The body of the pope, who died on Monday aged 88, will lie in state from Wednesday as thousands of mourners are expected to pay respect.
The funeral of Pope Francis I, the first leader of the Roman Catholic Church to come from the Western Hemisphere, will take place on Saturday, the Vatican announced Tuesday.
Pope Francis—born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, and formerly the cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina—died on April 21 at 7:35 a.m. after suffering a stroke, falling into a coma, and suffering heart failure.
He was 88 years old and had been the leader of the Roman Catholic Church since 2013.
Hours before he died, the pope emerged on Easter Sunday to bless the thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, and delivered his traditional Urbi et Orbi address.
He also met U.S. Vice President JD Vance—who converted to Catholicism in 2019—who was visiting Rome, en route to India.
The Holy See announced a funeral mass for the pope will take place on Saturday morning in St. Peter’s Square.
In a statement they said the mass would be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals, and that patriarchs, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, and priests from around the world would take part in the ceremony.
The statement goes on to say, “At the end of the Eucharistic celebration, the ultimo commendatio and valedictio will take place. The coffin of the Roman pontiff will be taken to Saint Peter’s Basilica, and from there to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major for burial.”
The Holy See also announced the pontiff’s coffin would lie in state from Wednesday until Saturday.
In a statement, the Holy See said, “On Wednesday 23 April 2025, at 9.00, the coffin with the deceased Roman pontiff Francis will be carried from the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae to the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter, in accordance with the provisions of the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis (nos. 41-65).”
They said Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo, would then say a prayer over the body, and it would lie in state, where thousands of the faithful are expected to file past and pay respect.
The Congregation of Cardinals met on Tuesday in the Vatican to begin preparations for the funeral and for the conclave which will choose the next pope.
