Overview

• The exequial Mass for Pope Francis is being held at 10:00 a.m. local time in St. Peter’s Square, led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
• Over 130 international delegations, including 50 heads of state and ten monarchs, are attending the funeral, alongside an estimated 200,000 mourners.
• Francis’s burial in Santa María la Mayor, as per his will, breaks with over a century of tradition of papal interments in Vatican grounds.
• The late pope’s choice of a single wooden coffin lined with zinc reflects his commitment to simplicity and humility during his lifetime.
• The conclave to elect the next pope, featuring 133 cardinal electors from 71 nations, is set to convene no earlier than May 5.