Throngs of mourners are currently gathering in Vatican City and lining the streets of Rome to give a final send-off to Pope Francis, who will be remembered as a champion of migrants and the poor, and for his efforts to reshape the Catholic Church.
His funeral Mass is being held on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica, one of the Catholic Church’s most important sites, with more than 50 world leaders and 11 reigning monarchs in attendance.
They are expected to include US President Donald Trump, Argentine President Javier Milei, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., head of the largest Catholic nation in Asia.
The Vatican has prepared for as many as 250,000 people to flock to St. Peter’s Square and one million more to line the 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) procession route from Vatican City through Rome to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, in hopes of seeing the pope’s modest coffin as it travels to his final resting place.
Many more of world’s 1.4 billion Catholics will watch the funeral for the first Latin American pope on TV.
Pope Francis died at the age of 88 after suffering a stroke on Easter Monday, just one day after he appeared in the same square to offer a blessing to the faithful at the high point of the Christian calendar.
In the days that followed, about 250,000 mourners came to pay their final respects as his body lay in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica. His coffin was officially sealed on Friday night in a liturgical rite led by the Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Farrell, the acting head of the church.
As sunlight gleams off the massive travertine columns of St. Peter’s Square on Saturday morning, the funeral Mass will open with the chant, sung in Latin: “Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.”
A Bible reading will be given in English, and a “Prayer of the Faithful” will be offered up in multiple other languages, including French, Arabic, Portuguese, Polish, German and for the first time, Mandarin, fitting for a pope who sought to reach out to followers in all parts of the globe.
In keeping with tradition, the Mass will include a homily and communion and end with a final commendation and farewell. Francis approved the order of the day for Saturday back in June 2024.
Members of the clergy walk ahead of the funeral Mass of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, April 26, 2025.
Members of the clergy walk ahead of the funeral Mass of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, April 26, 2025.
But other elements of the day will be pared back, as Francis had sought to “simplify and adapt” proceedings, so that the papal funeral is “that of a pastor and disciple of Christ, and not of a powerful person in this world,” according to Vatican officials.
