Vatican City, Apr 23: Pope Francis will be laid to rest Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff.The cardinals met Tuesday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world.
According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10.
The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10 am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
US President Donald Trump said he and first lady Melania Trump plan to attend, and Argentine President Javier Milei is also expected.
The Argentine pope died Monday at age 88 after a stroke put him in a coma and led his heart to fail. He had been recovering in his apartment after being hospitalised for five weeks with pneumonia.
He made his last public appearance Sunday, delivering an Easter blessing and greeting followers from his popemobile, looping around St Peter’s Square.
His Easter appearance from the same loggia where he was introduced to the world as the first pope from the Americas on March 13, 2013 was a fitting bookend to a 12-year papacy that sought to shake up the church and return it to its Gospel-mandated mission of caring for the poorest.
Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi said it was specifically Francis’ effort to promote the role of women in the church that will be one of his greatest legacies. Ravasi noted that Francis chose to be buried near his favourite icon of the Madonna, in a basilica across town, and not in the grottoes underneath St Peter’s, as is typical for popes.
“He wanted to be buried under the shadow of a woman, in this case Maria,” said Ravasi, the Vatican’s former culture minister as he arrived for Tuesday’s first meeting of cardinals. “That is significant, his desire for the church to do more for women.”
The first images of Francis’ body were released Tuesday, showing him in red vestments and his bishop’s miter in a wooden casket, with the Vatican secretary of state praying over him in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta hotel where he lived and died.
In his final will, Francis said he wanted to be buried at St Mary Major Basilica, which is home to the Salus Populi Romani icon of Mary. Before and after every foreign trip, Francis would go to the basilica to pray before the Byzantine-style painting that features an image of Mary, draped in a blue robe, holding the infant Jesus, who in turn holds a jeweled golden book.
Francis stopped by the basilica on his way home from the Gemelli hospital on March 23, after his 38-day stay, to deliver flowers to be placed before the icon. He returned April 12 to pray before it one last time.
