What do the symbolic items at Pope Francis’s funeral mean?

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While Francis’s funeral processions have broken with the tradition in several ways, including the public’s permission to see his body, the mass will involve a series of Catholic sims and ceremonies for a long time.

Here is a look at what viewers can expect to see the duration of the historical mass:

Crozier

A series of symbolic articles of Francis’s reign will be placed next to him, including his groin and crozier.

Pope Francis leaves after his first Mass of Crismo within the Basilica of San Pedro on the morning of Holy Thursday on March 28, 2013, in the city of the Vatican, Vatican. Getty images

The miter is the ceremonial and pointed headdress that the Pope uses, as well as the bishops. Francis was known for preferring a simple white groin with a vertical strip.

His crozier is the pastoral staff, which is the one taken during his mandate, which means his role as the “shepherd of all shepherds.”

Acuadas coins

A bag containing boxes that coined Francis’ pontificate duration will be placed in its coffin.

Pope Francis coined coins with the year 2013. Mint Golden State

Each currency means every year that it served as Pope.

Rogito

The Italian word Rogito, which indicates that an official is a legal document of a single page that provides an account of Francis’s papacy.

The former personal secretary of Pope Benedict XVI Archbishop Georg Ganswein Sig. Getty images

The document will be read aloud by the master of liturgical ceremonies before being enrolled and sliding into a cylindrical tube and placed next to Francis.

A second copy will be maintained for the Vatican files.

Rosary

The Pope are traditional arranged with a rosary, and Francis will not be the exception.

Duration its three days of public visualization, Francis had a carefully intertwined rosary around his fingers.

The body of Pope Francis is in the state within the Basilica of San Pedro, on April 24, 2025, in the city of the Vatican, Vatican. Getty images

Death certificate

The death certificate is another traditional document that will be buried with the Pope.

The American cardinal Kevin Farrell, acting as Camerlengo, the Vatican official who acts in the Pope’s place until a successor is appointed, made the ritual pronouncement of death earlier this week the private visualization ceremony.

He wrote the formal death statement, which is attached to the certificate that had the leg prepared by the Head of the Health Service, which is placed in the coffee.

Broken fishermen ring

A general view of the Pope’s fishermen’s ring as the body of Pope Francis is transferred to the Basilica in the Plaza de San Pedro on April 23, 2025, in the city of the Vatican, Vatican. Zumapress.com

Finally, Francis will be buried with his fisherman’s ring, he thought he will break before being buried with him.

The fishermen’s ring was granted when he was appointed 12 years ago, and will be crushed ceremonial to symbolize the end of Francis’s papacy.

When their successor is appointed, they will be given the ring of their own fisherman.

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