50 heads of state, 10 monarchs to attend Pope’s funeral

Rome, Italy | THE INDEPENDENT | Atleast 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs have confirmed attendance at the Pope’s Funeral scheduled on Saturday, the Vatican has said.

Pope Francis’ coffin is lying in state at St Peter’s for a third day on Friday for the people to pay their final respect to the spiritual leader of 1.4 billion Catholics spread around the World.

By Thursday, more than 61,000 people had filed past the coffin of Pope Francis inside St Peter’s Basilica to pay their respects, before he is transported to his final resting place on Saturday. Thousands of people were still in line to say goodbye to spiritual leaders who left behind a lasting legacy.

The Vatican announced that Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, will preside at the Rite of Sealing of the Coffin of the late Pope Francis on Friday, April 25, at 8:00 PM, ahead of the papal funeral on Saturday morning.

The liturgical rite will be attended by several Cardinals and Holy See officials, and will be broadcast across Vatican News’ channels. It will mark the end of public viewing in St. Peter’s Basilica, which has seen tens of thousands of people pay their respects to the late Pope.

The crowds were so large that some people were turned away from paying their respects, the BBC reported.

St. Peter’s Basilica remained open until 5:30 AM on Thursday, closing for an hour and a half before reopening at 7:00 AM.

Pope Francis’ Funeral Mass will take place on Saturday, April 26, at 10:00 AM in St. Peter’s Square, marking the beginning of the Novemdiales, an ancient tradition of nine days of mourning and Masses for the repose of the late Pope’s soul.

Pope Francis will then be taken to the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome for burial.

On Thursday, the Vatican said that at least 130 foreign delegations, including about 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs, would attend Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday at St. Peter’s Square.

“There are currently 130 delegations confirmed for the funeral of Pope Francis,” to be held in St Peter’s Square, the Vatican said.

Pope Francis’s funeral will take place at 10:00 local time (09:00 BST) on Saturday.

Among those who confirmed attendance are US President Donald Trump, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Argentina’s President Javier Milei, French President Emmanuel Macron, Prince William, Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Others are Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Dominican Republic President Luis Abinader, Belgium King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, Croatia President Zoran Milanovic, Ecuador President Daniel Noboa and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, among others.

According to reports by AFP, security has been beefed up in the Vatican, and the air force has already deployed electromagnetic devices to prevent drones from flying over the city.

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.

Pope Francis, who suffered a stroke, died at his residence in the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican less than a month after he was released from five weeks in hospital with double pneumonia.

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URN

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