Pope Francis‘s funeral will be held on Saturday in St Peter’s Square, setting the stage for a solemn ceremony which will draw in world leaders and captivate millions around the globe.
The pontiff died aged 88 on Easter Monday after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, bringing to an end his 12 years as the spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church and setting in motion centuries-old traditions and rituals.
Francis spent five weeks in hospital earlier this year suffering from double pneumonia and had appeared to be slowly recovering, but the Vatican said his death came quickly and he did not suffer.
His death has plunged the world’s 1.4billion Catholics into mourning and has been met with an outpouring of tributes from leaders across the world – including from Prince William and President Donald Trump who will attend the funeral.
On Tuesday, the Vatican released photographs of Francis dressed in his vestments and laid in an open coffin in The Chapel of the Casa Santa Marta residence, where he lived during his 12-year papacy.
The pope opted against living in the lavish Apostolic Palace and instead moved into the guest house on the Vatican grounds in what was an early sign of his humility to come.
Swiss Guards stood on either side of the pope’s single zinc-lined wooden coffin, which he has chosen to be buried in rather than the traditional triple coffins made of cypress, lead and oak, that his predecessors have been laid to rest in.
The body of the late pope passed through emotional mourners as the coffin was transported to St Peter’s Basilica at 9am on Wednesday. He will lie in state until his funeral on Saturday, allowing his grieving followers to pay their final respects.
But instead of being buried in the grottoes beneath St Peter’s, he will be laid to rest in his favourite church – the Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood. He will be the first pope in more than a century to be buried outside the Vatican.
The Vatican has opened St. Peter’s Basilica to the public so thousands of Catholic faithful can pay their final respects to Pope Francis over the next three days. Francis is pictured lying in state on Wednesday following the procession of his coffin from the chapel of Santa Marta to St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican
The body of Pope Francis is carried into St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Wednesday morning
It comes after the body of Pope Francis was first laid out in an open coffin at The Chapel of Santa Marta on Tuesday (pictured)
On Easter Sunday, the Pope had appeared on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica to deliver a blessing to 35,000 faithful in St Peter’s Square
In his final testament, Pope Francis broke from tradition as he asked to be buried ‘in the earth, simple, without particular decoration’ and with the inscription only of his papal name in Latin: Franciscus.
The last pope to be buried outside the Vatican was Leo XIII, who died in 1903.
Francis made hundreds of visits to the fifth-century basilica, where he would pray in front a venerated image of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus.
‘I’ve always had a great devotion to St. Mary Major, even before I became pope,’ Francis said in his 2024 book ‘El Sucesor’ (The Successor), a long interview with journalist Javier Martinez-Brocal.
To mark the beginning of the last rites, Francis’ coffin was laid out at The Chapel of Casa Santa Marta, his residence, for a moment of prayer. A funeral procession, set to be two miles long, started start towards St Peter’s Basilica, at 9am on Wednesday, where the last rites took place.
Flocks of mourners filled the central asilet of the basilica this morning, with Swiss Guards standing at attention, to see Francis’ body lying in state, while around 20,000 crowded St Peter’s Square.
His simple wooden coffin has been positioned low to the ground at his request, breaking with the Vatican’s long-standing tradition of placing popes on an elevated catafalque.
The final day of lying in state will end at 7pm so that St. Peter’s can be prepared for his funeral Mass on Saturday. At least 200,000 people are expected to attend the outdoor service this weekend.
The funeral service itself will be held in St. Peter’s Square, under tight security in front of the basilica, at 10am on Saturday. It will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals.
It is set to be televised on most major TV networks worldwide, including BBC News and Sky News. Vatican Media will also be livestreaming the funeral on YouTube and official websites.
Patriarchs, cardinals, archbishops, bishops and priests from across the world will take part in the funeral.
By 8.30am, archbishops and bishops will gather in the Constantine Wing, wearing liturgical clothes. At the same time, priests will congregate in St Peter’s Square wearing red stole.
By 9am, patriarchs and cardinals will gather in Saint Sebastian Chapel, in the basilica, wearing white damask miters.
