By Kamadi Amata
The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis’s funeral will take place on Saturday, April 26, at 10:00 local time (09:00 BST).
His body will be transferred to St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday morning at 09:00 local time (08:00 BST), where the coffin will lie in state until the burial to allow the public to pay their respects.
Pope Francis is currently laid out in a coffin at the chapel of the Santa Marta residence, where he lived during his 12-year papacy.
The Vatican earlier confirmed that Pope Francis died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, following a stroke and subsequent irreversible heart failure.
Andrea Arcangeli, Director of the Directorate of Health and Hygiene of the Vatican City State, issued the official certification of death.
According to the medical report, the Pope had a prior history of acute respiratory failure caused by multimicrobial bilateral pneumonia, multiple bronchiectases, high blood pressure, and Type II diabetes.
“His death was confirmed through electrocardiographic thanatography. I hereby declare that the causes of death, to the best of my knowledge and judgment, are as stated above,” said Arcangeli.
The funeral will take place outdoors, in front of St Peter’s Basilica, and will be led by Giovanni Battista Re, the Dean of the College of Cardinals.
