Pope Francis funeral: what you need to know

Pope Francis's funeral details, attendees, and successor selection process after his death on April 21, 2025.

Pope Francis’s funeral will be held on Saturday (April 26, 2025), as many world leaders will attend to honour the Catholic leader. The Argentine pontiff, 88, died on Monday (April 21, 2025) after a stroke, less than a month after returning home from five weeks in hospital battling double pneumonia.

Here’s what we know about the funeral of Pope Francis.

Pope Francis’ funeral, which is expected to draw huge crowds, will take place at 10:00 am local time (1.30 pm IST) on April 26. The funeral date was set by cardinals meeting in a so-called “general congregation”, the first of a series of meetings which will culminate in a conclave within three weeks, where a new pope will be elected.

Also read | Many firsts of Pope Francis

The funeral of Pope Francis will be held in the majestic Baroque plaza in front of St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, six days after his death.

Pope Francis has asked to be buried in St Mary Major, a Roman basilica he was particularly attached to, rather than St Peter’s like many of his predecessors, with a simple inscription of his name in Latin, Franciscus. In his will, Pope Francis called for his tomb to be “in the ground; simple, without particular decoration, and with the sole inscription: Franciscus,’’ or Latin for Francis.

Pope Francis is currently lying in state in the Santa Marta Domus in a private viewing for Vatican residents and the papal household. His body, lying in an open casket, will be taken from the chapel of the Vatican residence where he lived to St Peter’s, entering through the central door, in a grand procession on April 23, with cardinals and Latin chants. His body will lie in state for three days.