Look at Pope Francis
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Haley Ott is the International News themezone Digital reporter, based in the London Office of News themezone.
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Around 250,000 people attended the funeral for Pope Francis On Saturday morning, in the Plaza de San Pedro in the Vatican, before the late leader of the Catholic Church was transported to the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major (Santa María Maggiore) in Rome to be buried. While the ceremony followed many traditions developed for centuries in the history of the Church, there were some details uniquely chosen by Pope Francis. Look at the ceremony here in News themezone and find answers to some of your questions about the historical event below.
What time did the funeral of Pope Francis begin?
Pope Francis’s funeral began shortly after 10 at the local time (4 am Eastern, 1 am pacific) in the Vatican, outside the Basilica of San Pedro. The ceremony was chaired by the dean of the Cardinals College, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.

The funeral followed the liturgical book of the Vatican for papal funeral rites, called Ordo Exsquiarum Romani Pontificis. Was broken down into three separated phases or “stations”: He preparation of the body, the visit of the body, and then the burial.
The updated edition of The Ancient Papal Funeral Rites was approved by Pope Francis last year, Change some long -standing traditionsincluding the type of coffin used.
Saturday’s service began with the music sung by the choir of the Sixtine Chapel. The first reading was made by American Vatican News journalist, Kielce Gusta.
During the homily, Cardinal Re said that “mercy and the joys of the Gospel” were two priorities of Pope Francis, “in contrast to the culture of waste.”
“I often reminded us … that we all belong to the same human family and that nobody is saved alone,” Re.
Re said that Pope Francis “raised his voice, imploring peace”, because “war always leaves the world worse than it was before. It is always a painful and tragic defeat for all.”
He said that Pope Francis encouraged people to “build bridges, not walls.”
Who attended Pope Francis’s funeral?
Pope Francis’s funeral attended thousands of public members, as well as religious leaders and heads of state around the world.
President Trump And the first lady Melania Trump attended, just like former president Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden.

When the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and his wife Olena Zelenska arrived to take a seat ahead of the service, the crowd gathered exploded in applause. Mr. Trump, who is trying to negotiate a high fire between Russia and Ukraine, gathered in private With Zelenskyy earlier in the day.
The Vatican said that there were delegations from some 130 countries at the ceremony, with 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs, including:
- Prince William of Great Britain
- United Kingling Keir Starmer’s Prime Minister
- French president Emmanuel Macron
- The president of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier
- German OLAF Scholz outgoing chancellor
- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
- United Nations Secretary Antonio Guterres
- Head of the EU Ursula von der Leyen commission
- President of the European Council Antonio Costa
- The president of Brazil, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
- The president of Argentina, Javier Milei
- Honduras’ President President Xiomara Castro
- The president of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
- President Droupadi Mormu of India
- President of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Toujade
- President of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Felix Tshisekedi
- President of Cabo Verde, José Maria Neves
Senator Susan Collins directed a bipartisan delegation of US Catholic senators to attend the Pope’s funeral.
Where is Pope Francis?
At the end of the funeral service, there was a final prayer of praise, then a procession began to take the Pope’s coffin to the Basilica of Santa María (Santa María Maggiore), in Rome, for the burial.
In BreakPope Francis chose to be buried outside the Vatican in the Basilica, where he was often going to pray during his papacy. Seven previous potatoes are buried there, but he is the first in centuries.
The coffin was transported through the city in a popemobile of the head open, and huge crowds gathered along the procession route to present their final respects to the late Pontiff.

Those who gathered outside St. Mary Major cheered when the procession arrived.
Many potatoes have been buried within the Vatican, in the Vatican Grutas, a vault system at the lower level of the Basilica of San Pedro, but in His last will and willFrancis requested that he was buried in the church that had a special meaning for him.
“I want my last earthly trip to end with precision in this former Sanctuary of Marian, where I went to pray at the beginning and end of each apostolic trip to confidence with confidence my intentions to the immaculate mother and thank her for her docile and maternal care,” Francisco said in his will.

“The grave must be on earth; simple, without particular decoration and with the only inscription: Francisco,” he wrote.
Burial rites had to be conducted on the site by the Camerlengo of the Sacred Roman Church, Cardinal Kevin Farrell.
Among those who gathered for the arrival of the Pope’s coffin in St. Mary Major were individuals from Pope Francis’s communities, including prisoners with special permission, homeless people, members of the trans community and victims and survivors of sexual trafficking, said the Vatican.
When will they choose the next Pope?
After the funeral, nine days of mourning began, called novels.
Eligible cardinals under 80 years of age, currently a group of approximately 135, will meet in Rome to prepare for the papal conclavethe centenary process to select The next Pope. The conclave usually begins about two weeks after the death of a Pope, so in this case, probably in early May.
During the conclave, the eligible cardinals will be isolated and, behind closed doors in the Vatican Sistine Chapel, they will launch ballots for their choice, repeating the process until a candidate receives a majority of two more thirds. The tickets, which are paper, are burned after each voting round.
If the option has not been reached, the ballots of that round send black smoke from the fireplace while burn. When a new Pope is finally selected, a white smoke cloud is sent to indicate the transcendent news to the world.
ANNA MATRANGA contributed to this report.
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Haley Ott is the International News themezone Digital reporter, based in the London Office of News themezone.
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