The Vatican has released the funeral date and schedule for the first Jesuit and Latin American pontiff, the late Pope Francis.
Pope Francis died at 9:45 a.m. on Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88 at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta.
The Holy See Press Office announced on Tuesday, April 22, that the body of the late Pope Francis will be laid to rest on Saturday, April 26, at 10:00 a.m.
His body will be transferred to St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday, April 23, at 9:00 a.m., where he will lie in state until his funeral.
Pope Francis Will be Laid to Rest on Saturday- Vatican
At the same time, the Vatican announced that Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside over the funeral Mass.
It will be concelebrated by Patriarchs, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, and priests from around the world.
The Eucharistic celebration will conclude with the Final Commendation (final prayer) and the farewell (final blessing), marking the beginning of the Novemdiales — nine days of mourning and Masses for the repose of Pope Francis’ soul.
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Funeral Schedule
The late Pope’s body will then be taken into St. Peter’s Basilica and then to the Basilica of St. Mary Major for entombment.
Earlier, on Wednesday, the coffin containing the Pope’s body will be carried from the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta to St. Peter’s Basilica.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, will preside over the rite of translation on April 23, which will begin at 9:00 am with a moment of prayer.
The procession will pass through Santa Marta Square and the Square of the Roman Protomartyrs, according to the Holy See Press Office.
Furthermore, the procession will then exit through the Arch of the Bells into St. Peter’s Square and enter the Vatican Basilica through the central door.
At the Altar of the Confession, the Cardinal Camerlengo will preside over the Liturgy of the Word, at the conclusion of which the visits to the body of the Roman Pontiff will commence.
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Previous popes were entombed in three coffins — one made of wood, another of lead and a third, again of wood. But in 2024, Francis simplified the rules for a papal funeral, to use only a wooden coffin lined in zinc.
The last pontiff to die was Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in late 2022.
Pope Francis’ Final Testament
At the same time, the Vatican released the late Pope’s spiritual testament, dated June 29, 2022, which gives instructions for his burial in the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
In his testament, Pope Francis requested that his tomb should be in the ground; simple, without particular ornamentation, bearing only the inscription: Franciscus.
“I wish my final earthly journey to end precisely in this ancient Marian sanctuary, where I would always stop to pray at the beginning and end of every Apostolic Journey, confidently entrusting my intentions to the Immaculate Mother, and giving thanks for her gentle and maternal care,” read the testament.
“I ask that my tomb be prepared in the burial niche in the side aisle between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of the Salus Populi Romani) and the Sforza Chapel of the Basilica, as shown in the attached plan.”
For his burial costs, the Pope instructed that they be covered by a sum provided by a benefactor, which he arranged to be transferred to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, Extraordinary Commissioner of the Liberian Basilica, was entrusted with this responsibility.
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