Pope Francis’s funeral will take place on Saturday morning with dignitaries from around the world heading to the Vatican for the ceremony including US President Donald Trump
US President Donald Trump is set to take a back seat behind Prince William as the world ’s eyes fall on Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral tomorrow.
Final preparations were tonight being made to security operations and logistics for the 200,000 pilgrims expected to descend on Vatican City. Delegations from about 130 countries, including 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs, will cram into St Peter’s Square, where the service will take place. But Trump, who was one of the first world leaders to say he would attend, could be sat as far back as the third row.
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According to tradition, the two seats closest to the service are reserved for the head of state of the Pope’s home country, followed by the Italian head of state. That means Argentina’s Javier Gerardo Milei and Italy’s Sergio Mattarella will be the first two. The rest of the front row, and perhaps into the second, goes to royals such as the Prince of Wales, who will attend the funeral on behalf of King Charles.
Then come world leaders, heads of state and other foreign dignitaries, including Trump and Sir Keir Starmer. Royals and heads of state will be seated in French alphabetical order according to their country.
The funeral will begin at 10am and the open-air mass will last one-and-a-half hours, The Vatican said. His coffin will then be taken back into the basilica before leaving through a separate exit, the Porta del Perugino, for his remains to be driven via the streets of Rome to a simple underground tomb in the basilica of Saint Mary Major, as per his instructions.
It will take approximately 30 minutes to slowly drive the four miles between the two basilicas, and the whole process is expected to take until 2pm. UK cardinal Vincent Nichols is in Rome and said the funeral will be a “masterpiece” in stage managing “big egos”. He said it will be “without a doubt another masterpiece of stage management when you consider those state leaders who have high opinions of their importance”.
“In the past, I’ve seen it here over and over again that the combination of Rome and the Holy See, they actually are geniuses at dealing with these big events,” he added. “I think they’ve been doing it since the emperors ruled Rome – that they know how to deal with big egos. And I think every leader of a nation that comes here on Saturday will go home reasonably content.”
Thousands of mourners again waited through the night into today for a final chance to see Pope Francis lying in state inside St Peter’s Basilica. As of 12pm today, some 150,000 people had paid their respects to the pope before his coffin closes at 8pm. Cardinal Nichols has described recent days since the Pope’s death on Easter Monday as “deeply emotional”.
He told how “moving” it was to sit in the basilica and watch as others solemnly filed past the coffin this week. Cardinal Nichols said this will “enlarge the stage on which this is played out, and will give the people of Rome, especially, something that they will appreciate very deeply”.
He added: “(Pope Francis’s) favourite title was ‘I’m Bishop of Rome’, so they will say goodbye to their bishop.” The archbishop, who will be one of three UK cardinals to take part in the conclave process to elect the next pope, likely beginning in just over a week’s time, has also spoken of the weight felt by those who will choose a successor.
Ahead of taking part in his first conclave, and sharing that he does not expect “for half a second to be the one who is asked to pick up this cross” and become pope, he said he will “try my utmost to play a good part in the process”.
Asked about having described the prospect of conclave as intimidating, he said: “It’s the weight, the consequence of the choice we make, which is, even on the world stage, is significant.”
He described being chosen as pope as “a moment of a mini death, almost” for someone who at that point places “themselves into the hands of the Church to be offered to God”. The conclave could begin on May 5, following a nine-day mourning period which starts with Saturday’s funeral.
On his thoughts about a future pontiff, Cardinal Nichols said: “I think the next pope is going to have to carry on that work (by Francis) of speaking to the hearts of people about hope, about the mercy of God, about the highest calling of what it means to be a human being.”
