What to Know About the Papal Funeral

Pope Francis’s funeral will be on April 26 at 10 a.m. local time, 4 a.m. ET, at St. Peter’s Basilica, followed by his burial in the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

A portrait of the late Pope Francis is pictured at the Buenos Aires Cathedral on April 21, 2025. Photo by LUIS ROBAYO/AFP via Getty Images

At around 8 p.m. local time on April 25, Pope Francis’s coffin was sealed, after three days during which more than 100,000 mourners stood in line to pay their respects in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The deceased Catholic pontiff’s coffin was closed in a special rite led by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Catholic Church’s Camerlengo—or Chamberlain—as part of preparations for the late pontiff’s funeral on April 26.

Pope Francis’s Funeral and Burial Schedule

Francis’s funeral will be held on Saturday, April 26, at 10 a.m. local time, 4 a.m. ET, on the parvis, the platformed area and steps just outside St. Peter’s Basilica.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside over the funeral Mass, with other cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops, and bishops possibly assisting.

Viewers should expect the event to last well over the normal length of a Catholic Mass, which is usually about an hour.

Pope Benedict XVI’s funeral in 2023 lasted around two hours, and the funeral for Pope St. John Paul II in 2005 lasted about 3 hours.

The Mass will include an entrance procession of the cardinals, readings from the Bible, a homily, and the liturgy of the Eucharist, followed by the Ultimo Commendation and Valedictio—the funeral rite’s concluding prayer and farewell, formally entrusting the deceased to God.

Following the Mass, Francis’s body will be transported to the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major, where a tomb between the Pauline Chapel and the Sforza Chapel, close to the Altar of St. Francis, has been prepared to receive him.

The burial rite will be presided over by Farrell, along with several other officials who are required to take part in the celebration. Those others include Re, along with Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, the archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, former Vatican secretary of state, and Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general for the Diocese of Rome.

How to Watch the Funeral

The papal funeral will be live-streamed across various media networks, including the Vatican’s own news network. The coverage is scheduled to begin at 3:30 a.m. ET. Replays of the event will be available after its conclusion.

Who Will Attend the Funeral?

Along with various cardinals, clergy, and Vatican officials, current and past world leaders are expected to attend Francis’s funeral. Those include U.S. President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

They will be joined by thousands gathered within the Basilica and St. Peter’s Square outside.

Seating and standing areas have already been blocked off in St. Peter’s Square below the outside altar area.

The three-mile procession route from St. Peter’s to St. Mary Major will also most likely be lined by the faithful seeking to bid the pontiff farewell.

The Vatican said that the poor and needy will be given a special place along with the rich and powerful.

“‘The poor have a special place in God’s heart.’ So too in the heart and Magisterium of the Holy Father, who chose the name Francis so as to never forget them,” the Holy See Press Office said in a statement.

“For this reason, a group of poor and needy people will be present on the steps leading to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major to pay their last respects to Pope Francis before the interment of the coffin.”

What Comes Next

The day of the pope’s funeral and burial marks the first day of the Novendiali, a nine-day period of mourning and prayer. Each day will include a public celebration of the Eucharist, involving the participation of a different group with links to the pontiff.

After those nine days, Farrell will convene the Church’s College of Cardinals in conclave—secret meetings in seclusion within Vatican City to pray, discern, and elect a new pope. That conclave could begin as early as the week of May 5.