Pope Francis' funeral will be held on Saturday in St Peter's Square, Roman Catholic cardinals have decided, setting the stage for a solemn ceremony that will draw leaders from around the world.
Francis, 88, died yesterday after suffering a stroke and cardiac arrest, ending an often turbulent reign in which he repeatedly clashed with traditionalists and championed the poor and marginalised.
The pontiff spent five weeks in hospital earlier this year suffering from double pneumonia and had appeared to be slowly recovering, but the Vatican recounted his last moments, saying death came quickly and he had not suffered.
He started to feel unwell at around 3.30am Irish time yesterday, and was promptly attended to by his team.
More than an hour later he made a gesture of farewell to his ever-present nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, and slipped into a coma, the Vatican's official media channel said.
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His time of death was given as 7.35am.
The Vatican released photographs of Francis dressed in his vestments and holding a rosary, lying in an open coffin placed in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence, where he lived during his 12-year papacy.
Swiss Guards stood on either side of the casket as dignitaries, including Italian President Sergio Mattarella, paid homage to the first Latin American pope.
His body will be taken into the adjacent St Peter's Basilica tomorrow morning at 9am local time in a procession that will be led by cardinals.
He will lie in state there until Friday evening.
His funeral service will be held at 10am local time the following day in St Peter's Square, in front of the 16th century basilica.
It will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni BattistaRe, the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra seal the doors of the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace and the door to the apartment of the Casa Santa Marta, where the late Pope Francis lived.
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) April 21, 2025
The rite of the certification of death and… pic.twitter.com/PP6j4SbqPr
US President Donald Trump, who clashed repeatedly with the pope about immigration, said he and his wife would attend.
Among other heads of state set to attend were the presidents of France, Brazil, Germany, Poland, Ukraine the European Commission and Argentina, Francis' home nation.
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Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Tánaiste Simon Harris and President Michael D Higgins are among those who will also attend.
Britain's Prime Minister and the king and queen of Belgium will also fly in.
In a break from tradition, Francis confirmed in his final testament released yesterday that he wished to be buried in Rome's Basilica of Saint Mary Major and not St Peter's, where many of his predecessors were laid to rest.
Francis' death has set in motion ancient rituals, as the 1.4-billion-member Church started the transition from one pope to another, including the breaking of the pope's "Fisherman's Ring" and lead seal, used in his lifetime to seal documents, so they cannot be used by anyone else.
As Catholics worldwide mourned Francis, all cardinals in Rome were summoned to a meeting to decide on the sequencing of events in the coming days and review the day-to-day running of the Church in the period before a new pope is elected.
A conclave to choose a new pope normally takes place 15 to 20 days after the death of a pontiff, meaning it should not start before 6 May.
The exact date will be decided by cardinals after Francis' funeral.
Some 135 cardinals are eligible to participate in the secretive ballot, which can stretch over days before white smoke pouring from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel tells the world that a new pope has been picked.
There is no clear frontrunner to succeed Francis.
Pope Francis inherited a Church in disarray and worked hard to overhaul the Vatican's central administration, root out corruption and confront the scourge of child abuse within the ranks of the priesthood - with mixed results.
Watch: Prayers and tears for Pope Francis in St Peter's Square
"Things are not as bad as they were, that is for sure but they also are not as good as they could be," said Marie Collins, who was abused by a priest at the age of 13 in 1960s Ireland.
Mr Collins was a member of a papal commission for the protection of minors that was founded in 2014, but quit in 2017, saying it was hobbled by internal resistance.
During his papacy, Francis often clashed with conservatives, nostalgic for a traditional past, who saw the pope as overly liberal and too accommodating to minority groups, such as the LGBTQ community.
Francis appointed nearly 80% of the cardinal electors who will choose the next pope, increasing, but not guaranteeing, the possibility that his successor will continue his progressive policies.
One of the hallmarks of Francis' reign was his decision to appoint cardinals to far-flung regions - places where Roman Catholics make up a tiny minority or where the Church is growing faster than in the mostly stagnant west.
While Europe still has the largest share of cardinal electors, with about 39%, it is down from 52% in 2013, when Francis became pope.
The second largest group of electors is from Asia and Oceania, with about 20%.
