Who will be attending?
Dozens of world leaders and royalty will be at the funeral, including:
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- Prince William
- US President Donald Trump
- Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia
- Belgium’s King Philippe and Queen Mathilde
- Monaco’s Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene
- United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres
- European Union Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen
- French President Emmanuel Macron
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
- German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
- British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer; and
- Javier Milei, president of Argentina, where Francis was born.
Others to attend include representatives from the Czech Republic, Kosovo, Moldova, Romania, Slovakia, Brazil, Italy, Ireland, Poland, the Netherlands, Portugal, Hungary, Austria, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. Russian leader Vladimir Putin will not attend, the Kremlin said.
What are the funeral plans?
The funeral Mass on Saturday will start at 10am (6pm AEST) and will be held in front of the Basilica in St Peter’s Square. The weather is expected to be sunny, with a high of 23 degrees.
The Mass will be led by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, who also led the funeral for Pope Benedict XVI in 2023. It will be co-celebrated by the church’s patriarchs, cardinals, archbishops and bishops.
The funeral will begin with a procession of clergy and the Pope’s coffin. After Holy Communion, the final rite of ultimo commendatio will be performed for the Pope, during which his soul is commended to God, followed by a final farewell, called valedictio.
The pope’s coffin will then be returned to St Peter’s Basilica one last time before being moved to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for burial, the Holy See Press Office said.
When will a new pope be announced?
After the Pope’s funeral, the Vatican will honour nine days of mourning, known as the novemdiales. Cardinal Re will then summon the church’s cardinals to the Vatican for the conclave that will choose the new pope. He is expected to do that 15 to 20 days after the pope’s death. It is not expected to start before May 6.
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The conclave takes place in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel. There are about 250 cardinals, all of whom can attend the conclave, but only those aged under 80 on the day it starts can take part in the election of the new pope, a process that can involve multiple ballots and taken many days.
There is no clear frontrunner to succeed Francis, although British bookmakers have singled out Luis Antonio Tagle, a reformer from the Philippines, and Pietro Parolin, a compromise choice from Italy, as early favourites.
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