For his final journey, Pope Francis, dressed in red vestments and a traditional white cassock, will be carried to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore outside the Vatican on Saturday, where he will be laid to rest.
Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio to Regina Maria Sivori and Mario Jose Francisco in Argentina, died on Monday, April 21, 2025, of a stroke and cardiac arrest, according to the Vatican.
In the early morning of Easter Monday, Pope Francis suffered a stroke, followed by a coma. The former head of the Catholic Church then went into irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse and died at 88 years old, according to the Vatican.
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His final public appearance was on Easter Sunday, when he provided blessings to crowds of faithful at St. Peter's Square.
On Feb. 14, 2025, Pope Francis was admitted to Rome's Gemelli Hospital, where he received a medical diagnosis of double pneumonia and remained hospitalized for 38 days.
On Tuesday morning, around 60 Catholic cardinals held their first meeting since Pope Francis’s death, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. local time in Rome.
The meeting began with a prayer for the deceased pontiff. The high-ranking priests swore to obey the rules of the funeral plans that Pope Francis made last year. Finally, Bergoglio’s final will and testament were read.
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He requested that the tomb read only "Franciscus," with no mention of his 12-year papacy, a unique shift from the burial places of past popes.
On Monday in Rome, a rosary service was held for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti.
Beginning Wednesday at 9 a.m. local time (03:00 ET) and continuing until the funeral, Pope Francis’s body will lie in state at St. Peter’s Basilica, where mourners can pay their respects.
The procession of Pope Francis’s body will pass through Santa Marta Square, the Square of the Roman Protomartyrs and the Arch of the Bells into St. Peter’s Square before entering the Vatican Basilica.
Mourners are welcome to pay their respects at St. Peter’s Basilica in the following days and times:
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On Saturday, April 26, 2025, at 10 a.m. local time, Pope Francis’s life will be celebrated during a Mass presided over by His Most Reverend Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals.
Bishops, priests, cardinals, archbishops and patriarchs from around the world will officiate the service.
The events will conclude with the beginning of the Novemdiales, a symbolic and procedural period of nine days of prayer, mourning and remembrance.
Another funeral Mass will be held on Sunday by Italian Cardinal and Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.
Pope Francis will be taken to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for burial.
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The 266th pontiff revealed his burial wishes just days after being elected in 2013.
"It was his belief that he may not live very long," Neomi DeAnda, a trained constructive theologian, told Fox News Digital. "He was already in his 70s when he was elected pope, and he wanted to be prepared when God called him home."
"In the Name of the Holy Trinity. Amen.
"Feeling that the sunset of my earthly life is approaching and with lively hope in the Eternal Life, I wish to express my testamentary will only with regard to the place of my Burial.
"I have always entrusted my life and the priestly and episcopal ministry to the Mother of Our Lord, Mary Most Holy. Therefore, I ask that my mortal remains rest waiting for the day of the resurrection in the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
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"I want my last earthly journey to end in this ancient sanctuary Mariano where I went for prayer at the beginning and end of each Apostolic Journey to confidently entrust my intentions to the Immaculate Mother and thank Her for the docile and maternal care.
"I ask that my tomb be prepared in the hole of the aisle between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of the Salus Populi Romani) and the Sforza Chapel of the aforementioned Papal Basilica as Indicated in the attached annex.
"The tomb must be in the earth; simple, without particular decorum and with the only inscription: Franciscus.
"The expenses for the preparation of my burial will be covered with the sum of the benefactor who I have arranged, to be transferred to the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore and of which I have provided to give appropriate instructions to Mons. Rolandas Makrickas, Extraordinary Commissioner of the Chapter Liberian.
"May the Lord give the well-deserved reward to those who have loved me and will continue to pray for me. The suffering that was made in the last part of my life I offered to the Lord for peace in the world and brotherhood among peoples."
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