Funeral of Pope Francis: the times, the rite in San Pietro, the procession to Santa Maria Maggiore

Pope Francis He asked for the funeral of a shepherd, not a sovereign and this reiterated the cardinals deciding for the pontiff’s funeral. The liturgical choices wanted by the Holy Father and approved by him in June 2024 for the rite that will start at 10 when on the churchyard of the Basilica of San Pietro, visited by 250 thousand people in the three days of exposure of the coffin will be followed, will already be seated on one side and purple on one side, on the other politicians, rulers and heads of state. Behind them there will be 200 thousand people who arrived in Rome to follow the funeral.

The rite

After the three days of exposure, the coffin was closed on the evening of Friday 25 April. During the night he remained in San Pietro, he will be brought to the churchyard for the funeral starting from 10 am. The funeral will be celebrated by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the Cardinal College. The last commendatio and Valenticio follow the mass, blessings that are made before the pontiff’s burial.

Here is the complete booklet to follow the mass.

The funeral day is the first of the novedials: for nine days, in San Pietro, masses of suffrage are celebrated. Everything before the conclave begins.

There is a benefactor who pays the costs for burial. Pope Francis wrote it in the will without explicit the name of the benefactor.

The guests

The delegations of the heads of state will be to the right of the altar. In the front row Italy and immediately next to Argentina, then all the others who will follow An order marked by the French alphabet, which is the one used by diplomacy Starting from the reigning sovereigns then the heads of state and government.

• Here are who there will be at the funeral of Pope Francis
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The funeral procession

At the end of the funeral, the procession with the Pope’s coffin will go from San Pietro to Santa Maria Maggiore. It will leave the Perugino door for a journey between 30 and 60 minutes of time. The prefect of Rome Lamberto Giannini explained: «The funeral procession of the Popeof a few cars with some cardinals and some relative, will proceed at a men’s pace to allow everyone to give the last farewell. We calculated that To get to Santa Maria Maggiore it will employ a little more an hourproceeding between 5 and 10 kilometers per hour ».

It will pass to the Pasa gallery, Corso Vittorio and Piazza Venezia will make. Then the Imperial Forums, via Labicana, via Merulana. The whole route is closed to traffic and cordoned off. All this will also be followed on live TV, until the entrance to the Basilica. The burial will be private between the Paolina chapel, where the icon of the Madonna Salus Populi Romani is located, and the Sforza chapel. The Camerlengo will preside over the rite of burial.