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In a room on the tenth floor of the Gemelli Clinic in Rome, he spent the night Pope Franciscothe 86-year-old Supreme Pontiff who was hospitalized this Wednesday, March 29, for presenting a respiratory infection.
As reported by the Vatican press departmentthe holy pope was under the supervision of his personal nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, who confirmed that Francis spent the night peacefully and that his health is out of danger.
Look: Pope Francis LIVE: watch the latest news on the health of the Supreme Pontiff
For now, there is a scheduled chest CT and other medical tests that will determine the state of health of the holy father and his presence at the celebration of the Palm Sunday mass.
However, curiosity has arisen in the world about what would be the protocol prepared by the Vatican if Pope Francis dies.
The protocol
For decades the Holy See has had strict procedures that are executed when a current pope or a pope emeritus dies.
In the event that Francis dies, the death must be registered by the Vatican doctor and the Cardinal Camerlengo must be informed immediately, who will visit the body of the Supreme Pontiff and, with a silver hammer, will gently strike Francisco’s head three times.
If the body does not respond, the cardinal must confirm the death of the holy father by saying a phrase in Latin: “Vere papa mortuus est” (Truly the pope is dead).
Immediately afterwards, the same cardinal camerlengo will have to remove the ring from the pope’s hand and destroy it with the silver hammer. At that point, Francis’s papacy would have ended.
It is also said that if the supreme pontiff dies in his room in the Vatican, the body must be removed immediately and the room would be locked until a new pope is chosen.
A meeting would take place hours later and it would be attended by a camerlegno, three more cardinals and a conclave that would be in charge of the new election of the head of the Catholic Church.
On the other hand, a unit of Legal Medicine from the University of Rome must travel to the place of death and collect the body of Francisco to prepare him for his funeral honours.
The Sistine Chapel would be the place of the ceremony and the body would rest in a coffin built with three layers: one of cypress, one of lead and one of walnut. In addition, in the last layer he would put a crucifix and an open bible that would accompany him to his crypt in the Vatican.
In Saint Peter’s Square, two black flags would be installed to announce the death of Francis to the world: one in the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica and the other in the bell tower. The bells would also ring in mourning.
white smoke
The College of Cardinals is to meet in the Sistine Chapel. to elect the new pope within a maximum of 20 days after Francis’ death.
All cardinals under 80 years of age would go to the place and they would become electors of the new head of the church.
A secret conclave, which would not be known by public opinionwould be in charge of the new election and the certification of transparency in voting.
The new pope must have the approval of two thirds of the College of Cardinals and, if elected, the ballot papers would be burned and soft smoke would rise from the chimney of the chapel.
In case an agreement is not reached, the ballots are also burned, but in this case, the smoke is black and represents that the process continues.
Source: Elcomercio
I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.
