POPE FRANCIS’ FUNERAL SCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY AS WORLD LEADERS PREPARE TO PAY RESPECTS
The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis’ funeral will take place on Saturday at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. eastern) at St. Peter’s Basilica. The coffin carrying the late pope will be brought in a procession on Wednesday morning, accompanied by cardinals, to the basilica from his residence at Casa Santa Marta, where he died.
The Vatican released the first photos and video of Francis since his death, showing him in a wooden coffin wearing a red robe with the papal mitre on his head and a rosary intertwined in his hands. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the interim administrator of the Vatican, will preside over the procession and the ritual transfer of the pope’s body to St. Peter’s Basilica.
The funeral Mass will be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re. The papal funeral is broken down into three separate phases: the preparation of the body, the viewing of the body, and then the burial.
The funeral will draw “Patriarchs, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, and priests from across the globe,” as well as a number of world leaders and dignitaries. President Trump and first lady Melania, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and French President Emmanuel Macron are among those who will attend. Other confirmed attendees include Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Germany’s outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain, and Prince William, representing King Charles III.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will not attend the funeral due to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over war crimes allegedly committed during his country’s invasion of Ukraine. Brazil’s President Luis Inacio da Silva, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and President Javier Milei of Argentina are also expected to attend.
After the funeral Mass, Pope Francis’ coffin will be taken to the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome, where he will be entombed. The Cardinal Electors will gather at the Vatican in about 15 to 20 days to choose the next pope in a papal conclave.
