Originally published at crisis magazine
A few weeks ago, a seemingly harmless change was announced. At Pope Francis’ request, a revised Order of Funerals for Roman Pontiffs was adopted. Among other things, the ritual of three coffins, practiced in the church since the eleventh century, has been replaced. I cannot help but be disappointed whenever a long-standing tradition is “modernized,” but I was especially struck with the reasoning behind the change.
“The renewed rite,” declared the master of papal ceremonies, Archbishop Diego Ravelli, “needed to emphasize even more that the funeral of the Roman pontiff is that of a pastor and disciple of Christ and not of a powerful person of this world.” Moreover, Ravelli reported that Pope Francis believed that the rites needed to be adapted in order to “better express the faith of the Church in the risen Christ.”
Once again, the Church—to keep up an appearance of humility—has done away with an ancient ritual. From a certain point of view, I can’t blame them. Look up the symbolic meaning of the three coffins and what turns up are rants such as this one from the Center for Inquiry:
Orthodox. Faithful. Free.
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