The world bids farewell to Pope Francis today. After three days of public homage, world leaders and thousands of faithful will gather at 10:00 AM in St. Peter’s Square to say their final goodbye to the late Pope.
The ceremony is set to begin at 10:00 AM and is expected to last around an hour and a half. After the conclusion of the Mass, Pope Francis’s body will be transported to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome for burial.
Confirmed attendees include U.S. President Donald Trump, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, French President Emmanuel Macron, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Prince William, King Felipe VI of Spain and Queen Letizia, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Other leaders and royal family members attending the funeral include Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Argentine President Javier Gerardo Milei, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., Polish President Andrzej Duda, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin, Croatian President Zoran Milanović, Moldovan President Maia Sandu, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, and Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway.
Over the past three days, more than 250,000 people have paid their respects to the late Pope, the Vatican announced in a statement on Friday.
