Sediari Pope John Paul II disbanded the chair-bearers in 1978. However papal ushers (Italian "Gentiluomo di sua santità") carried him on his death in 2005. Sediari The Sediari pontifici () were chair-bearers of the pope on the sedia gestatoria. Originally servants of the papal household they later became a lay confraternity. The origins of the chair-bearers lie in medieval times, earlier even than the Swiss Guards. The earlier red-dressed papal grooms or palafrenieri were a different group of papal servants, originally liverymen for the papal carriage, then an influential Confraternity, then finally merged with the sediari. The sediari and parafrenieri constituted
Flabellum museum of the University of Pennsylvania. The spread is formed of great ostrich plumes tipped with peacock feathers; on the palm (base of the fan) are the arms of the Holy See, worked in heavy gold on a crimson field, the tiara being studded with rubies and emeralds. The new pair of flabella is on display in the Vatican museum. Lisbon Patriarchal Cathedral also holds two Flabella and one Sedia Gestatoria in its museum. It is thought the right of the Cardinal patriarchs to use such honour was granted after the efforts of king John V of Portugal that obtained