A select group of Italian carpenters known as the Falegnameria Industriale gathered last week in a secret workshop beneath the Vatican in Rome to complete a final task—carefully carving grooves in Pope Francis’ wooden coffin before inserting the Cross of St. Peter, a long-standing emblem of humility within the Christian faith.
The Pope died on Easter Monday, aged 88. After three days of public mourning inside St. Peter’s Basilica, where more than 250,000 of the faithful travelled from around the world to pay final respects, the coffin was officially sealed.
Most outsiders to the Vatican, including Romans, have never heard of the Falegnameria Industriale. Fewer know where it is. The Vatican has kept the location “top secret” and “off-limits”.
The Pope carried his desire for greater simplicity in the papacy into his funeral, having rewritten the elaborate, book-length funeral rites used previously. He also opted to forego a centuries-old practice of burying popes in three interlocking caskets made of cypress, oak, and lead. Instead, he was placed in a coffin made from plain, untreated cypress, which was lined with zinc to preserve the wood.
In a further break with the past, Francis was the first pope to be buried outside the Vatican in more than a century, preferring St Mary Major (the Basilica de Santa Maria Maggiore), 5.5 km from St Peter’s.Basilica.
The Falegnameria craftsmen chose Mediterranean cypress (Cupressus semperviren), a species native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Iran.
Studies claim the tree has modern medicinal properties with the dried leaves of the plant used to treat various ailments. It is well-adapted to its environmental conditions in which it thrives due to its ability to survive both acidic and alkaline soils and withstand drought.
Cupressus sempervirens is a medium-sized coniferous evergreen tree with a conic crown that grows up to 35 m tall. It has a long life, with some trees thriving beyond 1000 years.
This traditional cypress remains by far the most popular type of coffin in Europe, 7000 years after the earliest example known to man was found in the Shaanxi province in north and central China.
Wooden coffins are known to have been popular also during medieval times, but how popular they were can never be accurately ascertained because most of them have disintegrated.
The Catholic Church, with its rich history and spiritual depth, traces its papal lineage back to Saint Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ and the church’s first Pope. Although the title ‘Pope’ was not formally used during his time, St Peter is recognised as the first Bishop of Rome, a position that became synonymous with the papacy. Since St Peter, there have been 266 popes up to Pope Francis.
Born in Bethsaida in Galilee, now modern-day Israel, St Peter was initially named Simon, his name later changed to Peter by Jesus himself.
Jesus is referred to as a carpenter in the Gospels. Joseph was also a carpenter and likely taught Jesus the skills of his trade before he began his ministry work.
Pope Francis was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from March 13, 2013, until his death.
He was the first Jesuit pope, the first from the Americas and the southern hemisphere, and the first born or raised outside of Europe since the 8th-century Syrian pope Gregory III.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to a family of Italian origin, Francis was inspired to join the Jesuits in 1958 after recovering from a severe illness. He was ordained a Catholic priest in 1969 and from 1973 to 1979 was the Jesuit provincial superior in Argentina. He became the archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998 and was created a cardinal in 2001 by Pope John Paul II.
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Crowds lined the streets of Rome when the Pope was transported in a ‘Popemobile’ to his final resting place in Basilica de Santa Maria Maggiore.
The Popemobile is a specially designed motor vehicle used by the Pope for public appearances. It is the successor to the sedia gestaoria (portable throne) and is designed to make the Pope more visible when greeting large crowds.
There have been many different designs for popemobiles. Some are open-air, while others have bullet-proof glass walls to enclose the Pope, deemed necessary following the 1981 assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II.
Some allow the Pope to sit, while others are designed to accommodate him standing.
Mercedes-Benz has been the most frequent provider of papal vehicles since it provided the Vatican with its first popemobile in 1930
The Vatican acquired its first electric popemobile in 2024 and has said that it plans to make all popemobiles electric by 2030.
Editor’s note: The late Pope Francis was recognised as a supporter of sustainable forest management. His message to the United Nations Forum of Forests in May last year was carried on his behalf by Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, the Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN:
“The Holy See welcomes this session of the UN Forum on Forests, which marks the mid-term of the UN Strategic Plan for Forests (2017-2030), a crucial framework for international cooperation in the safeguarding and sustainable management of our planet’s forests.”
“Forests are a critically important dimension of the natural world. They play a key role in sustaining fragile ecosystems, enhancing the environment, and contributing to climate change mitigation. Reversing the loss of forest cover and addressing what is causing this loss globally must stay high on the forum’s agenda.”
“At the same time, the Holy See urges the forum to remain particularly aware of the human toll that forest degradation takes. So many of our sisters and brothers depend on forests for their homes, livelihoods, shelter, security, forest-based enterprises, and the preservation of their spiritual and cultural heritage.
“In our work and the work of the forum, the United Nations Strategic Plan for Forests is a reference framework for ambitious and transformational actions. These actions should address both the urgent needs of the natural world and those of the human family – needs made even clearer during this past year as we have all struggled together from a global pandemic and its aftermath.
“As Pope Francis has said, the health of humanity cannot be separated from that of the environment in which we live. This is a clear recognition of the interconnectedness between the health of forests and humanity, further echoing the theme of this year’s International Day of Forests.”
The agreement on the first-ever UN Strategic Plan for Forests was forged at a special session of the UN Forum on Forests in January 2017 providing an ambitious vision for global forests in 2030. The plan was adopted by the UN Economic and Social Council on April 20 the same year and was subsequently adopted by the UN General Assembly.
The Strategic Plan features six global forest goals and 26 associated targets to be reached by 2030, which are voluntary and universal. It also includes a target to increase forest area by 3% worldwide by 2030, which would mean an increase of 120 million hectares, more than twice the size of France. It builds on the 2030 Agenda’s vision and recognises that real change requires decisive, collective action within and beyond the UN system.
