In the media, social networks and encyclopedias, you can find reports that the Vatican use a very unusual procedure to confirm the death of the pontiff. We decided to check whether there is really such a tradition.

The story of dad and hammer is mentioned, for example, in Wikipedia. Moreover, this procedure is described (albeit in different ways) not only in Russian -speaking versions of the Internet encyclopedia, but also on English, French And Italian languages. They wrote a lot about the strange rite and the media: Lenta.ru, "Independent newspaper", Agency"RIA Novosti","Kommersant". But this legend began to spread in the early days of 2023, shortly after the death of the Pope at the rest of Benedict XVI. It began with a record in Twitter January 1, accompanied by a photo of a hammer and gaining almost 5,000 retweets. And the post for January 2 in the English segment Facebook With a screenshot of this entry, he scored 1,500 reposts and more than 500 comments.

After the death of John Paul II, newspapers repeated the same formula. For example, Kommersant so Described The procedure following the death of the pope in 2005: “According to the traditional ritual, the cardinal-cells of Eduardo Martinez Somalo approached the pontiff's bed. He turned to a pope three times by the name of the name given to him at baptism - Karol. Without waiting for an answer, the Cameria hit a special silver hammer three times on the deceased's forehead to finally make sure that he was dead. According to the centuries -old rules, only after that the death of the Pope is considered certified. ”

The media convey the effect of presence, as if the procedure is taking place in front of the cameras. But this part is always closed to the public and for journalists, the Holy See does not talk about any details. One of the rare evidence is memoirs, which was left by Hartwell de la Grisell, who served as a chamberlain in the Vatican for 25 years. He kept diary notes during the Sede Vacante (“empty throne”), when Pope Lev XIII died, and his successor Pius X was not yet elected. During this period, all power powers pass to the cardinal-charter (or Camerlando).

Grisell describes in all details the first minutes after the death of Pope Leo XIII on July 21, 1903. In the morning, several people entered the room of the resting pontiff, including Cardinal Camerleno Orlya Di Santo Stefano. According to the protocol, it is he who should make sure of the death of the Pope. The cardinals knelt down, then Camerleno got up, said prayer, who was appropriate for the occasion and sprinkled a person who was dead with holy water. Cardinal-Camerleno took Ring of a fisherman (which, as Grisell notes, dad never wore) and carried him to the Consistory Hall, where he broke.

On the first pages of the Grisell diary exposes The myth of the hammer: “It should also be noted that there is no ceremony in which they knock a hammer on the forehead of the pope; Also, there is no certain form of the procedure for naming him by name, all this remains at the discretion of Cardinal-Camerlengo. ”

About a hammer, not a word about a word, but Grisell clarifies the history of the ceremony and accompanies the above paragraph with a note: “In the original of the manuscript diary, Domenico Capelli Di Askoli, who served five dads: Alexander VII, Kliment IX, Kliment Xi, Innocent XI and Alexander VIII - it is indicated that the tradition of three Sancte ("Holy Father") ceased with the death of Clement X in 1676. "

The earliest mention of the legend of a silver hammer dates back to the 1850s, considers Ulrich Lener, professor of theology of the University of Notre Dame (USA). At the request of the publication USA Today He examined the story of a common error in detail. According to him, the historians of the Catholic Church know nothing about such a tradition. The duties of Cardinal-Camerlengo include the stating of the death of the pontiff, and then he seals the chambers of the deceased dad before the election of the new. Lener believes that the legend appeared at a time when people were afraid to be buried alive: a new wave of this fear It fell in the middle of the XIX century.

Now all the responsibilities of Camerleno are spelled out in the apostolic constitution Universi Dominici Gregis (“All the flock of the Lord”), approved in 1996 by John Paul II. It states that Kamerleno should testify (how - it is not specified) that the pontiff died, and then sign the death certificate.

Another church history specialist, professor at the University of Georgetown David Collins, Explained USA Today, where did the hammer with a photograph widely dispersed on the Internet came from.

Pope really has such a hammer, but it is not used at all to knock on the forehead or, like They often write, break the ring of the fisherman. According to Collins, the pontiff knocks on them on the gates of the temple when it opens Jubilee year - The period of forgiveness, mercy and the remission of sins. The last time the anniversary year (as it is also called - the Holy Year) was declared in 2016, the closest was scheduled for 2025.

Many dads had their own hammers. They are stored in the Museums of the Vatican, and they are demonstrated to the public. In 2015, before the anniversary year, these artifacts were devoted to the air on the Italian TV channel TV2000, the guest of the studio was the curator of the historical collections of the Museums of the Vatican Sandro Barbagallo.

In the photograph, which so widely dispersed on Twitter in the beginning of this year, the signature to the exhibit is not visible. But, judging by the signature fragments, this is a hammer with which Pope Pius XII knocked on the gate in 1933 - then there was just a jubilee year.

Thus, no evidence of the existence of the tradition, according to which the deceased pontiff knocked on the forehead with a special hammer, neither we, our colleagues-factory, or experts could not find.

Photo on the cover: The funeral of Pope Leo XIII. Engraving, 1903

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

Is it true that the Roman dad in Rafael’s painting “Sistine Madonna” has six fingers on his hand?