The funeral of Pope Francis will be held on Saturday, April 26, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Peter’s Square, according to the Holy See Press Office on Tuesday.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside over the Mass, which will be concelebrated by patriarchs, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and priests from around the world.
The Eucharistic celebration will conclude with the Ultima commendation and the Valediction, after which the late Pope Francis’ body will be taken into St. Peter’s Basilica and then to the Basilica of St. Mary Major for entombment, as per his personal wishes.
Pope Francis will be the first pope to be interred outside the Vatican in over a century, making him the first since Pope Leo XIII in 1903.
Ahead of the funeral, the coffin containing Pope Francis’ body will be carried from the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta to St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday, April 23, at 9:00 a.m.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, will preside over the rite of translation.
“The procession will pass through Santa Marta Square and the Square of the Roman Protomartyrs,” according to the Holy See Press Office.
The procession will then exit through the Arch of the Bells into St. Peter’s Square and enter the Vatican Basilica through the central door.
At the Altar of the Confession, Cardinal Farrell will preside over the Liturgy of the Word. Afterward, the visits to the body of the Roman Pontiff will commence.
Pope Francis passed away on Easter Monday at his residence in the Casa Santa Marta within Vatican City as announced by Cardinal Kevin Farrell.
The Pope had been suffering from a respiratory tract infection and double pneumonia, and his death certificate confirmed that he died of a stroke followed by irreversible cardiac arrest.
Scores of world leaders and heads of state, including US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, are expected to attend the funeral Mass.
Thousands of faithful from around the globe will also pay their respects to the late Pope.
The funeral will mark the first time a reigning pope has died in office since John Paul II in 2005.
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