Key events
The Vatican on Friday said 150,000 people have already paid their respects to Pope Francis, whose body lay in state in St Peter’s Basilica ahead of his funeral.
Between 11am (9am GMT) on Wednesday and midday on Friday, more than 150,000 people had filed past Francis’s body, a Vatican spokesperson said.
Helena Smith
The oldest child of Italians who migrated to Argentina, Pope Francis had, from the start, made the defence of refugees a cornerstone of his papacy, ensuring in July 2013 that his first pastoral trip outside Rome was to the remote island of Lampedusa.
The tiny rocky strip had emerged as a magnet for smuggling rings bringing people across the Mediterranean from north Africa.
In what would be described as a spur-of-the-moment decision, Francis elected to visit the island in the wake of migrant deaths in a fatal crossing. Residents who cried “viva il Papa” as he was whisked round in an open-topped Fiat voiced incredulity that the Catholic leader would choose to travel to the farthest reaches of Italy for an official tour dedicated solely to migrants and refugees.
But the pilgrimage had a goal. For Francis it amounted to the symbolic embrace of something much wider; the beginning of a pontificate that deliberately sought to minister to the marginalised and poor.
In Lampedusa – as in Lesbos three years later – the pope was as determined to express compassion for the living as for those who had died embarking on perilous journeys. “Who wept for these people who were aboard the boat?” he asked during an open-air mass after tossing a wreath into the sea in their memory. “For the young mothers who brought their babies? For these men who wanted to support their families? We are a society that has forgotten how to cry.”
Later he would confide that the tragedy in Lampedusa had “made me feel the duty to travel” in an effort to not only highlight the plight of refugees but “encourage the seeds of hope that are there”.
Serie A has postponed its three fixtures on Saturday because of Pope Francis’s funeral being held that day in Rome. Meanwhile, Italy’s Women’s Six Nations match against Wales is also expected to be rescheduled as the country prepares to pay its respects.
Earlier media reports in Italy had suggested that Serie A might make an exception for Inter’s clash with the visitors Roma to allow Simone Inzaghi’s side additional rest time before their midweek Champions League semi-final at Barcelona. However, the league has confirmed that the game at San Siro will now kick off at 2pm (all times BST) on Sunday.
Lazio were to play Parma in Rome on Saturday, which has been rescheduled for Monday at 7.45pm, while Como’s home game with Genoa has been moved to Sunday at 11.30am. Serie A postponed its Easter Monday matches after the pope’s death, with the games rescheduled for Wednesday, and on Tuesday Italy’s National Olympic Committee requested the suspension of all sporting events scheduled for Saturday.
Sam Jones
Pope Francis chose to break with the traditions surrounding papal funerals in April last year when he approved a set of simplified rules that allow a pope to be “laid out and buried like any son or daughter of the church”, without the use of an elevated bier topped with cushions. Or, as Francis himself put it:
With dignity, but not on cushions. In my opinion, the ritual was too ornate.
Papal funerals have traditionally involved three coffins, with the body of the pope placed in a coffin of cypress wood, which is then placed inside one of lead, which, in turn, is put inside a coffin of oak. Francis, however, stipulated that he wanted his body to be placed in a single, simple coffin made of wood and lined with zinc.
Timetable
Here is a timetable of Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday and the events to follow. All timings are in local time:
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10am: The funeral mass will begin and will be led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the college of cardinals.
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As confirmed by Francis in his final testament, he will be buried at the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood, breaking with longstanding Vatican tradition.
The public can begin visiting Pope Francis’s tomb at the Roman basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore “as early as Sunday morning”, Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni announced.
A conclave to choose a new pope normally takes place 15 to 20 days after the death of a pontiff, meaning it should not start before 6 May. The exact date will be decided by cardinals after Francis’ funeral.
Opening summary
The funeral of Pope Francis will be held today at St Peter’s Square, with a host of world leaders and royals including Keir Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Donald Trump and the Prince of Wales in attendance.
The pope, the head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, died at his home in the Vatican on Monday aged 88 after a stroke. He had been recovering from double pneumonia for which he was hospitalised for five weeks.
The funeral mass will begin at 10am local time and will be led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the college of cardinals, in what is expected to be a solemn ceremony.
In the run-up to Francis’s funeral, tens of thousands lined up to pay their respects to the pope as his body lay in state in an open wooden coffin in St Peter’s Basilica from Wednesday morning. By Friday morning, more than 130,000 people had filed past the coffin.
As confirmed by Francis in his final testament, he will be buried at the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood, breaking with longstanding Vatican tradition.
He specified that he wanted to be buried “in the ground, without particular decoration” but with the inscription of his papal name in Latin: Franciscus.
The cost of his burial will be covered by a sum provided by a benefactor, which Francis transferred to the basilica, he wrote in his will.
About 50,000 people attended the funeral of Francis’s immediate predecessor, Pope Benedict, which was also held in St Peter’s Square, in January 2023.
We will bring you updates from Pope Francis’s funeral on this live blog.
