The funeral of Pope Francis will be held at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican on Saturday. After the service, he will be buried at the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica in Rome.
Pope Francis died on Monday at the age of 88. His demise news was pronounced by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church.
This is the official programme of what happens when during the Pope’s funeral, as cited by news agency AFP.
5:30 am (0330 GMT)
St Peter’s Square will open.
9:30 am (0730 GMT)
US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania will arrive at St Peter’s Square.
10:00 am (0800 GMT)
The funeral mass will start. It will be led by Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals.
The coffin, made of wood and zinc and sealed on Friday evening, will be placed in front of the basilica, near a temporary altar.
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The cardinals, dressed in red robes, will sit on the left facing St Peter’s.
On the right, official guests from around the world will sit in alphabetical order.
The service will last about 90 minutes. About 224 cardinals and 750 priests and bishops will attend.
The funeral will include:
• Readings from liturgical texts
• A homily by Cardinal Re
• Universal prayers in different languages
• The blessing of the bread and wine
• A sign of peace shared by those attending
• The Eucharist
• A moment of silence
• Sprinkling of holy water on the coffin
After the mass, the coffin will be moved inside St Peter’s Basilica.
Around 11:30 am (0930 GMT)
The coffin will leave for the Santa Maria Maggiore basilica.
The public will not be allowed to walk with the funeral procession but can watch it from behind barriers along the way.
The hearse will travel about four kilometres (2.5 miles) slowly through the streets of Rome.
It will pass through:
• Porta del Perugino (western gate of Vatican City)
• River Tiber
• Corso Vittorio Emanuele
• Piazza Venezia
• Via dei Fori Imperiali
• The Colosseum
• Via Labicana
• Via Merulana
Around 1:00 pm (1100 GMT)
The coffin will arrive at Santa Maria Maggiore. A group of the “poor and needy” will welcome it.
The burial, led by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who is running the Vatican’s day-to-day work until a new pope is chosen, will be private.
(AFP inputs)
