The Vatican has announced that around 200,000 people are attending the funeral Mass for Pope Francis, who passed away on Easter Monday.
The Mass, currently underway in St. Peter’s Square, is presided over by Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, reports dw.com
The ceremony, expected to last about 90 minutes, features Bible readings, prayers in multiple languages — including French, Arabic, German, and Chinese — communion rites, and music by the Sistine Chapel Choir, concluding with the Rite of Final Commendation.
Security measures in Rome have been significantly tightened as world leaders, including current US President Donald Trump and former US President Joe Biden, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and Britain’s Prince William, attend the service.
Macron also paid tribute on social media, recalling Pope Francis’ 2023 visit to Marseille as “a breath of fraternity, a moment of peace and hope.”President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump paid their respects at St. Peter’s Basilica before the funeral policies. President Biden, the second Catholic US president, arrived earlier with former First Lady Jill Biden.
Earlier estimates by Italian police suggested around 50,000 people were present, but by the start of the Mass, the crowds had swelled to approximately 140,000, filling St. Peter’s Square, lining Via della Conciliazione, and gathering at public squares across Rome where large screens broadcast the service.
Applause rang out as Pope Francis’ simple wooden coffin was carried out of St. Peter’s Basilica into the sunlit square by white-gloved pallbearers, flanked by cardinals in rich red robes. Mourners were asked to refrain from waving flags or banners during the solemn procession.
Cardinal Re, delivering the homily, described Pope Francis as “a pope among the people, with an open heart,” highlighting his compassion for the marginalized and his commitment to humility and service. In keeping with his lifelong values, Francis had wished for a modest funeral.
Over the previous days, approximately 250,000 mourners had filed past the pope’s body as it lay in state inside St. Peter’s Basilica, with the basilica’s hours extended until midnight to accommodate the crowds. Many visitors queued overnight.
Following the Mass, farewell rites will continue with a 5.5-kilometer procession to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where Pope Francis will be privately laid to rest in a simple underground tomb.
Departing from tradition, he had expressed his wish to be buried there — a church he visited over 120 times, especially before and after international journeys — instead of within Vatican City.
Pope Francis, often called the “Pope of the Poor,” spent his 12-year papacy advocating for the marginalized, criticizing capitalism, consumerism, nationalism, and environmental neglect.
His symbolic acts — such as washing the feet of incarcerated youth and welcoming Syrian refugees to the Vatican — emphasized compassion over doctrine. While he upheld some traditional Church teachings, including opposition to abortion, he also sought to reform the Vatican bureaucracy, promote greater synodality, and elevate voices from the Global South.
His leadership won praise for advancing economic justice and global peace efforts, though his handling of clergy sexual abuse cases received mixed reviews. He was notably the first pope to convene a global summit on the issue.
Pope Francis’ final public act was his Easter Sunday blessing, where he once more appealed for the protection of the vulnerable, migrants, and the marginalized — ending his papacy with the same compassion that had defined it from the start.
Ordinary mourners and dignitaries alike crowded St. Peter’s Square to bid farewell to a pope who left an enduring mark on the Church and the world, with some racing to secure places when barricades opened early Saturday morning.
Other world dignitaries who will be attending the funeral service of Pope Francis are:
THE AMERICAS
Argentina: President Javier Milei
Brazil: President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his wife Janja
Canada: Governor General Mary Simon and her husband Whit Fraser
Honduras: President Xiomara Castro
United Nations: Secretary-General António Guterres
United States: President Donald Trump and his wife Melania, as well as former President Joe Biden and his wife Jill
EUROPE
Albania: President Bayram Begay
Austria: Chancellor Christian Stocker
Belgium: King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, with Prime Minister Bart De Wever
Bulgaria: Prime Minister Rosen Jelijazkov
Croatia: President Zoran Milanovic and Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic
Czech Republic: Prime Minister Petr Fiala
Denmark: Queen Marie
Estonia: President Aller Karis
European Union: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen der Leyen, and European Council President António Costa
Finland: President Alexander Stobbe
France: President Emmanuel Macron
Germany: President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz (new Chancellor Friedrich Merz will not attend)
Greece: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis
Hungary: President Tomasz Sulik and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán
Iceland: President Halla Tómasdóttir and Foreign Minister Thorgard Kathrin Gunnarsdóttir
Ireland: President Michael Higgins and his wife Sabina, and Prime Minister Mikael Martin
Kosovo: President Vjosa Osmani
Latvia: President Edgars Rinkevics
Lithuania: President Gitanas Nauseda
Moldova: President Maia Sandu
Monaco: Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene
Montenegro: President Jakov Milatović
Netherlands: Prime Minister Dick Schoof and Foreign Minister Kasper Feldkamp
North Macedonia: President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova
Norway: Crown Prince Haakon, Princess Mette-Marit, and Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide
Poland: President Andrzej Duda and his wife Agata Kornhauser-Duda
Portugal: President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Luis Montenegro
Romania: Interim President Ilie Bologan
Russia: Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova
Serbia: Prime Minister Djuro Machot
Slovakia: President Peter Pellegrini
Slovenia: President Natasa Birke-Muchar and Prime Minister Robert Golub
Spain: King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia
Sweden: King Carl XVI Gustaf and his wife Queen Silvia, as well as Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson
Ukraine: President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena Zelenska
United Kingdom: Prince William, representing King Charles III, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer
MIDDLE EAST
Kuwait: Ambassador to Italy Nasser Al-Qahtani
Saudi Arabia: Adel Al-Jubeir, Saudi Minister of State
The United Arab Emirates: Khalid bin Mohammed bin Zayed
Palestine: Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa
Iran: Minister of Culture Abbas Salehi, representing President Massoud Rajavi Pezeshkian
Angola: President João Lourenço
Cape Verde: President José Maria Neves
Central African Republic: President Faustin-Archange Touadera
Democratic Republic of the Congo: President Félix Tshisekedi
Gabon: President Brik Clotaire Oligui Nguema
Southern Africa: Cardinal Stephen Breslin, President of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference
ASIA
India: President Draupadi Murmu
Philippines: President Ferdinand Marcos and First Lady Lisa Marcos
