Pope Francis funeral schedule: From St Peter's Square opening time to Argentine pontiff's burial - List of events here
The funeral ceremony of Argentine pontiff will be attended by notable dignitaries, including President Droupadi Murmu, US President Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei. Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju; Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, George Kurian; and Deputy Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly, Joshua De Souza will be the other delegates from India who will be paying their last respects to Pope Francis.
Other dignitaries who will be present at the funeral are: US First lady Melania Trump
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and first lady Olena Zelenska
French President Emmanuel Macron
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer
Prince William
Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia
Hungarian President Viktor Orbán
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Sil
According to the Vatican, 130 delegations are confirmed to converge for the funeral of Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21 (Easter Monday) after suffering a stroke at the age of 88, in the Vatican's St Peter's Square. This includes 50 Heads of State and 10 reigning Sovereigns.
Pope Francis' coffin was placed in Vatican's St Peter's Basilica ahead of his scheduled funeral on Saturday evening. The coffin of the head of the Catholic Church will be presented to the poor and needy who will par their respects after it arrives at St Mary Major basilica for burial on Saturday.
News agency AFP listed out the official programme of the ceremonies for the late pontiff, which is as follows- 5:30 AM (9:00 AM IST)- St Peter's Square opens.
10:00 AM (1:30 PM IST)- The funeral mass, which will commence at 1:30 pm, will be presided over by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re.
Given below are the proceedings of the day in chronological order: Reading of liturgical texts
A homily by Cardinal Re
A universal prayer in several languages
The consecration of the bread and wine
Participants exchanging a sign of peace or handshake
The Eucharist
A moment of silence
The sprinkling of holy water on the coffin
13:00 PM (4:30 PM IST) Pope Francis' coffin will be brought inside St Peter's Basilica at the end of the mass.
About 13:00 p.m. (1100 GMT) the coffin arrives at Santa Maria Maggiore, where it will be welcomed by a group of the 'poor and needy'.
First Published: 26 Apr 2025, 10:34 AM IST
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
11 minutes ago
- Indian Express
‘Damaging national dignity': Chinese university announces decision to expel student over relationship with foreign man
A Chinese university announced the expulsion of a female student for 'damaging national dignity' after she was accused of 'improper interactions' with a foreign man, generating heated discussions across Chinese social media about whether the university had gone too far. Over the last several days, the expulsion has drawn thousands of comments on platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, many of which question whether the school has the right to judge her personal life and elevate it to a matter of national importance. In an announcement posted last week, Dalian Polytechnic University in the country's northeast declared that the student would be 'expelled' in 60 days, saying she violated the university's rule against 'having improper interactions with foreigners that damage national dignity'. 'Your misbehaviours on December 16, 2024, caused a terrible negative impact,' the announcement said, without giving details on what constituted the 'misbehaviours'. The university released her name, but AP is not publishing it out of privacy concerns. The university's actions illustrate a number of issues percolating in modern Chinese society, including discussions around gender bias and a full-on push toward nationalism. Chinese internet users have connected the accused university student to videos posted by Danylo Teslenko, also known as Zeus, a professional Ukrainian gamer, showing him being intimate with an Asian-looking young woman in a hotel room. AP cannot independently verify if the woman in the video is the student. Some on social media called the school's decision to expel the student a sign of the 'Taliban style', by which a particular nation or group claims ownership over a woman's body. Others call it misogyny, asking if a Chinese man would be considered a 'national pride' if he had sex with a foreign woman. The Paper, a state-run newspaper in Shanghai, said it was not just 'inappropriate' to publish the student's full name but also 'may even violate the Personal Information Protection Law'. 'It is improper to graft private affairs onto the public domain for public disposal,' said The Paper. Teslenko, the gamer, confirmed on Sunday that he posted 'a few videos on Telegram with a girl I met in Shanghai' but later deleted them 'as soon as I understood the seriousness of the situation', according to his post on X, formerly known as Twitter. 'Our faces were visible, but there was no explicit content or anything disrespectful in those videos,' the post said, 'I have never said that Chinese girls are easy.' Media reports said Teslenko and the student met at the final of the Perfect World Shanghai Major, a gaming competition held in December 2024. An email sent to Dalian Polytechnic University was not immediately answered.
