The doors of the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace and the apartment of the Casa Santa Marta, where the late Pope Francis lived, have been sealed by senior Vatican officials. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra oversaw the sealing of the doors.
On Monday evening, a rite of certification of death and placement in the coffin took place in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta. During the ceremony, the declaration of death was read aloud and validated by Cardinal Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church. The ceremony lasted almost an hour.
The first General Congregation of Cardinals is set to take place on Tuesday morning, where a date for Pope Francis’s funeral may be decided.
Ruth Abla ADJORLOLO
