Caption: Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, left, prays in front of the body of Pope Francis laid out in state inside his private chapel at the Vatican, Monday. Photo: Vatican Media
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis’s funeral will be held on Saturday, the Vatican announced, as world leaders from US President Donald Trump to Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky said they would attend to honour the Catholic leader.
The Argentine pontiff, 88, died on Monday from a stroke, less than a month after returning home from five weeks in hospital battling double pneumonia.
His funeral, which is expected to draw huge crowds, will take place at 10 am (0800 GMT) on Saturday in the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
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Francis’s coffin — which he previously ordered should be of wood and zinc — will then be taken inside the church and from there to the Rome basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for burial.
The first so-called “general congregation” of cardinals took place on Tuesday morning, kicking off a centuries-old process that culminates in the election of a new pontiff within three weeks.
The Vatican published the first images of the pontiff in his open coffin, wearing his red papal vestments, a mitre on his head and had a rosary between his fingers.
The pope’s body was photographed during a service on Monday evening in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican residence where he lived during his 12-year papacy, and where he died.
It will be transferred to St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday at 9 am (0700 GMT), to lie in state.
Sister Nathalie Becquart, undersecretary to the synod of bishops, told journalists she was “very moved” after paying her respects. She said she had felt “both sadness and gratitude for everything he gave”.
The Holy See’s official media Vatican News, released details about Francis’s last hours.
The pontiff started feeling ill Monday at around 5.30 am (3.30 am GMT), less than 24 hours after he greeted a crowd of faithful in St Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday.
Before falling into a coma, he waved to his personal nurse Massimiliano Strappetti from his bed, in what Vatican News described as “a gesture of farewell.”
On Sunday, he had thanked Strappetti for encouraging him to take what would become his last tour of St Peter’s Square in his popemobile.
“Thank you for bringing me back to the Square,” Francis was quoted as saying.
He was pronounced dead at 7.35 am on Monday.
“He did not suffer. It all happened quickly,” Vatican News said, citing people who were with the pontiff in his final moments.
Trump, Zelensky
Tributes have poured in from around the globe for Francis, a liberal reformer who took over following the resignation of German theologian Benedict XVI in 2013.
His home country, Argentina, prepared for a week of national mourning while India began three days of state mourning on Tuesday — a rare honour for a foreign religious leader in the world’s most populous nation.
Heads of state and royalty are expected for his funeral, with Trump and France’s Emmanuel Macron the first to announce they would attend even before a date was confirmed.
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, Germany’s outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Zelensky will also attend.
Cardinals of all ages are invited to the general congregations,a second of which will be held on Wednesday.
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At the first meeting, attended by around 60 cardinals, lots were drawn to pick three people to help the camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, run the Vatican’s day-to-day affairs until a new pope is elected.
Only those under the age of 80 are eligible to vote in the conclave, which should begin no less than 15 days and no more than 20 after the death of the pope — meaning between May 5 and 10.
Speculation is already growing about who will take over from Francis, born Jorge Bergoglio, who was the first pope from the Americas and the first Jesuit.
Cardinal Francois-Xavier Bustillo, the bishop of Ajaccio in Corsica, told AFP as he arrived in Rome that it would be an “intense” time.
Simple tomb
The pope’s body was moved into the Santa Marta chapel on Monday evening, and his apartment formally sealed, the Vatican said.
Francis, who wore plain robes and eschewed the luxury of his predecessors, has opted for a simple tomb, unadorned except for his name in Latin, Franciscus, according to his will released on Monday.
In chosing to be buried in Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore basilica, he will become the first pope in more than 100 years to be laid to rest outside the Vatican.
His death certificate released by the Vatican said Francis died of a stroke, causing a coma and “irreversible” heart failure.
He had been discharged from Rome’s Gemelli hospital on March 23 and ordered to spend at least two months resting.
But Francis, who never took a holiday and delighted in being among his flock, made numerous public appearances in recent days.
“I saw on Easter Sunday that the pope was tired. He kept going right to the end, right to his last breath,” Bustillo told AFP.
Eyes of God
Thousands of faithful, some bringing flowers or candles, have been gathering in St. Peter’s Square since his death to pray for Francis, joined by tourists.
“He’s sure done a lot of good things for the church and for the people. I think he changed the way other people view us, Catholics,” said tourist Leandro Martins.
An energetic reformer, Francis sought to open the Church to everyone and was hugely popular — but his views also sparked fierce internal opposition.
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In 12 years as pope, Francis advocated tirelessly for the defence of migrants, the environment, and social justice without questioning the Church’s positions on abortion or priestly celibacy.
Outspoken and stubborn, Francis also sought to reform the governance of the Holy See and expand the role of women and lay people, and to clean up the Vatican’s murky finances.
Faced with revelations of widespread child sex abuse in the Church, he lifted pontifical secrecy and forced religious and lay people to report cases to their superiors.
However, victims’ groups said he did not go far enough.