New Indian Express
29 minutes ago
- New Indian Express
Chinese university expels female student after relationship with a foreigner
BEIJING: A Chinese university announced the expulsion of a female student for 'damaging national dignity' after she was accused of 'improper interactions' with a foreign man, generating heated discussions across Chinese social media about whether the university had gone too far. Over the last several days, the expulsion has drawn thousands of comments on platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, many of which question whether the school has the right to judge her personal life and elevate it to a matter of national import. In an announcement posted last week, Dalian Polytechnic University in the country's northeast declared that the student would be 'expelled" in 60 days, saying she violated the university rule against 'having improper interactions with foreigners that damage national dignity." 'Your misbehaviors on December 16, 2024, caused a terrible negative impact,' the announcement said, without giving details on what constituted the 'misbehaviors." The university released her name, but AP is not publishing it out of privacy concerns. The incident taps into multiple issues in China The university's actions illustrate a number of issues percolating in modern Chinese society, including discussions around gender bias and a full-on push toward nationalism. Chinese internet users have connected the accused university student to videos posted by Danylo Teslenko, also known as Zeus, a professional Ukrainian gamer showing him being intimate with an Asian-looking young woman in a hotel room. AP cannot independently verify if the woman in the video is the student. Some on social media called the school's decision to expel the student a sign of the 'Taliban style,' by which a particular nation or group claims ownership over a woman's body. Others call it misogyny, asking if a Chinese man would be considered a 'national pride' if he had sex with a foreign woman. The Paper, a state-run newspaper in Shanghai, said it was not just 'inappropriate' to publish the student's full name but also "may even violate the Personal Information Protection Law.' 'It is improper to graft private affairs onto the public domain for public disposal,' said The Paper. Teslenko, the gamer, confirmed on Sunday that he posted 'a few videos on Telegram with a girl I met in Shanghai' but later deleted them 'as soon as I understood the seriousness of the situation,' according to his post on X, formerly known as Twitter. 'Our faces were visible, but there was no explicit content or anything disrespectful in those videos,' the post said, 'I have never said that Chinese girls are easy.' Media reports said Teslenko and the student met at the final of the Perfect World Shanghai Major, a gaming competition held in December 2024. An email sent to Dalian Polytechnic University was not immediately answered.
India Today
41 minutes ago
- India Today
Netanyahu apologises after Israeli tank shell hits Catholic Church, killing 3
A Holy Family Catholic Church sheltering hundreds of displaced civilians in Gaza was hit by Israeli tank fire on Thursday, killing three and injuring ten others, including a priest. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed "deep regret" over the statement came after a phone call with US President Donald Trump. He called the deaths a result of "a stray ammunition" that mistakenly hit the church compound. "Every innocent life lost is a tragedy," Netanyahu Israeli military also released a statement following a preliminary investigation. It said, "Initial findings suggest that fragments from a shell... hit the church mistakenly." The army said that it had made "every feasible effort to mitigate harm to civilians and religious structures." However, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem condemned the attack in blunt terms. It confirmed the church had been sheltering about 600 people at the time, including 54 individuals with special needs."The people in the Holy Family Compound are people who found in the Church a sanctuary — hoping that the horrors of war might at least spare their lives, after their homes, possessions and dignity had already been stripped away," the Patriarchate said in a Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, told Vatican News, "What we know for sure is that a tank — the IDF says by mistake, but we are not sure — hit the Church directly."PRIEST AMONG INJURED IN CHURCH STRIKEAccording to reports, the attack happened around 10:30 AM (local time). Among the injured was parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli, who was seen with a bandage around his leg. AFP images from Gaza City's Al-Ahli (Baptist) Hospital showed injured people being treated, with some receiving oxygen and blood transfusions. Two white body bags were seen lying on the Abu Daoud, a displaced resident, lost his 70-year-old mother in the blast. 'In the morning, a tank shell targeted us and hit the church, and a number of civilians were killed and wounded,' he Gaza civil defence spokesman, Mahmud Bassal, confirmed the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed President Trump had a tense call with Netanyahu after hearing about the church attack. "It was a mistake by the Israelis to hit that Catholic church, that's what the prime minister relayed to the president," she Vatican also responded, with Pope Leo XIV saying he was "deeply saddened" by the deaths. Pope Francis, before his passing, had maintained regular contact with the Gaza church community throughout the ongoing conflict.- EndsWith inputs from Reuters
