Pope Francis has opted to be buried in a wooden coffin, revising a centuries-old tradition of decorated send-offs as he seeks to simplify papal customs.
The 87-year-old pope, who turns 88 next month, instituted a new liturgical ceremony aimed at modernizing the Catholic Church and abolished the long and ostentatious funeral practices of his predecessors upon death. Reuters reported.
When Francisco dies, he will be immediately interred in a single zinc-lined wooden coffin, rather than three interlocking coffins made of cypress, lead, and oak.
Previous tradition had been for a pope's body to be placed in an airtight coffin, along with coins, papers and other items issued during the pope's reign.
The open coffin will then be placed in St. Peter's Basilica, where mourners can pay their respects, and the funeral custom, in which the pope's body is placed on a raised platform supported by ornaments, will be abolished. Reuters reported.
Francis chose to be buried in St. Mary's Basilica in Rome, a place he often visits during his overseas travels, rather than with his immediate predecessors.
He will be the first pope in more than 100 years to be buried outside the Vatican. The title was held by Pope Leo XIII, who was buried in the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome in 1903, Reuters reported.
Francisco announced last year that he wanted to change his complex and lengthy funeral, but has now spoken openly about his health problems, including knee and back pain that requires the use of a wheelchair. .
