A quiet, sacred ceremony in one of the last steps on final journey

Tens of thousands of pilgrims, clergy, and dignitaries are already in place for the event. Over the past few days, 250,000 faithful queued outside St Peter’s Basilica, waiting for their moment to pay their respects to the late Pope. The atmosphere has been one of quiet reverence, with visitors from around the world filing past his coffin, which was placed on the ground in front of the Confessio altar.

Francis specifically requested to be laid to rest in a simple, humble manner, without any elaborate ceremonial trappings. The church says this reflected the core of his pontificate – a commitment to humility, service and connection with the marginalised of society.

The funeral mass will be held at 10am on Saturday, Vatican City time. The ceremony will be led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, and will include readings from the Acts of the Apostles, the Letter of St Paul to the Romans and the Gospel of John. The Mass will be multilingual, with prayers offered in French, Arabic, Polish, Portuguese and Chinese, acknowledging the diverse global reach of Francis’ teachings.

The first papal funeral to garner widespread international attention was that of Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903. The ceremony was as much a diplomatic event as a religious one, with heads of state from around the world in attendance. For the first time, the Vatican opened its doors to the world, and foreign dignitaries paid their respects, a tradition that continues to this day.

World leaders will be seated in French alphabetical order – an echo of a centuries-old tradition that honours the language of diplomacy. Only two leaders break the sequence: the president of Italy, host to the Holy See, and the president of Argentina, homeland of the late pontiff. They will sit front and centre.

The Sistine Chapel Choir will sing during the Mass, offering a beautiful and poignant tribute to the Pope’s love of sacred music and liturgy.

Following the mass, his coffin will be carried through the streets of Rome in a slow procession, passing by the ancient walls of the city and allowing Romans to pay their final respects. This route will pass by many of the landmarks that were significant to Francis during his time in office, including the Vatican’s fortress-like walls and the icon of the Virgin Salus Populi Romani, which he often visited before and after his apostolic travels. The procession will culminate at the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major, where Francis requested to be buried.

The decision to bury Pope Francis outside the Vatican’s walls marks an unprecedented move in modern Church history. He is the first pope to be buried there since the 17th century – and the first in over 120 years to rest outside St Peter’s Basilica. His desire to be laid to rest near the people he served throughout his life, and especially the poor, reflects his deep connection with those outside the power structures of the Church.

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The ceremony at Saint Mary Major will be a private affair, with only a small group of clergy and Church officials present to witness the Pope’s final interment. The Pope’s tomb will be located beneath the basilica, in a site that has already been consecrated.

Francis’ death marks the end of an era, one in which there was a sweeping transformation in the Church’s engagement with the modern world. But as the crowds gather in Rome to mourn his death and celebrate his life, it is clear that his legacy will continue to resonate for generations to come.

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