Pope Francis’ body transferred to St. Peter’s Basilica for 3 days of public viewing

Pope Francis' funeral and transition to a new pontiff in the Catholic Church after his death.

The bells of St. Peter’s tolled Wednesday (April 23, 2025) as the body of Pope Francis was transferred from the Vatican hotel where he lived into the basilica, escorted by a procession of solemn cardinals and Swiss Guards through the same piazza where the pontiff had greeted the faithful from his popemobile just days before in what became his final good-bye.

Pallbearers carried the simple wooden coffin on their shoulders through the Vatican's archway gates, out into St. Peter's Square and into the basilica, the cardinals in their scarlet cassocks, bishops in their purple robes and the Swiss Guards in their golden and blue uniforms processing slowly behind.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell, who is running the Vatican temporarily until a new pope is elected, led the procession, with clouds of incense preceding him as the church choir began chanting the Litany of Saints hymn. In pairs, the cardinals approached the casket, bowed and made a sign of the cross, followed by small groups of bishops, ushers, priests and nuns.

Heads of state are expected for Francis' funeral on April 26, but the three days of public viewing in the basilica will allow ordinary Catholics to grieve the 88-year-old pope, who died on Monday after suffering a stroke. The basilica was being kept open until midnight to accommodate the crowds, a mourning period that will end on Friday at 7 p.m., when Francis' casket is closed and sealed.

Mourners in the piazza watched as Francis’ casket passed them by, along the same path the pope had travelled just days before, on Easter Sunday, in what became his final popemobile tour through the faithful. It was a surprise salute, which Francis decided at the last minute after being assured by his nurse he could do it despite his continued frail health from pneumonia.

Francis' death and funeral inaugurates a carefully orchestrated period of transition in the 1.4-billion strong Catholic Church, with cardinals gathering over the coming week before entering into a conclave, the secretive ritual voting in the Sistine Chapel to elect a new pope. There are 135 cardinals under age 80 and eligible to vote in the conclave, and the new pontiff will likely come from within their ranks. The conclave is not expected to begin before May 5.

Francis first lay in state in the Domus Santa Marta hotel in a private viewing for Vatican residents and the papal household. Images released by the Vatican on Tuesday showed Francis lying in an open casket, wearing the traditional pointed headdress of bishops and red robes, his hands folded over a rosary. The Vatican’s No. 2, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, was pictured praying by Francis.