Pope Francis’ funeral set for April 26, with public viewing starting April 23

Cardinals set funeral date for Pope Francis, allowing public to pay respects starting Wednesday at St. Peter's Basilica.

Cardinals have taken their first decisions following the death of Pope Francis, setting Saturday as the date for his funeral and allowing ordinary faithful to begin paying their final respects starting Wednesday (April 23, 2025), when his casket is brought into St. Peter's Basilica.

The cardinals met for the first time Tuesday in the Vatican's synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis' successor, as condolences poured in from around the world grieving history's first Latin American pope.

The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.

U.S. President Donald Trump has announced he and first lady Melania Trump plan to attend Saturday’s funeral Argentine President Javier Milei is also expected.

Francis died Monday at age 88 after suffering a stroke that put him in a coma and led his heart to fail. He had been recovering in his apartment after being hospitalized for five weeks with pneumonia. He made his last public appearance Sunday, delivering an Easter blessing and making what would be his final greeting to followers from his popemobile, looping around St. Peter's Square.

In retrospect, his Easter appearance from the same loggia where he was introduced to the world as the first pope from the Americas on March 13, 2013, was a perfect bookend to a 12-year papacy that sought to shake up the church and return it to its Gospel-mandated mission of caring for the poorest.

“He gave himself to the end,” said Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the head of the Italian bishops' conference and considered a possible contender to be next pope. "To go out to meet everyone, speak to everyone, teach us to speak to everyone, to bless everyone.”