Cardinals set Pope Francis' funeral for Saturday morning, with public
viewing starting Wednesday
[April 22, 2025]
By NICOLE WINFIELD and COLLEEN BARRY
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Cardinals have taken their first decisions following
the death of Pope Francis, setting Saturday as the date for his funeral
and allowing ordinary faithful to begin paying their final respects
starting Wednesday, when his casket is brought into St. Peter's
Basilica.
The cardinals met for the first time Tuesday in the Vatican's synod hall
to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis'
successor, as condolences poured in from around the world grieving
history's first Latin American pope.
The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s
Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals,
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
U.S. President Donald Trump has announced he and first lady Melania
Trump plan to attend Saturday’s funeral Argentine President Javier Milei
is also expected.
Francis died Monday at age 88 after suffering a stroke that put him in a
coma and led his heart to fail. He had been recovering in his apartment
after being hospitalized for five weeks with pneumonia. He made his last
public appearance Sunday, delivering an Easter blessing and making what
would be his final greeting to followers from his popemobile, looping
around St. Peter's Square.
In retrospect, his Easter appearance from the same loggia where he was
introduced to the world as the first pope from the Americas on March 13,
2013, was a perfect bookend to a 12-year papacy that sought to shake up
the church and return it to its Gospel-mandated mission of caring for
the poorest.
“He gave himself to the end,” said Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the head of
the Italian bishops' conference and considered a possible contender to
be next pope. "To go out to meet everyone, speak to everyone, teach us
to speak to everyone, to bless everyone.”
The first images of Francis' body were released Tuesday, showing him in
the wooden casket, in red vestments and his bishop’s miter, with the
Vatican secretary of state praying over him in the chapel of the Domus
Santa Marta hotel where he lived and died.
In his final will, Francis confirmed he would be buried at St. Mary
Major basilica, which is outside the Vatican and home to his favorite
icon of the Virgin Mary. Before and after every foreign trip, Francis
would go to the basilica to pray before the Byzantine-style painting
that features an image of Mary, draped in a blue robe, holding the
infant Jesus, who in turn holds a jeweled golden book.
Francis stopped by the basilica on his way home from the Gemelli
hospital on March 23, after his 38-day hospital stay, to deliver flowers
to be placed before the icon. He returned April 12 to pray before the
Madonna for the last time.
The world reacts
Bells tolled in chapels, churches and cathedrals around the world and
flags flew at half staff in Italy, India, Taiwan and the U.S. after
Francis' death was announced by the Vatican camerlengo. Soccer matches
in Italy and Argentina were suspended in honor of the Argentine pope who
was a lifelong fan of the San Lorenzo soccer club.
World leaders praised Francis for his moral leadership and compassion,
while ordinary faithful remembered his simplicity and humanity.
“Like every Argentine, I think he was a rebel,” said 23-year-old
Catalina Favaro, who had come to pay her respects in the Buenos Aires
church where Francis discovered his priestly vocation. “He may have been
contradictory, but that was nice, too.”
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Pilgrims arrive in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Tuesday, April
22, 2025. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
In East Timor, where Francis’ final outdoor Mass drew nearly half of
the population last September, President Jose Ramos-Horta praised
Francis’ courage. “Papa Francisco was a brave man who was not afraid
to speak out against the rulers of the world who seek war, but do
not want to seek peace,” Ramos-Horta said.
“He challenged the powerful to act with justice, called nations to
welcome the stranger, and reminded us that our common home — this
Earth — is a gift we must protect for future generations,” said
Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu, who is Muslim. Nigeria is Africa’s
most populous country and has around 30 million Catholics,
representing about 14% of the total population.
Viewing the pope's coffin
The pope's formal apartments in the Apostolic Palace and in the
Santa Marta hotel were sealed Monday evening, following a
centuries-old ritual. Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who as camerlengo had
the task of announcing the death and confirming it once the cause
was determined, presided over the rituals.
Francis chose not to live in the palace, though, but in a two-room
suite in Santa Marta on the other side of Vatican City. He died
there and his body was transferred to the hotel chapel in the lobby,
where the private viewing was being held Tuesday for Vatican
officials and members of the pontifical household.
In changes made by Francis last year, his body was not placed in
three wooden coffins, as it had been for previous popes. Rather,
Francis was placed in a simplified wooden coffin with a zinc coffin
inside.
Once in St. Peter's, his coffin will not be put on an elevated bier
but will just be be placed simply facing the pews, with the Paschal
candle nearby.
“He was a pope who didn’t change his path when it came to getting
dirty,” Francis’ vicar for Rome, Cardinal Baldassarre Reina, said in
a Mass in his honor. “For him, poor people and migrants were the
sacrament of Jesus.”
Choosing the next pope
After the funeral, there are nine days of official mourning, known
as the “novendiali.” During this period, cardinals arrive in Rome
and meet privately before the conclave.
To give everyone time to assemble, the conclave must begin 15-20
days after the “sede vacante” — the “vacant See” — is declared,
although it can start sooner if the cardinals agree.
Once the conclave begins, cardinals vote in secret sessions in the
Sistine Chapel. After voting sessions, the ballots are burned in a
special stove. Black smoke indicates that no pope has been elected,
while white smoke indicates that the cardinals have chosen the next
head of the Catholic Church.
The one who has secured two-thirds of the votes wins. If he accepts,
his election is announced by a cardinal from the loggia of St.
Peter's Basilica who tells the world “Habemus Papam,” Latin for “We
have a pope.”
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