Italian President Sergio Mattarella
and Argentine President Javier Milei will have the front two
spots at Pope Francis's funeral in St Peter's Square Saturday,
after whom will come ruling sovereigns an then other heads of
state, according to long established Vatican protocols.
Francis had taken steps to rid the funeral rite of many frills
for the Popes, a rite which will be presented in a more sober
form than in the past on Saturday in front of St. Peter's in the
presence of over 170 international delegations expected, with
130 accredited so far.
To unravel the puzzle of seat assignment, however, the Vatican
will rely on well-established protocol manuals, already tested
for example for the last great funeral of a Pope held in
history, that of John Paul II in 2005.
And so, the protocol requires, first of all, that the first rows
be reserved for the delegations of Italy, the nation of which
every Pope is Primate, and of the country of origin of the
deceased Pope, in this case Argentina.
The procedure is the usual one: first the President of the
Republic (Mattarella), then the President of the Senate (Ignazio
La Russa), then of the Chamber of Deputies (Lorenzo Fontana),
then the President of the Council of Ministers (Premier Giorgia
Meloni) and then the president of the Constitutional Court,
Giovanni Amoroso.
Then Argentina follows with seats reserved for its delegation,
and the presence of Javier Milei has already been confirmed.
This first block is closed with the Catholic reigning
sovereigns, Felipe of Spain with his wife Letizia, the Grand
Master of the Order of Malta, Fra' John Dunlap, and then the
non-Catholic reigning sovereigns, such as those of Norway,
Sweden, Holland, Belgium.
It is also true that if the delegations are very large, it is
customary to reserve the first seats for a couple of the main
exponents and then, going down, the second and third rows for
the other members of the delegation.
Furthermore, with regard to the crowned heads sector, with
regard to Great Britain, Prince William participating as heir to
the throne, a third row is foreseeable for him, exactly as it
was with Charles at the funeral of Saint JPII, when he was the
designated heir to the late Queen Elizabeth.
Then come the delegations of the heads of state according to the
French alphabetical order, as is customary in the world of
diplomacy.
The list has not yet been drawn up in detail.
Holy See officials are awaiting the confirmations that are
gradually arriving at the Vatican ceremonial office via the
embassies, but once again, any possible embarrassment will be
overcome by consulting the protocol manual.
And so, the president of the United States, Donald Trump,
accompanied by his wife Melania, and flanked by Joe Biden, his
predecessor, if he actually participates as mooted by his inner
circle, could be close to French President Emanuel Macron
(États-Unis precedes France).
Among the first places, given the alphabetical order, there will
certainly be Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva while
Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelensky will inevitably be
further back. The ecclesiastical part is even more
well-established.
The cardinals and patriarchs of the Eastern Churches will be
placed on the parvis in front of the basilica in a setting that,
between the ringing of bells and requiem liturgies, will not
fail to strike watchers for its strong impact, not only
visually.
One curious fact is that the funeral of John Paul II opened
with the Polish master of ceremonies Konrad Krajewski who walked
in front of the coffin carrying the book of the Holy Scriptures.
On Saturday, Krajewski, currently Papal Almoner, a position that
does not expire in a vacant See, will take his place among the
ranks of cardinals, a promotion he earned by becoming one of
Francis' closest collaborators in his service to the poorest and
most disadvantaged.
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