Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI: No modern protocols exist for funeral of former pontiff

The Vatican has elaborate rituals when a reigning pope dies, but how the passing of a former pontiff is handled is unclear.

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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI resigned nearly 10 years ago and was succeeded by Pope Francis. Benedict’s death on Saturday at the age of 95 raises protocol questions since there is no modern precedent on how to handle the funeral of a former pontiff.

“The question is complicated,” Agostino Paravicini Bagliani, a papal historian, told The New York Times.

The Vatican said that Pope Francis will celebrate the funeral Mass for Benedict XVI in St. Peter’s Square on Thursday.

For nearly a decade there were two popes living in close quarters at the Vatican since Benedict stayed at the Vatican Gardens at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery, the BBC reported. Benedict would occasionally appear with his successor.

“We’ve never had this before where a living pope will help bury a dead pope,” Catholic historian John McGreevy told the news outlet.

“Rites and ceremonies after the death of a reigning pope are clear and already well elaborated,” Ulrich Nersinger, who studies the Vatican and has worked for the papal ceremonial office, told The Washington Post. “The big problem is: What do you do if it’s a pope emeritus who dies? That’s a new experience.”

Citing his health, Benedict became the first pope to resign since Gregory XII in 1415, according to the Post. Gregory resigned to end a civil war within the church. His resignation enabled a special council to excommunicate the pope based in Avignon, France, and start fresh with a new, single leader of the church, according to the newspaper.

Gregory, who reverted to a cardinal after his resignation, spent the final two years of his life hundreds of miles from Rome, Reuters reported. When he died in 1417, he was quietly buried in Recanati, a town near the northern Adriatic coast. His funeral followed the protocols used for cardinals, Paravicini Bagliani told the Times.

Pope Celestine V, who resigned in 1294, wanted to live like a monk, according to the newspaper. Instead, he was imprisoned by Pope Boniface VIII and was not given a papal funeral when he died in 1296.

The ceremony surrounding Benedict’s funeral will depend on several factors, including the wishes of the late pontiff for his final arrangement, Monsignor Stefano Sanchirico, an official of the Vatican Apostolic Archive and expert in pontifical ceremonial, told Catholic News Agency earlier this week.

“It is clear that Pope Francis will make the final decision,” Sanchirico told the religious news outlet.

He added that, based on “the tradition of the Roman ceremonial and considering some analogy with similar offices, we can make an educated guess of how things will be handled.”

Normally, cardinals gather for papal funerals to mourn, but also to participate in the election of a successor.

“Clearly that’s not an issue in this case,” Paravicini Bagliani told the Times.

He added that cardinals would likely be present “as mourners.”

Benedict will likely be buried alongside his 148 predecessors who lie in the crypt beneath St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, according to the newspaper. However, the Vatican has yet to specify Benedict’s burial site.

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Through the years VATICAN CITY - APRIL 19: Pope Benedict XVI, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (C) of Germany, waves from a balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican after being elected by the conclave of cardinals April 19, 2005 in Vatican City. The 265th Pope will lead the world's 1 billion Catholics. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images) (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

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