Pius VIII in San Pedro in gestatory chair. The gestatory chair of Pope Pius VII, shown in an exhibition at the Palace of Versailles. Digitized photo of Pope Pius XII using the gestatory chair in 1939, along with the papal tiara and rain cover, the most outstanding pontifical ornaments.
A gestating chair is called a chair with two crossbars to be worn on the shoulders. It was used to carry the Pope in procession at certain solemn ceremonies, so that the multitude could see him. Behind her, the flabels were coming. It was last used by Pope John Paul I.
The helpers who carried it were called the Pontifical Sedary. Currently they are dedicated to prepare the papal audiences and celebrations. The last time they acted as "headquarters" was on April 8, 2005, when 12 of them carried the coffin of John Paul II, since the gestatory chair has been replaced by the papamóvil, more typical of these modern times. The "Pontificio Sediarios" are currently 24. The Dean of these is the Italian Adalberto Maria Leschiutta.
The oldest known representation of a dignitary transported in a gestatory chair is dated during the early Egyptian dynasties, in the celebration of the Heb Sed, an archaic ritual feast commemorating the 30th year of Pharaoh's reign. Abandonment of use
Pope John Paul I was the last pope to use the ceremonial throne carried on his shoulders in 1978. Pope John Paul II abandoned the use of the gestatory chair completely, so did Benedict XVI and his successor Pope Francis. The sedia gestatoria has been functionally replaced in modern times by the "papamóvil". However, a pedana was released in 2002, when Pope John Paul II could not walk by his means at Masses, but a chair was incorporated a year later, when his state of health was becoming worse every day. Nevertheless, Benedict XVI, used the pedana until it resigned the Pontificate.
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