Vatican braces for huge crowds at pope's funeral

Apr 25, 2025

By AFP, Vatican City
The Vatican will make final preparations on April 25 for Pope Francis' funeral as the last of the huge crowds of mourners file through St Peter's Basilica to view his open coffin.

Many of the 50 heads of state and 10 monarchs attending the April 26 ceremony in St Peter's Square, who include US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, are expected to arrive on Friday in Rome.

Italian and Vatican authorities have placed the area around St Peter's under tight security ahead of the funeral, with drones blocked, snipers on roofs, and fighter jets on standby.

Further checkpoints will be activated on April 25 night, police said.

Tens of thousands of people have already queued for hours to pay their last respects to Francis, whose coffin will be closed at 8:00 pm (1800 GMT) in a ceremony attended by senior cardinals.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo who is running the Vatican's day-to-day affairs until a new pope is elected, will preside over the so-called "Rite of the Sealing of the Coffin."

The Catholic Church's first Latin American pope died on April 21, aged 88, less than a month after spending weeks in hospital with severe pneumonia.

The Argentine pontiff, who had long suffered failing health, defied doctors' orders by appearing at Easter, the most important moment in the Catholic calendar.

At least 130 foreign delegations are expected at his funeral, including Argentina's President Javier Milei and Britain's Prince William, and a no-fly zone will be in force.

The pope's coffin was set before St Peter's altar for his three days of lying-in-state, with Francis dressed in his papal vestments -- a red chasuble, white mitre and black shoes.

Italy's civil protection agency estimates that "several hundred thousand" people will descend on Rome on what was already set to be a busy weekend due to a public holiday on April 25.

After the funeral, Francis' coffin will be driven at a walking pace to be buried at his favourite church, Rome's papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

The pontiff was a champion of underdogs, and a group of "poor and needy" will be there to welcome the coffin, the Vatican said.

He will be interred in the ground, his simple tomb marked with just one word: Franciscus.

People will be able to visit the tomb from April 27 morning.

Following that, all eyes will turn to the process to choose Francis's successor.

Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who was number two to Francis, is the favourite, according to British bookmakers William Hill.

They put him ahead of Filipino Luis Antonio Tagle, the Metropolitan Archbishop emeritus of Manila, followed by Ghana's Cardinal Peter Turkson, and Matteo Zuppi, the Archbishop of Bologna.--ucanews.com