Pope Francis’ body was placed in an open wooden casket in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta on Monday night and lay there Tuesday. Two Swiss Guards stood at attention as Vatican camerlengo Cardinal Kevin Farrell (centre) blessed Francis with holy water
The body of Pope Francis is carried into St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on Wednesday
The body of Pope Francis has been transfer inside St. Peter’s Basilica, where he will lie in state for three days
A huge crowd of mourners watch as the body of Pope Francis is transferred to the Basilica at St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday
Pallbearers carry the coffin of Pope Francis past faithful to Saint Peter’s Basilica, in Vatican City this morning
A nun reacts at St. Peter’s Square, on the day of the translation of Pope Francis’ body and its transfer to Saint Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, April 23, 2025
The Catholic faithful watch as Cardinals, accompanied by Swiss Guards, transport Pope Francis’ coffin into Saint Peter’s Basilica this morning
Thousands of faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square this morning to watch the ritual ceremony. Crowds began gathering in the square just before 7am so they could be among the first to enter the basilica when the official lying in state begins at 11am
The funeral will conclude with the Ultima commendatio and the Valedictio, which marks the nine days of mourning for the pope.
The pope’s body will then be taken into St Peter’s Basilica before making the two to three mile journey to Santa Maria Maggiore where he will be buried.
The procession of his coffin will require the Vatican’s Swiss Guards.
The funeral is likely to attract hundreds of thousands of mourners. The funeral for John Paul II in 2005 brought an estimated 300,000 people together, while about 50,000 attended Pope Benedict’s in 2023.
Leaders from across the world, including President Donald Trump, who clashed repeatedly with the pope about immigration, said he and his wife would fly to Rome for the monumental day.
Among other heads of state set to attend were Javier Milei, president of Francis’ native Argentina, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, French president Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, according to a source in his office.
Prince William will attend the pope’s funeral on behalf of King Charles, Kensington Palace has said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be in attendance due to an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court.
Pope Francis in his open coffin during the rite of the Confirmation of the Death of the Pontiff at the Chapel of Santa Marta in The Vatican
Seals are placed on the Apostolic Palace on Monday evening after the death of Pope Francis
Popes are traditionally buried in the grottoes beneath St Peter’s Basilica (pictured) in the Vatican
But Pope Francis will be buried in the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood
Chipboard surrounds the area where Pope Francis had requested to be buried in Cathedral of Saint Mary Major
In line with tradition, Pope Benedict lay in state inside St Peter’s Basilica (above, January 2023) and was then buried in a crypt underneath the building
Pope Francis blesses the coffin of Pope Benedict during his funeral on January 5 2023. Benedict was buried in the traditional triple coffin (pictured) but Francis will be buried in a simple wooden coffin lined with zinc
Some 35,000 people turned out to cheer on the ailing Pope at St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump will attend the pope’s funeral with other world leaders
Sir Keir Starmer will be representing the UK by travelling to Italy for the funeral service
Pope Benedict’s funeral in 2023 drew in members of Europe’s royal families, including King Philippe of Belgium and Queen Sofia of Spain.
The pope’s death triggered nine days of official mourning, but the historic process of the conclave – where cardinals will gather in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican to choose who will be the next pope – will not begin for at least 15 days.
Francis’s sudden death has set in motion ancient rituals, including the breaking of the pope’s ‘Fisherman’s Ring’ and lead seal, used in his lifetime to seal documents, so they cannot be used by anyone else.
All cardinals in Rome were summoned to a meeting on Tuesday to decide on the sequencing of events in the coming days and review the day-to-day running of the Church in the period before a new pope is elected.
A conclave to choose a new pope normally takes place 15 to 20 days after the death of a pontiff, meaning it should not start before May 6.
Some 135 cardinals are eligible to participate in the secretive ballot, which can stretch over days before white smoke pouring from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel tells the world that a new pope has been picked.
The first Latin American pontiff charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated many conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change and called for compassion towards migrants and refugees.
