Pope Francis’ funeral has been set for Saturday and will take place outdoors in front of St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican announced on Tuesday. Meanwhile, global media outlets have started to descend upon Rome to cover the event, which is expected to draw millions of mourners.
The pope’s funeral, according to strict protocol, is to be followed two to three weeks later by the secretive conclave, in which 135 cardinals from around the world gather in the Sistine Chapel to elect the next Catholic Church leader. The conclave is now expected to begin sometime between May 5 and 10.
On Tuesday morning, the cardinals met in the Vatican’s synod hall for the first time since Francis’ passing and set the funeral for Saturday at 10 a.m. CET in St. Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
According to sources, U.S. media outlets such as CNN, CBS and NBC have long sorted out logistical aspects of coverage, including renting terrace space to get the best camera angles of St. Peters’ Square for the papal funeral, which draws a huge gathering of world leaders, prelates and ordinary Catholics.
U.S. President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are among the first to say they plan to attend the funeral. Argentine President Javier Milei is also expected.
Francis died on Monday at age 88, a day after emerging from convalescence and taking a popemobile ride to bless thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square on Easter in what turned out to be his final farewell. Dr. Andrea Arcangeli, the head of the Vatican’s health department, said in a statement that the late pontiff died after suffering a stroke that put him in a coma and led to heart failure. Francis had recently spent more than a month in Rome’s Gemelli Hospital with double pneumonia and suffered several respiratory crises.
On Tuesday, the first images of Francis’ body were released by the Vatican, showing him in a wooden casket in red vestments. His body was flanked by Swiss Guards, with American Cardinal Kevin Farrell praying over him in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta hotel, where Francis lived and died. Farrell will serve as the Vatican’s interim administrator until a new pope is chosen.
The Vatican has also announced that Pope Francis’ casket will be taken to St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday, where the faithful will be able to pay their respects for the following three days.
The 2005 funeral of Pope John Paul II, who was the last serving pontiff to die, drew roughly 4 million mourners to Rome.
The papal passing is taking place just as the Vatican is beginning to celebrate its Holy Year, the once-every-quarter-century Jubilee celebration expected to draw some 30 million Catholic pilgrims to the Eternal City.
From Variety US