Pope Francis' funeral to be held Apr 26
The funeral of Pope Francis will be held on Saturday 26 April at 10 am, the first day of the novendiali and, as provided for in the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis, on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica, Agenzia Nova reported.
The funeral will be celebrated by the cardinal John the Baptist King.
The Pontiff, 88 years old, died yesterday, Monday 21 April due to a cerebral stroke.
Tomorrow, instead, at 9:00, the coffin with the body will be taken from the Chapel of the Domus Sancta Martha to the Papal Basilica of St. Peter. After the moment of prayer, presided over by His Eminence the Most Reverend Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, the translation begins. The procession will pass through Piazza Santa Marta and Piazza dei Protomartiri Romani; from the Arch of the Bells it will exit into Piazza San Pietro and enter the Vatican Basilica through the central door. At the Altar of the Confession the Cardinal Camerlengo will preside over the Liturgy of the Word, at the end of which the visits to the body of the Roman Pontiff will begin.
The president of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, was this morning at Santa Marta, in the Vatican, to pay homage and say his last farewell to the Pontiff. The head of state, who was accompanied by his daughter Laura, recently returned to the Quirinale.
On Monday, Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev expressed his condolences over the passing of His Holiness Pope Francis. According to Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, the Pontiff was an extraordinary spiritual leader who spared no effort to promoting the noble ideals of humanism, justice and compassion.
