Vatican City, Apr 11, 2011 / 11:34 am
The final resting place of Pope John Paul II has now been prepared.
In a private ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica April 8, the remains of Pope Innocent XI were moved from the altar in the Chapel of St. Sebastian to make way for the soon-to-be beatified Pope John Paul.
Pope John Paul is presently buried in the crypt below the basilica’s high altar. His body will be transferred following his beatification on May 1.
“This is the place where Blessed John Paul II will go because it is a particularly suitable chapel,” Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi, SJ, said in remarks to journalists. “It’s quite near to the entrance of the basilica and just next to (Michelangelo’s) Pieta.”