Pope Francis Dead, To Be Buried On Saturday

Pope Francis, the 266th pope of the Catholic Church, passed away on Easter Monday at the age of 88. His death, attributed to a stroke, followed a period of declining health, which had included a five-week hospital stay for double pneumonia.

The pontiff’s final public appearance was just a day before his death, when he appeared in a wheelchair at St Peter’s Square to deliver an Easter address to thousands of worshippers.

Following his passing, tributes poured in from around the world, honoring the pope’s leadership and legacy. Born in Argentina, Pope Francis made history in 2013 as the first Latin American pope. His death marks the end of a 12-year papacy that focused on reform, social justice, and compassion.

The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis’s funeral will take place on Saturday at 10:00 local time (08:00 GMT) in front of St Peter’s Basilica. The service, which will be attended by cardinals, patriarchs, bishops, and priests from across the globe, will be led by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. The ceremony will conclude with the final commendation and valediction, marking the beginning of nine days of mourning for the late pope.

Ahead of the funeral, the public will be able to pay their respects to Pope Francis’s body, which will lie in an open casket at St Peter’s Basilica starting Wednesday morning. The Vatican announced that mourners can visit from 11:00 to midnight on Wednesday, 07:00 to midnight on Thursday, and 07:00 to 19:00 on Friday. The body will be transferred from the Santa Marta residence, where Pope Francis had lived during his papacy, to the basilica in a procession led by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the acting camerlengo. The procession will begin at 09:00 local time on Wednesday.

In a departure from traditional funerary practices, Pope Francis had requested a simpler service. His body will not be raised on a pedestal and there will be no private viewing for cardinals, as per his wishes. After the funeral service on Saturday, his body will be transported to St Mary Major basilica in Rome for burial, fulfilling the Pope’s request to be laid to rest there rather than in the crypt of St Peter’s Basilica. He will be the first pope in over a century not to be buried in the crypt.

Pope Francis’s funeral is expected to draw huge crowds from across the world, including heads of state and royalty. Among those already confirmed to attend are US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Following the funeral, a conclave of cardinals will convene to elect a successor. The dean of the College of Cardinals has 15 to 20 days to summon the cardinals to Rome after Pope Francis is laid to rest.

Source: BBC