Pope Francis’s papacy also came under criticism from conservatives, often referred to as ‘traditionalists’, who objected to changes he introduced such as LGBTQ+ inclusion, the use of the Latin Mass and the involvement of women in the Church.
Whoever becomes the 267th Pope will dictate the direction of the Church for the next decade or more on the most pressing, and contentious, issues facing society.
There are more than 250 cardinals, but those over the age of 80 are ineligible to take part in the conclave, leaving just 135 who will start making their way to Rome.
Francis appointed around 110 of those eligible, with some suggesting he stacked the conclave in favour of a successor who could continue his papacy style.
The future impact of the power struggle that was a hallmark of his papacy comes amid an eerie prediction from Nostradamus which suggested the Catholic church’s standing in the world could be significantly weakened.
Writing in Les Prophéties in 1555, French astrologer Michel de Nostredame, better known as Nostradamus, issued a number of grim prophecies for the future of humanity including ‘cruel wars’, natural disasters and the return of the plague.
Within his gloomy outlook was the death of a ‘very old’ Pope – as well as stark warning about the weakening of the Catholic Church.
Writing in his famed book of prophecies, the astrologer wrote: ‘Through the death of a very old Pontiff / A Roman of good age will be elected / Of him it will be said that he weakens his seat / But long will he sit and in mordant activity.’
POPE BENEDICT FUNERAL 2023: As many as 100,000 mourners gathered in St Peter’s Square, which was shrouded in the mist, for the sombre two-hour ceremony
POPE BENEDICT FUNERAL 2023: From right to left: Italian president Sergio Mattarella, prime minister Giorgia Meloni, Belgium’s Queen Mathilde wearing a black veil and King Philippe, Spain’s former queen Sofia, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Poland’s President Andrzej Duda attended the funeral
POPE BENEDICT FUNERAL 2023: Twelve pallbearers carried the coffin in and out of the basilica to the sound of applause and tolling bolls where they were met by Pope Francis
Nostradamus also hinted at details of the successor of Pope Francis, writing, ‘A young man of dark skin with the help of the great king will deliver the purse to another of red colour.’
The prophecies have long been open to interpretation with many claiming they shouldn’t be taken too literally. However in light of Pope Francis’s death, some have interpreted the words to signify a shift in leadership within the Catholic Church.
The astrologer has previously been credited with accurately predicting countless major world events, including the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Covid pandemic.
The pope last appeared in public on Sunday, wishing the cheering crowds a ‘Happy Easter’ in a final act of devotion in St Peter’s Square.
His death has been met with tributes from across the world, including from President Trump who described him as a ‘good man’ who ‘loved the world’.
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni mourned the departure of ‘a great man, a great shepherd’. ‘I had the privilege of enjoying his friendship, his advice, his teachings, which never ceased, not even during times of trial and suffering,’ she said.
King Charles and Queen Camilla, who met the pontiff on a state visit to Italy earlier this month, said: ‘My wife and I were most deeply saddened to learn of the death of Pope Francis.
‘Our heavy hearts have been somewhat eased, however, to know that His Holiness was able to share an Easter Greeting with the Church and the world he served with such devotion throughout his life and ministry.
‘His Holiness will be remembered for his compassion, his concern for the unity of the Church and for his tireless commitment to the common causes of all people of faith, and to those of goodwill who work for the benefit of others.
Cardinals queuing in the Sistine Chapel to swear on the Bible to never reveal the secrets of their deliberations before the start of the conclave back in 2013
Cardinals (right) walk past two Swiss guards (2nd left and 3rd left) as they arrive at the Vatican for the first meeting of the Congregation of Cardinals on Tuesday
‘His belief that care for Creation is an existential expression of faith in God resounded with so many across the world.
‘Through his work and care for both people and planet, he profoundly touched the lives of so many.
‘The Queen and I remember with particular affection our meetings with His Holiness over the years and we were greatly moved to have been able to visit him earlier in the month.
‘We send our most heartfelt condolences and profound sympathy to the Church he served with such resolve and to the countless people around the world who, inspired by his life, will be mourning the devastating loss of this faithful follower of Jesus Christ.’
