Thousands expected in St Peter's Square for Pope Francis' funeral

Thousands of people are expected in St Peter's Square, Vatican City, on Saturday for the funeral of Pope Francis.

The 266th Pope died at the Vatican on Easter Monday of a stroke and heart failure, following a long illness. He reigned for 12 years.

The funeral is at 10am Rome time, 8pm in New Zealand.

RNZ will live blog the funeral from 7:30pm.

Although Pope Francis simplified the papal funeral rites in a move of typical modesty, the ceremony will still be full of pomp and pageantry, as the world's 1.4 million Catholics bid him farewell.

The Vatican said Francis' funeral will be held mostly outside in St Peter's Square.

Rome has enjoyed glorious sunshine for much of the week and more blue skies are forecast Saturday.

Previous papal funerals have also been held outside, with thousands of the faithful filling the open space in front of the basilica.

Francis' funeral liturgy will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals - the group that will in the coming weeks be tasked with appointing a new pope.

The Mass, which will be concelebrated by Patriarchs, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, and priests from across the globe.

The Eucharistic celebration will conclude with the Ultima commendatio and the Valedictio, marking the beginning of the Novemdiales, or nine days of mourning and Masses for the repose of Pope Francis' soul.

Although the bulk of the service will be held outside, Francis' coffin will be brought back into the basilica after the eucharist, final commendation and valediction.

The Vatican said the funeral will follow the rites laid out in the "Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis". This liturgical book, detailing the procedures for papal funerals, was published in 2000 but revised by Francis last year.

Some of those revisions have already been on display. Unlike after previous papal deaths, Francis' body was placed immediately inside his coffin, which has been left open to allow people to pay their respects.

Diego Ravelli, master of apostolic ceremonies, said Francis had sought to "simplify and adapt" the rituals, so that the papal funeral is "that of a pastor and disciple of Christ, and not of a powerful person in this world".

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.

A number of political and religious leaders, and royals have confirmed they will be at the Vatican for Saturday's service.

At least 170 heads of state or government will be attending.

Among them is Javier Milei, president of Francis' native Argentina who had previously clashed with the pontiff over economic policy. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, president of neighbouring Brazil, who had a close relationship with Francis, is also going.

French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are among the major European leaders traveling to the Vatican.

US President Donald Trump will also attend, as will Prince William representing King Charles.

New Zealand will be represented by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and the Catholic Church in Aotearoa-New Zealand by Cardinal John Dew, who will stay on to attend the Conclave to elect a new Pope.

Tens of thousands of others are expected to show up. About 50,000 people came to Pope Benedict's funeral in 2023, while around 300,000 attended Pope John Paul II's funeral in 2005.

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