‘He returned to his father’s house’: how was the announcement of Pope Francis’ death

The death certificate states that Francis went into a coma before his death. Yesterday, on Easter Sunday, the Pontiff made an appearance to bless thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican.

How will it be funeral

As is tradition, the Pope’s funeral begins in St. Peter’s Basilica. Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s body, the first Latin American pontiff in history, will be exposed for visitation and prayer of the faithful. The funeral ends with the present body mass in St. Peter’s Square.

In April 2024, the Pope caught the attention of the faithful by announcing that he was already “all ready” to his grave. The Pontiff ordered a simplification of the funeral rituals of the popes, with the bodies being no longer exposed outside the coffins.

At the time, he also revealed that after his death the body would be exposed in the coffin. The bodies of the previous popes were placed in a catafalk, a kind of platform, during their funeral rites. He also asked to be buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, fleeing the tradition of a funeral in St. Peter, where is the body of 91 pontiffs.