Cardinals Witness Destruction of Pope Francis’ Ring, Seal

According to Universi Dominici Gregis, the apostolic constitution regulating the “sede vacante,” the College of Cardinals must “arrange for the destruction of the fisherman’s ring and of the lead seal with which apostolic letters are despatched” after the pope’s death.

The fisherman’s ring is one of several rings typically worn by the Roman pontiff. The ring takes its name from its image of St. Peter as a fisherman, which became the standard design around the mid-15th century.

The first record of the ring’s use was on two letters of Clement IV in 1265 and 1266. It was used as a wax seal in private letters in place of the official lead seal used for solemn papal documents.

In 1842, use of the ring and wax seal were replaced by a stamp, but each pope still receives a unique ring of the fisherman at the start of his papacy. Outside of papal ceremonies, Pope Francis typically wore only his episcopal ring.

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The destruction of the ring and seal is part of a number of security measures overseen by the camerlengo after the pope’s death, including the sealing of the papal apartments, until the election of a new pontiff.

Hannah Brockhaus is Catholic News Agency's senior Rome correspondent. She grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, and has a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri.