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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 22, 2025 / 11:12 am (CNA).
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Pope Francis speaks the Easter blessing “urbi et orbi” from the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, April 20, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Vatican City, Apr 22, 2025 / 10:12 am (CNA).
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Pope Francis is seen at his general audience at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 16, 2014. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Vatican City, Apr 22, 2025 / 09:00 am (CNA).
Throughout his 12-year papacy, Pope Francis gave many addresses, talks, and stateme… […]
The earth, photographed by the crew of Apollo 8 in December 1968. / Credit: NASA (public domain)
CNA Staff, Apr 22, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).
Pope Francis, who died on April 21 in Rome at the age of 88, had a special love for creation and urged th… […]
The body of Pope Francis lies in state at the Vatican’s Domus Sanctae Marthae chapel, surrounded by Swiss Guards, cardinals, and Vatican officials paying their respects before his transfer to St. Peter’s Basilica for public veneration on April 22, 2025. The mortal remains of Pope Francis will be transferred to St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday, April 23. / Vatican Media
Rome Newsroom, Apr 22, 2025 / 04:53 am (CNA).
Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will take place Saturday, April 26, at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, the Vatican announced Tuesday.
The Mass will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals.
Following the funeral, the pope’s coffin will be taken to St. Peter’s Basilica and then to the Basilica of St. Mary Major for burial.
In accordance with his personal wishes, Francis will not be buried in the Vatican grottoes but instead at the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a church he visited more than 100 times during his papacy, before and after international trips, in devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated that he plans to attend the funeral with the first lady, Melania Trump. Other heads of state, religious leaders and thousands of faithful from around the world are expected to attend.
In the days leading up to the funeral, the late pope’s body will lie in state at St. Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful can pay their final respects. He will lie in state from Wednesday morning until the funeral Saturday morning, following the rite of translation on Wednesday, April 23, which will begin at 9 a.m. A procession will pass through Santa Marta Square and the Square of the Roman Protomartyrs before entering the basilica through the central door, according to the Holy See Press Office.
The papal funeral will follow the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, the Vatican’s official liturgical text for papal funerals, which was updated at Francis’ request in 2024. The late pope’s face, his body having been placed in a simple wooden coffin lined with zinc, is covered with a silk veil.
The funeral is the first in nine days of Masses offered for the repose of his soul, known as the “Novendiales.” Each day, a cardinal chosen by the late pope will preside over a Requiem Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.
The body of Pope Francis lies in state at the Vatican’s Domus Sanctae Marthae chapel, surrounded by Swiss Guards, cardinals, and Vatican officials paying their respects before his transfer to St. Peter’s Basilica for public veneration, Monday, April 21, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Apr 22, 2025 / 06:55 am (CNA).
The Vatican on Tuesday released the first photos of Pope Francis after his death, showing him dressed in red vestments and lying in a simple, wooden coffin inside the chapel of the Santa Marta guesthouse.
The photos, taken on the evening of April 21 during the first step of the papal funeral rites, show the pontiff, who died earlier in the day at the age of 88, holding a rosary and wearing the papal miter and pallium. The lit Easter candle is visible to Francis’ right, and he is flanked by Swiss Guards.
The photos also show scenes from the “rite of the ascertainment of death and deposition in the coffin,” the first stage in the papal funeral rites, which was presided over by the camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, on April 21.
The photos also show the sealing of the papal apartments in the Casa Santa Marta, where Pope Francis lived during his pontificate.
Farrell — along with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and his deputy Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra — also closed and sealed the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace, as called for by protocol.
On April 22, the Vatican’s liturgical office also published information about what will happen next in the funeral rites for Pope Francis.
Pope Francis’ casket will be moved to St. Peter’s Basilica in a solemn procession on the morning of Wednesday, April 23, and placed near the basilica’s main altar for the public to view the body, pray, and say goodbye.
Pope Francis’ funeral Mass, called the “Missa poenitentialis,” will be held in St. Peter’s Square at 10 a.m. local time on Saturday, April 26.
The funeral will mark the first day of the “novendiales,” nine consecutive days of mourning for the pope.
Also on Tuesday morning, the College of Cardinals met for the first of its “general congregations,” pre-conclave meetings of cardinals to discuss important Church business during the sede vacante (vacant see of Peter), issues facing the universal Church, and what qualities could be desirable in the next pope.
According to the Holy See Press Office around 60 cardinals were present for the first general congregation, which included prayer for Pope Francis and the reading of his final testament.
The college also chose three cardinals to assist Farrell, the camerlengo, over the next three days: Cardinals Pietro Parolin, Fabio Baggio, and Stanisław Ryłko. The second meeting will be held on the afternoon of April 23.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell on May 2, 2017. / Credit: Lucia Ballester/CNA
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Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra preside over the sealing of the papal apartment at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, Monday, April 21, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
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Religious sisters gather to pray the rosary for Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Monday, April 21, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Vatican City, Apr 21, 2025 / 16:38 pm (CNA).
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Pope Francis at the Jubilee of the Sick in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, April 6, 2025, wearing nasal cannulas for supplemental oxygen as he continues recovering from bilateral pneumonia. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/ EWTN News
CNA Newsroom, Apr 21, 2025 / 15:08 pm (CNA).
The Vatican has released the testament of Pope Francis. The 88-year-old pontiff died on Easter Monday morning, April 21, at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta, as confirmed by the Holy See Press Office. He led the Catholic Church for just over 12 years.
Here is the full text of Pope Francis’ testament:
Miserando atque Eligendo (“With having mercy and choosing him”)
In the name of the Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
As I sense the approaching twilight of my earthly life, and with firm hope in eternal life, I wish to set out my final wishes solely regarding the place of my burial.
Throughout my life, and during my ministry as a priest and bishop, I have always entrusted myself to the Mother of Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary. For this reason, I ask that my mortal remains rest — awaiting the day of the Resurrection — in the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
I wish my final earthly journey to end precisely in this ancient Marian sanctuary, where I would always stop to pray at the beginning and end of every Apostolic Journey, confidently entrusting my intentions to the Immaculate Mother, and giving thanks for her gentle and maternal care.
I ask that my tomb be prepared in the burial niche in the side aisle between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of the Salus Populi Romani) and the Sforza Chapel of the Basilica, as shown in the attached plan.
The tomb should be in the ground; simple, without particular ornamentation, bearing only the inscription: Franciscus.
The cost of preparing the burial will be covered by a sum provided by a benefactor, which I have arranged to be transferred to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major. I have given the necessary instructions regarding this to Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, Extraordinary Commissioner of the Liberian Basilica.
May the Lord grant a fitting reward to all those who have loved me and who continue to pray for me. The suffering that has marked the final part of my life, I offer to the Lord, for peace in the world and for fraternity among peoples.
Santa Marta, 29 June 2022
FRANCIS
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