Overview

• Pope Francis, who passed away on Easter Monday at 88, was interred in Santa Maria Maggiore, fulfilling his wish to rest outside the Vatican grottos.
• An estimated 250,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square and surrounding streets to honor the late pontiff during the Requiem Mass led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
• The funeral included a six-kilometer procession through Rome, the first of its kind since 1924, with the Pope’s coffin transported in an open Papamobile past iconic landmarks like the Colosseum.
• Over 160 international delegations, including heads of state such as Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron, and Volodymyr Zelenskyj, attended the ceremonies, highlighting its global significance.
• With the burial complete, the Catholic Church now enters the nine-day Novendiale mourning period as preparations accelerate for the conclave to elect the next pope in early May.