There is great sadness around the world following the death of Pope Francis on Easter Monday. The head of the Catholic Church died of a stroke at the age of 88. Believers are gathering everywhere to mourn together, including in the many churches in Munich. After the Pope’s death, a particularly rare mourning ritual will be performed in Munich.
When a pope dies: Special mourning ritual in Munich
A rare ritual will soon be performed in Munich’s oldest parish church, St. Peter’s. At the main altar in this church is a larger-than-life figure of St. Peter, who gave the church its name. And whenever a pope dies, the tiara is removed from the figure as a sign of mourning: Without his papal crown on his head, Peter then waits for the cardinals in Rome to elect a successor to Francis.
The figure of Peter was actually created without this special crown. The famous sculptor Erasmus Grasser created the Gothic statue in 1492 without his tiara. It was not until the 18th century, on September 10, 1733 to be precise, that Peter was crowned in his church: the Munich goldsmith Johann Michael Ernst designed the magnificent tiara, which is adorned with several precious stones and a cross.
This unique mourning ritual will begin in Munich next Sunday, April 27, at 10 am. The tiara will be removed from Peter with a meter-long ladder, as the figure is larger than life and stands on a high altar. The custom is followed by a solemn service with the Munich Auxiliary Bishop Rupert Graf zu Stolberg.
The tiara: symbol of power in the church
The crown underlines the power of the Pope. At that time, he was not only the “representative of Christ on earth”, but also the “father of princes and kings” and “ruler of the world”. The apostle Peter was the very first pope and the tiara was passed on to all his successors.
Only Paul VI ended this tradition: he was the last pope to be crowned with the tiara in 1963, but took it off a year later, thereby also relinquishing the secular claims to power of his predecessors. Instead, the crown was given to American Catholics as thanks for their donations to the poor. Since then, the actual tiara has been on display in Washington’s National Shrine Cathedral.