April 25 (UPI) — Before scores of world leaders and Roman Catholic officials on Saturday, Pope Francis will be laid to rest in a funeral mass to be live-streamed to the world less than a week after the pontiff died of a stroke and heart failure at 88.
This past week, tens of thousands of people paid their respects to Francis as “the people’s pope” lay in state at St. Peter’s Basilica.
Now, after his coffin was nailed shut Friday night, at 10 a.m. local time Saturday his funeral mass will begin at St. Peter’s before he later will be taken to Rome and entombed at the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
He will be the first pope to be buried outside of the Vatican in more than a century. Francis chose that site because he prayed there often. It also was a site he frequented often during the worst of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Dignitaries scheduled to attend Saturday’s funeral include U.S. President Donald Trump, former U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Prince William, French President Emmanuel Macron, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Nine days of official mourning will begin immediately at the conclusion of the funeral mass. Then, the College of Cardinals, made up of 252 representatives from countries around the world, will gather to launch the secret process to elect a new pope.
This is a breaking news story. Check back for frequent updates.
