Pope’s funeral set for Saturday; Vatican releases first images of body

The Vatican has said the funeral for the late Pope Francis will take place on Saturday and has released photos of the late pontiff lying in an open coffin dressed in red vestments with his papal mitre on his head and a rosary in his hands.

Pope Francis died on Easter Monday at 88, unleashing an outpouring of grief among Catholics around the world.

The date of the funeral was confirmed by cardinals meeting at the Vatican. They said it will take place at 10:00 am Rome time (4:00 am in Dominica) and will start the first of nine days of official mourning.

The funeral Mass will be celebrated in the churchyard of the St. Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican said, pointing out that the pontiff’s body will be taken to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for burial.

Francis’ body will be transferred to St. Peter’s Basilica on Tuesday for worshipers to pay their respects ahead of the funeral, the Vatican has announced. A procession will pass through Saint Martha’s Square, then into Saint Peter’s Square before entering the Basilica.

World leaders, including US President Donald Trump, are expected to attend the funeral. The Vatican said that it will also be attended by “Patriarchs, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, and priests from across the globe.”

The date of the funeral was confirmed just after the Vatican published first photos of the late pope in his open coffin. They were take inside the chapel of Casa Santa Marta, his Vatican residence where he died. They show church officials praying over his body and performing what the Vatican said was the formal confirmation of his death.

The Vatican has also released the Pope’s cause of death. It said he died after suffering a cerebral stroke that left him in a coma and triggered irreversible heart failure.

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1 Comment

  1. Know Thyself
    April 24, 2025

    They didn’t have to shut down and burn down the Spiritual System of the entire Continent and brutalized the people into slavery for them to replace god like this. They Greeks and Romans learned about God from the Continent, obliterated the concept and its people and that’s the pay back, they now represent God. That’s their Pope, there’s even a king sharing the spoils.

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