Today, the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics are saying goodbye to Pope Francis as his funeral takes place at the Vatican.
World leaders, including US President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer are attending, along with Prince William, who is representing King Charles.
In line with Francis’s wishes, this morning’s ceremony will differ from the funerals of his immediate predecessors.
He will be buried in a single zinc-lined wooden coffin, rather than the customary nested trio of cypress, lead and oak caskets.
And the late pontiff will not be laid to rest in the grottoes beneath St Peter’s Basilica – as is traditional – but in his favourite church, the Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome’s Esquilino neighbourhood.
Today, the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics are saying goodbye to Pope Francis as his funeral takes place at the Vatican. Above: Francis’s body lying in state in St Peter’s Basilica on April 2
When will the funeral service start?
Pope Francis’s funeral service will begin at 10am (9am UK time) in the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica.
His coffin will be placed on a dias.
The three-day lying-in-state period came to an end yesterday evening. Hundreds of thousands of people queued to see Francis in his open casket.
At 8pm, his coffin was sealed in a ceremony overseen by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Pope’s ‘camerlengo’ (chamberlain) who is running the Vatican until a new pontiff is chosen.
Above: Pope Francis presides over the funeral of the former Pope Benedict, January 5, 2023
What will happen during the service?
Fifty heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs are among hundreds of thousands of people who are attending Francis’s send-off.
Patriarchs, cardinals, archbishops, bishops and priests from across the world will take part in the funeral.
The funeral is being televised on most major TV networks worldwide, including BBC News and Sky News.
Vatican Media will also be livestreaming the funeral on YouTube and official websites.
In line with tradition, Francis’s funeral mass is expected to be presided over by the dean of the College of Cardinals.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re blesses the coffin of the former Pope Benedict at his funeral on January 5, 2023
The current dean is 91-year-old Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 91.
At the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005, the sermon was delivered by German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who offered what many thought was a stirring elocution on the late pope’s life and legacy.
Eleven days later, Ratzinger would be elected as Pope Benedict XVI.
Because of his age, Re cannot enter the conclave and is not a papal contender.
But insiders expect he might still try to offer a guide for his confreres to follow in the way he chooses to describe Francis’ papacy, or in any words he uses to describe the needs of the Catholic Church today.
The funeral for John Paul II brought an estimated 300,000 people together, while about 50,000 attended Pope Benedict’s in 2023.
Different language will be used during the service. Francis will be called ‘Bishop of Rome’, ‘Pope’, ‘Pastor’, or ‘Roman Pontifex’.
Grander titles, such a ‘Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church’, will be avoided.
There will also be readings from the Bible, as well as hymns and prayers, and Holy Communion will be distributed to the faithful.
The funeral mass will conclude with the Ultima commendatio and the Valedictio, which marks the beginning of the official nine days of mourning for the pope.
The pope’s body will then be taken back into St Peter’s Basilica before making the three-mile journey to Santa Maria Maggiore for his burial.
The procession of his coffin will involve the Vatican’s Swiss Guards.
Cardinals, bishops and dignitaries attend the funeral of Pope John Paul II, April 8, 2005
A view of St Peter’s Square at the Vatican during the funeral of Pope John Paul II, April 8, 2005