Pope Francis’ funeral will take place this weekend and will be broadcast across the world as thousands of worshipers flock to the Vatican City to pay their final respects
Pope Francis will be laid to rest after tens of thousands of worshipers have been paying their respects. The late pontiff died aged 88 on Easter Monday, sparking a period of worldwide mourning as thousands descend on the Vatican City.
He has laid in state at the altar of St Peter’s Basilica, the grand cathedral at the Vatican complex’s centre. Following his funeral, the Pope will not be placed in the usual Vatican grottoes underneath St Peter’s, marking the first pontiff in more than a century to be buried elsewhere.
He will be transported via procession from St Peter’s once the service is complete to the church of Santa Maria Maggiore – Saint Mary Major – across the River Tiber in central Rome.
He will be laid to rest there after the procession takes a winding route through the city’s streets. Pope Francis died on Monday morning at his residence at Casa Santa Marta following a long stay in hospital with double pneumonia.
While he was sick for some time, his death – which followed what appeared to be a gradual recovery after he was discharged from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital in late March – came as a shock to the world, and has elicited an outpouring of affection from the public and global leaders alike.
Worshipers will be able to pay their final respects to the pontiff on Saturday, March 26. It will take place at 10am local time (9am BST). Global leaders – including Keir Starmer and Donald Trump – will attend the service led by Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, en masse, as members of the public watch on.
Prince William will also be in attendance, representing King Charles for the funeral, Kensington Palace confirmed. Thousands of mourners are expected to tune in both in person and on screen as Cardinal Re delivers the final commendation, a solemn right placing the Pope’s soul in God’s care.
Those wishing to watch the funeral service will be able to tune in to a number of channels on Saturday. BBC One newsreader Reeta Chakrabarti will present a BBC News special starting at 8.30am and scheduled to continue until 12.30pm.
Sky News will host a live programme from Rome with presenter Anna Botting. Their scheduling begins at 7am and is set to last until 1pm.
ITV will have a livestream on its online service ITVX on Saturday. The Vatican will also show the service on their YouTube channel for mourners across the world.
Once the funeral has concluded, the Pope will be laid to rest at the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in central Rome, a less grand but still stunning site that differs massively from the landmark Basilica San Pietro which houses 91 of his predecessors.
The chapel where Francis will lie sits tucked away in its back left hand corner. Named Chapel Paulina, Francis regularly prayed there before and after visits abroad.
Popes are usually buried in the grottoes beneath St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City, but as with many aspects of Papal life, Frances chose a different path when he wrote his final testament in 2022, which was released this week by the Vatican.
He asked to be buried “in the ground, without particular ornamentation” but with the inscription “Franciscus”. He wrote: “I wish my final earthly journey to end precisely in this ancient Marian sanctuary, where I would always stop to pray at the beginning and end of every Apostolic Journey, confidently entrusting my intentions to the Immaculate Mother, and giving thanks for her gentle and maternal care.
“I ask that my tomb be prepared in the burial niche in the side aisle between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of the Salus Populi Romani) and the Sforza Chapel of the Basilica, as shown in the attached plan. The tomb should be in the ground; simple, without particular ornamentation, bearing only the inscription: Franciscus.”
The Santa Maria Maggiore already holds the tombs of seven popes but the last to buried there was Clement IX in 1669. The last pontiff to be buried outside the Vatican was Leo XIII in 1903.
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