The last papal funeral was for Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, and the tomb was placed in the ground: Franciscus, Latin for the pope

NBC News reports that the Swiss Guards — who have protected the pope and Apostolic Palace for centuries — will kneel for the consecration of the host. There will be a sermon that discusses the life of the pope, though it won’t technically be a eulogy.

After the mass, a representative group of what the Vatican calls the “poor and needy” will stand on the steps of Santa Maria Maggiore’s Basilica to welcome Francis’ coffin to its final resting place, reflecting Francis’ persistent focus during his pontificate on society’s most vulnerable, including migrants and refugees.

One of the largest gatherings of statesmen in the world took place during the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005, which lasted three hours. The most recent papal funeral was for Pope Benedict XVI in January 2023, a decade after he resigned from the position.

It was discovered that the pope’s body can be placed in a wooden coffin with a zinc box inside instead of being put in three cypress, lead and oak coffins. While lying in state, the coffin was placed not on an elevated bier, but facing the pews.

In his will, Francis asked for his tomb to be “in the ground; simple, without particular decoration, and with the sole inscription: Franciscus,” Latin for Francis. The Vatican says the tomb was made with marble from the Liguria region of Italy, the land of Francis’s grandparents.

The Vatican’s Funeral for Giovanni Battista Re, and his Charges against the World During a World-Revisited War

There will soon be a new pope. The conclave must begin 15 to 20 days after the death of the pope, which would put its start date sometime between May 6 and May 11.

The funeral mass was presided over by Giovanni Battista Re who spoke in Latin but used prayers in many other languages. As the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Re will also soon oversee the conclave of 135 cardinals that will meet to elect the next pope at some point in the second week of May.

The New York Times reported on the funeral that will take place on Saturday. A book of the Gospels will be put on top of the coffin after it has been placed in the square.

Russian media said that Putin wouldn’t attend. He faces arrest if he lands in Italy, thanks to a warrant issued by the International Criminal Court in connection with alleged war crimes inside Ukraine.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, European Union commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy are some of the world leaders who plan to be there.

The funeral for Francis comes after tens of thousands of people paid their respects as he was laid in state at St. Peter’s Basilica.

Just six days after his death from heart failure and a stroke, the 88-year-old’s body will then be buried inside a zinc and wooden coffin in a church more than two miles away, called Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore – or St. Mary Major.

It’s not the only way Francis’ funeral is breaking with tradition: He used his authority to simplify burial rites for future popes and left specific instructions to pare down his own.

The ceremony can be watched on the Vatican News’s YouTube channel. The Vatican will cover the funeral and procession to St. Mary Majors but will stop before the basilica’s burial.

The funeral will be broadcasted by many major broadcasters in the U.S., as well as around the world.

The Novemdiales of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re – the First Foreign Trip of his Second Term in Presidency

The Vatican says the mass will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re — the dean of the College of Cardinals, which will meet in the coming weeks to select the next pope.

Argentina’s president Javier Milei is attending the funeral mass too, as will the president and prime minister of Ireland, the presidents of Poland and Brazil, the outgoing chancellor of Germany, the King of Spain, and Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Vatican has said the public can begin visiting his tomb starting Sunday, and announced that dozens of cardinals will also do so on Sunday afternoon. The “Novemdiales” is a period of mourning lasting for nine days.

For President Trump, it is the first foreign trip of his second term in office, and during the morning’s mass he stood with former President Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and dozens of others.

At 10am local time on Saturday, a priest bearing a cross led a procession into the center of the vast plaza, where a copy of the New Testament was placed on Francis’ coffin. The Italian government says as many as 200,000 people joined the ceremony, and the Vatican has released a list of attendees that includes political leaders and heads of state from more than 110 nations.