A moment of the translation of the coffin of Pope Francis to San Pietro (Reuters)
A delicate and complex role, ranging from the management of the ceremonial to that of notary. It is his, for example, the deed on the life and works of the Pope who is placed next to the body, and he is always the one who prepares and managed the various rites in which the Pope or his delegate participates.
Is the so -called Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations And it is the head of the homonymous office – one of the three of the Roman Curia – which has its roots between the end of the 1400s and the beginning of the 1500s and which over the years has changed its name and functions.
From 11 October 2021 to the guidance of this office there is Brianza Diego Giovanni Ravelli, 59 years old, (in the photo above with Pope Francis), Priest of the diocese of Como, Archbishop who owns Recanati as well as, from 2023, papal delegate for the Basilica of Sant’Antonio di Padova. It was up to him, for example, to announce that the Pope’s coffin will close at 8pm at 8 pm at 8 pm. And he is the one who supervises the complex liturgy and rites preceding and follow the funeral of Pope Francis during the vacant office.
Born in 1965 in Lazzate, a town with just under 10,000 inhabitants in the province of Monza and Brianza, he attends the Episcopal Seminary of Como. In 1991 he was ordained a priest for the public clerical association “Priests of Jesus Crucifix”, then incardworking in the diocese of Velletri-Segni. In 2000, at 35, he obtained his diploma in pedagogical methodology at the Faculty of Education Sciences of the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome, and in 2010 the Doctorate in Sacred Liturgy at the Liturgical Institute of the Pontifical University Sant’Ancelmo in Urbe.
Always in the offices of the liturgical celebrations, he was head of office in the Apostolic Elosineria, where he was already officed, aid Ceremonies and Papal Creility.
On 11 October 2021 Pope Francis appointed him to master of the pontifical liturgical celebrations and head of the Pontifical Music Chapel, Posted by Bergoglio with the Apostolic Letter in the form of Motu in the office of liturgical celebrations. As a master of the liturgical celebrations, he takes care of the preparation of the vestments, the altar, of “everything is necessary for the liturgical celebrations and the other sacred celebrations, which are carried out by the Supreme Pontiff or in his name, and direct them according to the current prescriptions of the liturgical law”.
During the period of the vacant headquarters, it provides for the ascertainment of the Pope’s death and the rite of the solemn pontifical funeral. It will be up to him to pronounce the famous “Extra Omnes” (“Out of all”, in Latin) with which the conclave is officially begins in the Sistine Chapel and it is always him, in the election that took place, to draw up the report of the acceptance of the newly elected with the pontifical name assumed.
All the “notifications” that are sent to the interested parties for the rites that accompany celebrations, Funerals and rites of these days of the vacant headquarters bring its signature to the bottom.
