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Part of the process of determining that a Pope has died and is not merely sleeping calls for him to be tapped on the forehead with a silver hammer.
The Vatican customs surrounding the passing of a Pope and the election of his successor seem mysterious to outsiders, both because of their arcane nature and because members of the general population gain exposure to them only at those rare instance in their own lifetimes when a Pontiff dies. Consequently, just about any act said to be part of those rituals seems somewhat believable. One particularly odd belief asserts that after the Bishop of Rome passes on, he is struck in the head with a silver hammer to confirm that he is well and truly gone and not merely sleeping soundly.
There is disagreement as to whether such a procedure is part of the parting process. We do know that once a Pope appears to have left this world, a pronouncement is made in Latin that he is dead, with this news certified by a physician. The camerlengo (chamberlain) calls out the pontiff's baptismal name three times over the corpse in an effort to prompt a response. Failing to get one, he destroys with a silver hammer that particular Bishop of Rome's Pescatorio (Ring of the Fisherman), along with the dies used to make lead seals for apostolic letters. The pope's quarters are then sealed, and funeral arrangements are begun by the camerlengo.
Some believe after the deceased has failed to answer to his name being called three times, and before his ring and seals are defaced, he is tapped on the forehead with a small silver hammer. That intelligence has been sped along by Stephen Bates, a journalist who penned a widely quoted-from article on rituals attaching to the passing of Popes.
For instance, in 2003 The Guardian quoted Bates thus:
After the pope dies, an event confirmed when a senior member of staff strikes him on the forehead with a silver hammer and calls his baptismal name to make sure he is not just asleep, the cardinals will gather within a fortnight in the Vatican to deliberate in great secrecy on the choice of his successor.
According to the Vatican, this is a myth.
Part of the process of determining that a Pope has died and is not merely sleeping calls for him to be tapped on the forehead with a silver hammer.
The Vatican customs surrounding the passing of a Pope and the election of his successor seem mysterious to outsiders, both because of their arcane nature and because members of the general population gain exposure to them only at those rare instance in their own lifetimes when a Pontiff dies. Consequently, just about any act said to be part of those rituals seems somewhat believable. One particularly odd belief asserts that after the Bishop of Rome passes on, he is struck in the head with a silver hammer to confirm that he is well and truly gone and not merely sleeping soundly.
There is disagreement as to whether such a procedure is part of the parting process. We do know that once a Pope appears to have left this world, a pronouncement is made in Latin that he is dead, with this news certified by a physician. The camerlengo (chamberlain) calls out the pontiff's baptismal name three times over the corpse in an effort to prompt a response. Failing to get one, he destroys with a silver hammer that particular Bishop of Rome's Pescatorio (Ring of the Fisherman), along with the dies used to make lead seals for apostolic letters. The pope's quarters are then sealed, and funeral arrangements are begun by the camerlengo.
Some believe after the deceased has failed to answer to his name being called three times, and before his ring and seals are defaced, he is tapped on the forehead with a small silver hammer. That intelligence has been sped along by Stephen Bates, a journalist who penned a widely quoted-from article on rituals attaching to the passing of Popes.
For instance, in 2003 The Guardian quoted Bates thus:
After the pope dies, an event confirmed when a senior member of staff strikes him on the forehead with a silver hammer and calls his baptismal name to make sure he is not just asleep, the cardinals will gather within a fortnight in the Vatican to deliberate in great secrecy on the choice of his successor.
According to the Vatican, this is a myth.
posted by Susanna Duffy @ 2:36 PM
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