Pope Francis' funeral live: the farewell and the latest news from the Vatican today
In a few moments, at 5:30 a.m. Vatican time (12:30 a.m. Argentina time), the doors of St. Peter's Square will open to welcome faithful from around the world who will come to participate in Pope Francis' funeral Mass . A massive turnout is expected, so Vatican authorities have arranged a special security and access operation to facilitate the entry of attendees.
The delegations will be seated in alphabetical order , to the right of the altar and the coffin, facing the basilica. In the front row will be Javier Milei , as president of the deceased pontiff's homeland, and Italian President Sergio Mattarella . They will be followed by the 10 reigning monarchs and the fifty heads of state. The cardinals will be on the left.
From the Middle East, Israel will be represented by its ambassador to the Vatican, Yaron Sideman . Representing Asia will be Indian President Droupadi Murmu . From Africa, the President of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves ; the President of the Central African Republic, Faustin Archange Touadéra ; and the President of Angola, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço , will be present.
Representing Italy will be Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella , while Spain will be represented by King Felipe VI . From the United Kingdom, Prince Willem-Alexander will attend, representing King Charles III . France will be represented by President Emmanuel Macron , and Germany by President Frank-Walter Steinmeier . From Portugal, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will attend. In the case of Russia, although President Vladimir Putin will not be present, he has sent Culture Minister Olga Lioubimova on his behalf. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will attend for Greece , and Crown Prince Haakon will be represented for Norway. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had initially announced his presence, but later expressed doubts about his attendance. King Felipe will be present for Belgium.
In addition, the presence of:
As this is the funeral of the only pope born in the Americas, there will be a large representation of heads of state from this continent at his final farewell. Among them will be the Argentine delegation led by President Javier Milei ; the American delegation with Donald Trump ; and the Brazilian delegation with Lula da Silva .
The participation of President Xiomara Castro (Honduras), Daniel Noboa (Ecuador) and Luis Abinader (Dominican Republic) is also confirmed.
As night fell at the Vatican, and before St. Peter's Square was closed to the public to finalize details before Pope Francis's funeral ceremony, a tourist captured the moment a flock of birds flew over the Holy See. The clip went viral on social media, with users linking the birds' actions as a symbol of peace following the death of the Holy Father.
The Vatican's official social media account (Vatican News) shared images of the faithful who gathered Friday afternoon at the door of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, the burial place chosen by Pope Francis during his lifetime.
Eight hours before the start of Pope Francis' funeral, St. Peter's Square is ready to welcome thousands of faithful and the international delegations of heads of state who will attend the ceremony. In the early hours of the morning, lights illuminate St. Peter's Basilica and its surroundings.
Pope Francis's final journey will begin on Saturday with a funeral Mass in several languages in St. Peter's Square, before his burial in the Basilica of St. Mary Major in central Rome.
"Francis left us all a marvelous testimony of humanity, of holy life, and of universal fatherhood." These words conclude the "Act for the Pious Passing," the document chronicling his life and work , placed inside the coffin this Wednesday during the closing rite in St. Peter's Basilica.
The extensive document recounts, among other things, that he was a simple and beloved pastor in his archdiocese , who traveled everywhere, even by subway and bus. It also notes that he lived in an apartment and cooked his own dinner, because he felt like one of the people.
Jorge Bergoglio was elected by the cardinals gathered in conclave following the resignation of Benedict XVI on March 13, 2013, and adopted the name Francis—the text explains—because, following the example of the saint of Assisi, he wanted to have the world's poorest people at heart.
It will be in a plenary session next Tuesday, where Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will speak. He will attend the Pontiff's funeral tomorrow.
In addition, the UN flag will be flown at half-staff on Tuesday in honor of the Pope.
With information from Ansa
By Elisabetta Piqué
ROME.—Just as when he took office on March 19, 2013, he brought together the powerful of the Earth with the least, the Pope of the end of the world, who preached the culture of encounter throughout his life, will do the same again this Saturday, as he established, in his final farewell.
At a solemn funeral that he wanted to be simple, because the one saying goodbye "is a shepherd and not a monarch" , as they recalled this Friday morning at the Vatican, there will be Donald Trump, his predecessor, Joe Biden, Giorgia Meloni, Emmanuel Macron, Javier Milei, Lula da Silva, Don Felipe and Doña Letizia, Ursula von der Leyen and the list goes on...
By Evangelina Himitian
They're calling it "The Pact of Love for Francis, a Walk through Places of Pain." The Team of Priests from Popular Neighborhoods and Villas of Argentina called for a caravan this Saturday, after the Mass at the Metropolitan Cathedral, to bid farewell to Pope Francis from his favorite place: the street.
For this reason, they have called for people to join a procession that will bring songs and prayers to the places where Jorge Bergoglio used to visit as Archbishop of Buenos Aires. The caravan will depart from Plaza de Mayo this Saturday at noon , after sharing an impromptu lunch with all those present, who will bring their own food.
A new piece of street art has appeared on a street near the Vatican . The figure of Pope Francis is drawn with a halo as he reads a list of guests to his funeral: President Javier Milei , his US counterpart Donald Trump , European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen , Vice President Matteo Salvini , and Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi . Above, a text reveals the alleged thought of the Supreme Pontiff: “And who invited these people?”
By Gabriela Origlia
CORDOBA.- Of the four Argentine cardinals who will participate in the conclave that will elect Pope Francis' successor , two are from Córdoba and, in addition, are considered by experts to be "sons of [Jorge] Bergoglio."
The Archbishop of Córdoba, Ángel Rossi, left this city last Thursday to bid farewell to his personal friend, while Víctor Manuel “Tucho” Fernández was already living in Rome and was prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (a position that automatically falls upon the death of the pontiff).
For the two of them, along with Vicente Bokalic Iglic, archbishop of Santiago del Estero and current primate of Argentina, and Mario Poli , archbishop emeritus of Buenos Aires, the upcoming conclave will be their first participation. They were not part of the one that elected Bergoglio as pontiff.
This was reported by the Holy See Press Office. The ceremony began at 8:00 p.m. local time, and during the evening, the Chapter of St. Peter's will hold vigil over the body of the Supreme Pontiff until preparations are made for the funeral tomorrow in St. Peter's Square.
With information from Ansa
ROME - A twist . Confirming the intrigue-filled Vatican painted by Dan Brown, just on the eve of Pope Francis' solemn funeral this Saturday, the great mystery threatening the pre-conclave meetings seems to have been resolved today: whether or not the controversial Cardinal Angelo Becciu can participate in the election of the next pontiff.
And the answer is apparently "no." The Pope left two letters in which he confirmed his desire for Becciu to be excluded from the conclave, according to the newspaper Domani. These letters, amid discussions about whether Becciu—who was ousted in 2020 after a corruption scandal came to light and who was stripped of his cardinal rights (which include entering the conclave, but not his title) by the Pope— was shown to Becciu by Cardinal Pietro Parolin as a means of urging him to abandon his campaign.
These include dozens of world leaders, such as President Javier Milei and US President Donald Trump, and ten reigning monarchs.
Their presence implies a strong security operation in Rome, involving rooftop snipers, drones, and an army device whose function is to neutralize hostile flying objects.
With information from Reuters
ABUJA.- Ghanaian Cardinal Peter Turkson He said in 2010 that he wasn't ready to become pope, and that perhaps the Catholic Church wasn't ready either. But more than 15 years later, this influential African prelate is emerging as a favorite.
"I wouldn't like to be the first Black pope. I think it would be difficult," he said at the time, but after Francis's death on Monday, just as the conclave to elect his successor opens, the name of this African cardinal is on everyone's lips.
Turkson isn't the only possible African candidate in the conclave to elect Francis's successor, nor would he be the first pontiff from that continent. Pope Victor, who led the Church from 189 to 199, was from North Africa.
By BBC Mundo
In the Bergoglio family, the man who led the Catholic Church for 12 years and was the first Latin American to do so was just another: Jorge Mario.
They were a middle-class family living in a single-story house in the Flores neighborhood of Buenos Aires. The children attended public school and learned piano while the father worked as an accountant and the mother took care of the house.
“A common family, with dignity,” in the words of Pope Francis.
In his autobiography Hope , published just three months before his death, Francisco wrote that he could not imagine his path separate from that of his family.
His father, Mario, was an Italian immigrant who arrived in Argentina in 1929, fleeing poverty, the Great War, and fascism. Francisco described him as a cheerful man who knew how to be "the authority of the house."
By Elisabetta Piqué
ROME.- Pope Francis wanted his friend, the cardboard collector Sergio Sánchez , to be present at his inaugural Mass on March 19, 2013, dressed in his worker's clothes and shoes. And, leaving nothing to chance, he expressly told his top collaborators that he also wanted him to be present at his final farewell , alongside the world's most powerful people.
That's how Sánchez arrived in Rome this Friday, just in time to enter Francis's funeral chapel in St. Peter's Basilica, minutes before it closed after 250,000 people had gathered. Tomorrow, emotional and wearing his cardboard collector's uniform, he will occupy a privileged place among global leaders during the Pope's solemn funeral.
"What did Jorge Bergoglio represent for me? A lot, and not just for me, but for an entire organization. He was someone who always fought for all rights in defense of the most vulnerable, and he was an extraordinary spiritual guide for us," he told LA NACION .
The closing of Pope Francis's coffin in St. Peter's Basilica is the ceremony prior to his burial. The rite will be conducted privately and will be simpler by the decision of the Supreme Pontiff. The Pope will lie in a wooden coffin lined with sinc on the inside. The body will be covered in white silk, and the Cardinal Camerlengo in charge of the ceremony, Kevin Joseph Farrell, will sprinkle the body with holy water.
In the coffin will be placed a bag containing gold and silver coins minted during his pontificate, along with the " rogito" ( a prayer of reverence) rolled into a metal tube. The latter is a piece of paper, signed by those present, summarizing the life and works of the pontiff. The coffin will have a marble plaque with a single engraving: "Franciscvs."
In this way, the organization of his funeral will enter its final stage.
The President will not accompany the Spanish delegation, led by King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, on their trip to Rome. The latter has already departed on a state flight that will arrive in the Italian city today.
According to protocol, it is the head of state (the king) who represents the country at a state funeral. However, the Prime Minister may attend.
With information from Ansa
After three days of funerals, where believers gathered to pay homage to Pope Francis, the doors finally close on the eve of the pontiff's funeral, which begins this Saturday at 10 a.m. (local time).
According to the Vatican, around 250,000 people paid their respects at the coffin. This number surpasses that of Pope Francis's predecessor, Benedict XVI, who was visited by 195,000.
Once the funeral is over, the "Novendiales" (Novendials) will begin, corresponding to nine days of mourning during which Masses are held every day. Then the conclave will begin, where the new pope will be elected.
With information from AFP
lanacion
