Pope Francis’ funeral to take place on Saturday, says the Vatican

Pope Francis’ funeral will be held on Saturday at 10:00 local time (08:00 GMT) in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, says the Vatican.

The date was resolved after the Cardinals met at the Vatican City on Tuesday morning to discuss the funeral time.

Before the funeral, Pope Francis’ body will lie in an open ark in the basilica of St. Peter from Wednesday morning, where sorrows will be able to give their respect to the late Ponif.

The stands were poured from all over the world after Pope Francis died on Easter on Monday at the age of 88.

Currently, Pope Francis’ body is located in the chapel of the residence of Santa Martha, where he lived during his 12-year papacy.

His body will be transferred from Santa Martha to St. Peter’s Basilica in a procession starting at 09:00 local time on Wednesday, the Vatican reported.

Before the transfer, a moment of prayer will be led by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who acts as Chamberlain – The person who rules the Vatican after the death or resignation of Pope.

Cardinal Farrell will then lead the procession to St. Peter, starting from St. Martha’s Square and ending at St. Peter’s square before entering the church through the central doors.

After entering the church, Cardinal Farrell will lead the liturgy of the word before the church is open to visitors to give their respect.

The tradition of bumping will not have a private examination for the cardinals, at the request of Pope Francis. The Pope’s ark will also not be raised on a pedestal.

The Holy See said that the Pope’s funeral would be held on the square in front of the St. Peter Basilica on Saturday, starting at 10:00 local time.

The service will be led by the Dean of the Cardinals College, Cardinal Giovanni Batista Re.

The patriarchs, cardinals, archbishops, bishops and priests from all over the world will participate.

At 08:30 Archbishops and bishops will gather in the wing of Constantine, adjacent to the basilica, wearing liturgical clothing, including ordinary white mithra.

At the same time, the priests will gather at St. Peter’s Square, carrying a red stolen stolen.

And by 9:00, the patriarchs and cardinals will gather in the chapel of St. Sebastian, in the basilica carrying white fabric mixers.

The service will end with the final praise and Waledia, marking the beginning of nine days of mourning for the Pope, the Catholic news agency said.

Pontif’s body will then be taken inside the church before being transported to St. Mary’s major in Rome for funeral.

Pope Francis, who chose to scale part of the funeral pomposity and ceremony of his predecessors, asked him to be buried in St. Mary Major, not in the crypt of St. Peter’s Basilica – which made him the first pope to be buried in St. Peter for more than a century.

He also demanded that he be buried in a wooden ark, unlike his predecessors, who are buried in the traditional three embedded caskets.

The funeral is expected to attract huge crowds from all over the world.

State heads and royalty will travel to Italy for the event. Among those who have already announced their attendance are US President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The funeral message came shortly after the official images of the Pope’s body were released by the Vatican, showing that he was lying in a wooden casket, dressed in a red robe with the papal mitra of his head and a rosary in his hand.

After the funeral, the Conclave of the Cardinals will be convened to choose a heir. The dean of the Cardinals College has 15 to 20 days to summon the Cardinals in Rome after the Pope is buried.

Pope Francis died of a stroke on Monday less than 24 hours after appearing in a wheelchair at St. Peter Square to lead an Easter address in front of thousands of worshipers.

His death followed a period of poor health, who saw him spend five weeks in a hospital with double pneumonia.

Born in Argentina, he was selected as the first Latin American Pope in 2013.