Reading through the list of his health problems, it is pretty astonishing that he's made it this long -- especially with all his duties and the constant public scrutiny.
To be honest, and I feel tacky saying this, but I'm rather curious about the rituals that go into this. I read this detail (from http://www.ucg.org/wnp/wnp0409/manpope.htm) recently and found it oddly fascinating:
Every pope has the equivalent of a chief of staff, called the camerlengo. When a pope dies, the camerlengo must first certify that he is indeed dead. The ritual tradition is to strike him on the forehead with a silver hammer, calling his baptismal name three times. An alternative is to place a cloth over his mouth. If he does not respond, the camerlengo declares him dead, authorizes a death certificate and then seals the papal living and working apartments.
Later, the silver hammer will be used to scratch and break the papal ring and seal, so no documents can be forged in his name.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2005-03-31 09:45 pm (UTC)To be honest, and I feel tacky saying this, but I'm rather curious about the rituals that go into this. I read this detail (from http://www.ucg.org/wnp/wnp0409/manpope.htm) recently and found it oddly fascinating:
Every pope has the equivalent of a chief of staff, called the camerlengo. When a pope dies, the camerlengo must first certify that he is indeed dead. The ritual tradition is to strike him on the forehead with a silver hammer, calling his baptismal name three times. An alternative is to place a cloth over his mouth. If he does not respond, the camerlengo declares him dead, authorizes a death certificate and then seals the papal living and working apartments.
Later, the silver hammer will be used to scratch and break the papal ring and seal, so no documents can be forged in his name.