Pope Francis's funeral will be held
on Saturday, 26 April, at 10 a.m., in St. Peter's Square, the
Vatican said on Tuesday.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the Dean of the College of
Cardinals, will preside over the funeral, it said.
US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron,
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, King Felipe
VI and Queen Letizia of Spain, British Prime Minister Keir
Starmer and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are among the
leaders set to be present.
Prince William will attend on behalf of King Charles III.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has no intention of attending,
his spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Tass as saying.
The 88-year-old Argentine pontiff died on Monday after suffering
a stroke, followed by a coma and irreversible cardiocirculatory
collapse, the Vatican has said.
Earlier on Tuesday the Vatican released a photo of Francis in an
open coffin in the chapel of Santa Marta, the residence inside
the Vatican where he lived.
The late pontiff was dressed in a red robe with a white mitre on
his head and a rosary in his hand.
His body will be transferred to St. Peter's Basilica on
Wednesday so that the faithful can pay their respects to him.
After the funeral, Pope Francis' coffin will be taken to St.
Peter's Basilica and, from there, to the Basilica of St. Mary
Major, where he will be laid to rest, in accordance to the
wishes expressed in his last testament.
Premier Giorgia Meloni's cabinet has declared five days of
national mourning up to the day of the funeral, Civil Protection
Minister Nello Musumeci said on Tuesday.
Musumeci clarified that the ceremonies organized for Italy's
Liberation Day national holiday on Friday will be allowed to go
ahead in "sobriety". Italy marks Liberation Day on April 25 each
year to celebrate the country's liberation from Fascism and the
Nazi occupation at the end of World War II.
Musumeci added that the sporting events scheduled to take place
in Italy on Saturday, including three Serie A soccer games.
The matches are Como-Genoa, Inter-Roma and Lazio-Parma.
Four Serie A games that had been scheduled to take place on
Monday, Cagliari-Fiorentina, Genoa-Lazio, Parma-Juventus and
Torino-Udinese, were moved to Wednesday after the pope's
passing.
Francis's words of gratitude to his personal healthcare
assistant for encouraging him to take one last ride in the
popemobile in St Peter's Square after Sunday's Easter Mass were
among his last, the Vatican said on Tuesday.
"Thank you for bringing me back to the Square," the pope told
his nurse Massimiliano Strappetti after taking the tour of the
square following his appearance on the Central Loggia of St.
Peter's Basilica on Sunday. The Vatican said Francis had gotten
reassurance from Strappetti after feeling hesitant before the
ride and asking "Do you think I can manage it?".
The Vatican on Tuesday released the text of the preface for a
new book in Italian by Cardinal Angelo Scola, Archbishop
Emeritus of Milan, entitled "Awaiting a New Beginning.
Reflections on Old Age", in which Francis said death was a new
beginning, not an end.
"It is precisely the conclusion of these pages by Angelo Scola,
a heartfelt confession of how he is preparing himself for the
final encounter with Jesus, that gives us a consoling certainty:
death is not the end of everything, but the beginning of
something," Francis said in the preface.
"It is a new beginning, as the title wisely highlights, because
eternal life, which those who love already begin to experience
on earth within the daily tasks of life — is beginning something
that will never end. "And it is precisely for this reason that
it is a "new" beginning, because we will live something we have
never fully lived before: eternity".
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