A number of details of the funeral will be distinctly different from his predecessors
A number of details of the funeral will be distinctly different from his predecessors
The funeral of Pope Francis is taking place in Vatican City today and with hundreds of thousands of people in attendance inside St Peter’s Square this morning. While the funeral will be a spectacle of tradition, it will be simpler than recent Papal funerals, in line with a set of instructions that the pontiff set out himself.
Pope Francis was known as ‘the people’s Pope’ because of his outspoken stance on a number of political and social issues – and his long-standing record of breaking with tradition will continue with the arrangements for his funeral today. The pontiff’s body has been lying in state since Wednesday at St. Peter’s Basilica, where tens of thousands of people have queued to pay their respects.
The funeral mass will take place at 10am in Rome, which is 9am UK time, in front of St Peter’s Basilica. It is expected 200,000 people will flock to St Peter’s Square to pay their respects. There are also expected to be 170 heads of state and government according to the Rome Mayor’s Office.
After a concluding prayer, formally intrusting the Pope to God, a funeral procession will take the Pope’s body to St Mary major Basilica, where he will be buried this evening. Pope Francis asked for his tomb to be in the ground, bearing only the name ‘Franciscus’ – the full Latin version of his chosen name. That is also a departure from other popes whose tombs include an inscription honouring their papacy.
Unlike his predecessors, who were buried in three nested coffins — one made of cypress, one made of lead, and one made of elm — the humble pontiff chose to be buried in a simple wooden coffin, which world leaders have filed past this morning to pay their respects.
That change came as part of recently updated funeral planning for pontiffs, which was approved by Pope Francis and also stated that the public would be able to view the pope’s body in an open coffin.
Archbishop Diego Ravelli, Master of Apostolic Ceremonies, said in a statement released by the Vatican at the time of the update last year: “A second edition [of the official funeral rites for pontiffs] became necessary, first of all because Pope Francis has requested it, as he himself has stated on several occasions of the need to simplify and adapt certain rites so that the celebration of the funeral of the Bishop of Rome may better expresses [sic] the faith of the Church in the Risen Christ.”
Archbishop Ravelli added: “The renewed rite also needed to emphasise even more that the funeral of the Roman Pontiff is that of a pastor and disciple of Christ and not of a powerful person of this world.”
Another major break from papal funeral tradition is the place where the Pope has chosen to be buried. In his last will and testament, Pope Francis requested that he be laid to rest outside the Vatican, in the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major.
In his will, he said: “I wish that my last earthly journey conclude precisely in this ancient Marian sanctuary where I went for prayer at the beginning and end of each Apostolic journey to confidently entrust my intentions to the Immaculate Mother and thank Her for her docile and maternal care.
“The tomb must be in the earth; simple, without particular decoration and with the only inscription: Franciscus.”
A number of heads of state and members of royalty have already confirmed they will be attending, including Prince William, French President Emmanuel Macron, Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Political figures will also be in attendance, including the British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Other political figures and royals who will attend the Pope’s funeral include:
- Poland President Andrzej Duda
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenasky
- US President Donald Trump
- EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
- Javier Milei, the president of Argentina, Pope Francis’s home country
- Italy Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella
- Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader
- Belgium King Philippe and Queen Mathilde
- Croatia President Zoran Milanovic
- Ecuador President Daniel Noboa
- Ireland Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheál Martin
- Moldova President Maia Sandu
- Norway Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit
- Latvia President Edgars Rinkevics
- New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon
- Sweden King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia
- UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres
