Pope Francis began his papacy in March 2013 with a focus on humility, opting for simple white robes rather than traditional opulent attire. His lifestyle choices, including staying at a modest hotel and rejecting lavish summer retreats, further highlighted his commitment to simplicity. His papacy, lasting 12 years, consistently broke from traditional Vatican customs, exemplified recently by his decision to simplify papal funeral rites, diverging sharply from the elaborate ceremonies that marked the funerals of popes like Benedict XVI.
These humble gestures set the tone for much of Francis's 12-year papacy, with one of his final acts being to simplify papal funeral rites, breaking with longstanding Vatican tradition.
But Francis has done away with all of that. Benedict abdicated in 2013, the first pope to do so in 600 years, but he was still given a papal funeral in 2022.
Traditional papal funerals involved dead popes having three coffins - one made out of cypress wood, one of lead, and one of elm, which are placed one inside the other before the body is placed inside.
Francis substituted a plush apostolic apartment for a simple room within the Vatican walls, and, unlike his predecessors, did not spend his summers in Castel Gandolfo.
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