Secretariat of the Holy See.
Then, the Santa Marta house was sealing with the same goal.
This Monday, the rite of the finding of death was also carried out in his residence, and then his body was introduced into the coffin to be veiled in the chapel of that building, as the Argentine pontiff had in life, who simplified the protocol.
Likewise, the fisherman’s ring and papal stamps must be canceled, to prevent someone from signing documents in their name after their death.
The Vatican doctors determined that the cause of the death of the Pope was a cerebral stroke, with a coma and an irreversible heart failure.
Francisco, the first Latin American Pope, ordered in his will his willingness to be buried in a chapel of the Basilica of Santa María la Mayor and in a simple grave.
Its coffin is expected to be taken on Wednesday to the Basilica of San Pedro del Vaticano for exposure to the faithful, while the funeral will take place, predictably, between Friday and Sunday, according to current Vatican legislation.