Page "Pope" Paragraph 55

Until 1978 the pope's election was followed in a few days by the Papal Coronation.

A procession with great pomp and circumstance formed from the Sistine Chapel to St. Peter's Basilica, with the newly elected pope borne in the sedia gestatoria.

There, after a solemn Papal Mass, the new pope was crowned with the triregnum ( papal tiara ) and he gave for the first time as pope the famous blessing Urbi et Orbi (" to the City and to the World ").

Another renowned part of the coronation was the lighting of a bundle of flax at the top of a gilded pole, which would flare brightly for a moment and then promptly extinguish, with the admonition Sic transit gloria mundi (" Thus passes worldly glory ").

A similar warning against papal hubris made on this occasion was the traditional exclamation " Annos Petri non videbis ", reminding the newly crowned pope that he would not live to see his rule lasting as long as that of St. Peter, who according to tradition headed the church for 35 years and has thus far been the longest reigning pope in the history of the Catholic Church.