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(NewsNation) — The funeral of Pope Francis will be held Saturday, with proceedings and plans for his final resting place expected to be simpler than those of previous popes.
The service will be held at 4 a.m. EDT in St. Peter’s Square in Rome. The funeral will take place after Francis’ body lies in state for three days at St. Peter’s Basilica.
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How will Pope Francis’ funeral be different from other popes’?
Francis’ 2024 changes to burial rites for pontiffs paved the way for his more humble funeral and particular burial site, the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major. Located outside the Vatican, the basilica is home to Francis’ favorite icon of the Virgin Mary.
The first images of Francis’ body were released earlier this week after his death Monday. He was 88. Francis was placed in a wooden casket, in red vestments and his bishop’s miter, with the Vatican secretary of state praying over him in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta hotel, where he lived and died.
Typically, popes have three coffins — made of cypress wood, lead and elm — that are ultimately stacked together and buried in the Vatican grottoes beneath St. Peter’s Basilica.
Francis, under the renewed rite, opted to be buried in just one coffin: a wooden casket lined with zinc. Francis’ singular coffin will not be placed on an elevated bier, as is custom, once he arrives at St. Peter’s. His coffin, instead, will simply face the basilica’s pews.
Who is expected to attend Pope Francis’ funeral?
President Donald Trump said he and first lady Melania Trump will attend the funeral. On Friday, Biden family spokesperson Kelly Scully told NewsNation that former President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, will also attend. Argentine President Javier Milei‘s attendance is also expected. Prince William will also be among the mourners, according to an announcement from Kensington Palace. The 42-year-old member of Britain’s royal family will attend the Vatican City funeral on behalf of King Charles III, multiple outlets reported.
William, heir to the British throne, has traditionally represented the monarch at funerals, according to Vanity Fair.
The office of Polish President Andrzej Duda said Duda plans to attend the ceremony. Poland has also declared a day of national mourning on Saturday for the funeral.
Reuters has reported the following world leaders will also attend the funeral:
- British Prime Minister Keir Starmer
- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and first lady Janja Lula de Silva
- French President Emmanuel Macron
- German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz
- Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok
- Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
- Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics
- Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda
- Romania’s interim President Ilie Bolojan
- Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia
- Switzerland’s President Karin Keller-Sutter
- Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
- European Union Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Council President Antonio Costa, Parliament President Roberta Metsola
- East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Bendito Freitas
- Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, and Prime Minister Bart De Wever
Vice President JD Vance will not attend, a White House official told NewsNation. Vance visited Francis during a brief meeting on Easter Sunday, the day before the pontiff died.
How and when did Pope Francis die?
Francis, the 266th head of the Catholic Church, died one day after Easter and nearly a month after his release from the hospital.
His cause of death was a cerebral stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure, according to the Vatican. Francis was hospitalized in February, staying five weeks with double pneumonia that required high flows of oxygen and blood transfusions.
What happens after Pope Francis’ funeral?
The pope’s death sets off the formal process to select his successor, known as a conclave.
The word conclave is derived from the Latin words “com,” meaning “with,” and “clavis,” meaning “key.” It refers to the practice of Catholic cardinals gathering in a closed room or hall to vote on who should be the next pope.
Per the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, the conclave usually occurs around 15 to 20 days following the death or resignation of a pope.
Due to political turmoil, it took more than two years to elect Pope Gregory X in 1271. To ensure the papal election was not dragged out in the future, Gregory X ensured cardinals would remain together until a new pontiff was decided.
Only cardinals under the age of 80 are allowed to participate in the secretive, anonymous conclave vote.
In terms of a successor for Francis, there are several frontrunners — or “papabile” — including Cardinals Peter Erdo, Reinhard Marx, Luis Tagle, Marc Ouellet and Robert Sarah, among others.
NewsNation’s Anna Kutz, Ashley N. Soriano, Patrick Djordjevic and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
