Pope Francis is being laid to rest Saturday in a ceremony reflecting his priorities as pope and wishes as pastor: Presidents and princes will attend his funeral in St. Peter’s Square, but prisoners and migrants will usher him into the basilica where he will be buried.
Publish dateSaturday 26 April 2025 - 11:47
Story Code : 313891
Afghan Voice Agency (AVA): About 200,000 people are expected to attend the funeral, which Francis designed himself last year by overhauling and simplifying the Vatican’s liturgy.
The ceremony was a reflection of Francis’ 12-year project to overhaul the papacy, emphasizing its priests as servants and building “a poor church for the poor.” It was a mission he outlined just days after his election in 2013, explaining the name he chose as pope, in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, “who had a heart for the poor of the world,” according to the pope’s official decree of life placed in his coffin Friday night.
U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, U.N. Secretary-General and European Union leaders will join Prince William and the Spanish royal family in the official delegation. Argentine President Javier Miglio held Francis in high regard, given his Argentine nationality, even though the two men did not particularly get along and Francis alienated many Argentines by never returning home.
Breaking with recent tradition, Francis will be buried in the Basilica of Saint Mary, near Rome’s main train station, where a simple underground tomb awaits him bearing his name: Francis. Up to 300,000 people are expected to line the 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) motorcade that will carry Francis’ coffin from the Vatican through central Rome to the cathedral after the funeral.
Francis, the first Latin American pope and the first Jesuit pope, died on Monday at the age of 88 after suffering a stroke while recovering from pneumonia at home.
With his funeral over, preparations can now begin in earnest to host the centuries-old process of electing a new pope, a conclave likely to begin in the first week of May. In the meantime, the Vatican is run by a handful of cardinals, key among them Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old head of the College of Cardinals who will preside over the funeral and organize the secret ballot in the Sistine Chapel.
Crowds waited in line for hours to pay their respects to Francis.
Over three days this week, more than 250,000 people lined up for hours to pay their last respects as Francis’s body lay in state in St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican kept the doors open overnight to accommodate them.
“He was a great and humble man who changed many rules and always changed them for the better. Now it’s a tragedy for the whole world. We didn’t expect it, it had to happen, but not so soon,” said Agustin Angelicola, a pilgrim from Argentina, as he waited in line.
But even with the extended opening hours, it wasn’t enough. When the Vatican closed its doors to the public at 7 p.m. on Friday, mourners were turned away in droves.
Even before he became pope, Francis had a special fondness for St. Mary Major. The church houses a Byzantine-style icon of the Virgin Mary, called Salus Popoli Romani, to which Francis had a special devotion, praying before it before and after each of his foreign trips as pope.
He decided to place his tomb in a niche next to the chapel where the icon is located, and a copy of his simple silver pectoral cross will be placed on its marble tombstone.
The choice of the church is also symbolically significant, given its connection to the Franciscan Jesuit order. St. Ignatius of Loyola, who founded the Jesuits, celebrated his first Mass in the church on Christmas Day in 1538.
The Vatican announced that 40 special guests would greet his coffin in the square in front of the church, representing the marginalized groups that Francis has prioritized: the homeless and migrants, prisoners and transgender people.
The ceremony was a reflection of Francis’ 12-year project to overhaul the papacy, emphasizing its priests as servants and building “a poor church for the poor.” It was a mission he outlined just days after his election in 2013, explaining the name he chose as pope, in honor of St. Francis of Assisi, “who had a heart for the poor of the world,” according to the pope’s official decree of life placed in his coffin Friday night.
U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, U.N. Secretary-General and European Union leaders will join Prince William and the Spanish royal family in the official delegation. Argentine President Javier Miglio held Francis in high regard, given his Argentine nationality, even though the two men did not particularly get along and Francis alienated many Argentines by never returning home.
Breaking with recent tradition, Francis will be buried in the Basilica of Saint Mary, near Rome’s main train station, where a simple underground tomb awaits him bearing his name: Francis. Up to 300,000 people are expected to line the 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) motorcade that will carry Francis’ coffin from the Vatican through central Rome to the cathedral after the funeral.
Francis, the first Latin American pope and the first Jesuit pope, died on Monday at the age of 88 after suffering a stroke while recovering from pneumonia at home.
With his funeral over, preparations can now begin in earnest to host the centuries-old process of electing a new pope, a conclave likely to begin in the first week of May. In the meantime, the Vatican is run by a handful of cardinals, key among them Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old head of the College of Cardinals who will preside over the funeral and organize the secret ballot in the Sistine Chapel.
Crowds waited in line for hours to pay their respects to Francis.
Over three days this week, more than 250,000 people lined up for hours to pay their last respects as Francis’s body lay in state in St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican kept the doors open overnight to accommodate them.
“He was a great and humble man who changed many rules and always changed them for the better. Now it’s a tragedy for the whole world. We didn’t expect it, it had to happen, but not so soon,” said Agustin Angelicola, a pilgrim from Argentina, as he waited in line.
But even with the extended opening hours, it wasn’t enough. When the Vatican closed its doors to the public at 7 p.m. on Friday, mourners were turned away in droves.
Even before he became pope, Francis had a special fondness for St. Mary Major. The church houses a Byzantine-style icon of the Virgin Mary, called Salus Popoli Romani, to which Francis had a special devotion, praying before it before and after each of his foreign trips as pope.
He decided to place his tomb in a niche next to the chapel where the icon is located, and a copy of his simple silver pectoral cross will be placed on its marble tombstone.
The choice of the church is also symbolically significant, given its connection to the Franciscan Jesuit order. St. Ignatius of Loyola, who founded the Jesuits, celebrated his first Mass in the church on Christmas Day in 1538.
The Vatican announced that 40 special guests would greet his coffin in the square in front of the church, representing the marginalized groups that Francis has prioritized: the homeless and migrants, prisoners and transgender people.
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