{"id":30789,"date":"2023-01-06T13:46:11","date_gmt":"2023-01-06T12:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expateuropa.com\/?p=30789"},"modified":"2023-01-13T11:28:26","modified_gmt":"2023-01-13T10:28:26","slug":"pope-benedict-xvi-is-buried-in-his-grave-at-the-vatican-grottoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expateuropa.com\/pope-benedict-xvi-is-buried-in-his-grave-at-the-vatican-grottoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Benedict XVI is buried in his grave at the Vatican Grottoes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Roman Catholic church has had a sad <em><strong>2023 new year celebration<\/strong><\/em> following the demise of Pope Benedict XVI on December 31, 2022. The Pope astonished the whole world when he publicly announced his resignation on\u00a0 February 11, 2013 citing lacking in strength and gusto to lead the vast faithful of the Roman Catholic church.\u00a0 This went into the records as being the first of its kind resignation of a pontiff. With this alone, the pope emeritus curved his peculiar mark in the annals of history. So on Thursday 5, 2022, the Pope again would become a subject of publicity as his priestly casket, made in the customary ways of the Vatican, went down his tomb in the <em><strong>Vatican Grottoes<\/strong><\/em>. Catholics can only keep the memories of Pope Benedict XVI and wait upon the consecration of his soul.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Pope Benedict XVI was buried under St. Peter&#039;s Basilica in the Vatican\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZUfR8ZMTsqc?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\"><strong><em>A final farewell for Pope Benedict XVI<\/em><\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Pope Benedict&#8217;s XVI was one of the ruling monarchs of <em><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/expateuropa.com\/pope-benedict-xvi-dies-and-the-place-of-the-vatican-city\/\">Vatican City<\/a> <\/strong><\/em>and a leader of the Roman Catholic Church until his record-breaking\u00a0 resignation on 28<sup>th<\/sup> February 2013. Having lived 95 years, Pope Benedict\u00a0 breathed his last and went into the long list of the Popes buried as per the doctrine and procedures for interment of the Popes at the Vatican. He was elected Pope in 2005 after the death of Pope John Paul II.\u00a0 Pope Benedict preferred to be called Pope Emeritus, a title he retained till his death.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Key Achievements of of Pope Benedict&nbsp; XVI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Having served as the Pope for eight years before his resignation, Pope Benedict&nbsp; XVI has so much under his sleeves to be written home about. But let&#8217;s recap a few of the many things that we can remember about this noble German who took over the papacy and resigned in a remarkable way in 2015.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Admitted into priesthood 1951<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Got an honorary doctorate of theology at the University of Munich in 1953<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Ascended to papacy in 2005 and served until 2013 when he resigned<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Championed in the reform of climate change<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Campaigned earnestly for the rights of refugees&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Sad but Colorful burial of <\/strong><strong>Pope Benedict&nbsp; XVI<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The burial of Pope Benedict\u00a0XVI at the Vatican Grottoes did not in any significant way vary from that of the predecessors whose bodies have been entered under the St Peter&#8217;s Basilica at the Vatican. With teary faces, friends, relatives, religious devotees, politicians, all and sundry gathered at the <a href=\"https:\/\/edition.cnn.com\/2023\/01\/05\/europe\/pope-benedict-xvi-funeral-intl\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">requiem mass for Pope Benedict\u00a0 XVI<\/a>. As Pope Francis led the last of the celebration of Benedict&#8217;s 95 years on earth, we all wondered how and where the body will be buried.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those who may be aware, the burial of Popes at the Vatican should never come as a surprise as the whole procedure always follows a set procedure contained in the <strong><em>rituale Romanum<\/em><\/strong>.&nbsp; <strong><em>Rituale Romanum<\/em><\/strong>an is the official book meant for liturgical services and rituals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are reasons for some exceptions regarding the mourning rituals and funeral service of Pope Benedict XVI. The biggest reason being his resignation from office which was unexpected and uncalled for. There are various norms in Vatican City which characterizes a Pope\u2019s send off from the time of his death till he is interred.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Some highlights of the norms that surround the death of a Pope<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Pronouncement of death usually done in Latin<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Tolling of the bell has to happen<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The body remains untouched with his apartment remaining shut<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vatican shares the news to the whole world later on<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The body is ferried to St Peter&#8217;s Basilica for public viewing&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Burial of the body  at the Vatican Grottoes using the three coffins<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Novemdiales<\/em>&#8211; the nine day period of mourning&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The destruction of the \u2018fisherman\u2019s \u2018ring<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How the mourning rituals and funeral of the Pope&nbsp; conform to the norms of Vatican<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em>Public viewing&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The body of Pope Benedict XVI was taken to St Peter&#8217;s Basilica. This gave an ample opportunity  for everyone who could to view the deceased pope. Here, heads of state, dignitaries, cardinals and the Roman Catholic faithful managed to give their final respects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>The burial date&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Vatican norms require that the funeral happens between the fourth and sixth day after the occurrence of death. Benedict\u2019s funeral lies on the fifth day therefore conforming to this norm<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>The burial location&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The body of Pope Benedict XVI was laid to rest in the Vatican Grottoes of St Peter&#8217;s Basilica. The fact that sitting Popes select their preferred location of burial didn\u2019t cut out Benedict. This then made it to conform to Vatican burial norm. The Grottoes of St Peter&#8217;s Basilica also served as the the same of interrment for Pope John Paul II.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Burial using three coffins&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the norms of burying a pope in the Vatican is through the use of a three in one coffin. The inner coffin consists of cypress and shut with red ribbons. The immediate coffin is a little bit larger and decked with the sign of a cross. The outermost casket is of walnut enclosed with golden nails. With the significance of the three coffins not clearly perceived, Pope Benedict will be laid in such a coffin to honor the rite.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>How different the mourning rituals and funeral service of Benedict&nbsp; Benedict XVI&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em>Tolling of the bell&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>For a sitting pope the bells of St Peter&#8217;s Basilica would have been tolled upon the death of the pope. However, this was not the case upon the death of Pope Benedict XVI because of his resignation from office. Vatican\u2019s regular bells which ring every hour were silent since his passing on&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em>The officiating minister of the funeral service&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Funeral services are often presided over by the dean of the College of Cardinals. For this funeral, the sitting pope and Monarch, Pope Francis will take charge. This will be a historic gesture because rarely does a Pope celebrate the mass of his predecessor<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em>Period of mourning&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>After the burial of a Pope at the Vatican Grottoes, a nine day period of mourning also known as <strong><em>novemdiales <\/em><\/strong>passes. During this period, the residents of Vatican City can extend their mourning. This will not be the case for Benedict as the nine day period of mourning could not be the case anymore. This norm dates back to the ancient Roman period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong><em>Smashing of the fisherman\u2019s ring&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>This ring also serves as part of the attire that the Pope wears. In the ancient times it was smashed to discourage illegal documents including forged ones being issued when the papal seat was left vacant. Currently, the smashing of the ring signifies the end of a ruling regime. Benedict already destroyed the ring when he resigned hence there was no repeat of the same.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Roman Catholic church has had a sad 2023 new year celebration following the demise&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":30790,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[19736,19735,19732,19734,19733,19731],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/expateuropa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30789"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/expateuropa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/expateuropa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expateuropa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expateuropa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30789"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/expateuropa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30789\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expateuropa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/30790"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/expateuropa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expateuropa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/expateuropa.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}