Royals, dignitaries and world leaders will join hundreds of thousands of mourners in the Vatican for the funeral of Pope Francis. Follow the latest below.
Saturday 26 April 2025 06:31, UK
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Despite the early hour, thousands are already descending on the Vatican for the funeral of Pope Francis.
We’re expecting the service to begin at 9am UK time.
A pope’s funeral traditionally brings world leaders together, and some have already revealed they are attending tomorrow’s service.
Prince William, Donald Trump, Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are attending, but it remains unclear whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be there.
Here’s a look at who else will be joining them, and who won’t be.
In his final testament, the Pope outlined his request to be buried „in the ground, without particular ornamentation“ but with the inscription „Franciscus“.
The pontiff said he wished to be buried in Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore – or Saint Mary Major – rather than at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, like almost all his predecessors.
This means he will be the first pope to be buried outside St Peter’s since Pope Leo XIII in 1903, and the first to be buried at Saint Mary Major since the 17th century, when Pope Clement IX was laid to rest there.
Saint Mary Major is about 4km (2.5 miles) from the Vatican.
The basilica was one of Francis’s favourite places to pray. After he was released from hospital in March, he took an unexpected detour there to drop off some flowers he had been gifted by a member of the faithful.
It was a precious place to Francis because of his devotion to Mary, Mother of God. He prayed there before setting off on and returning from each overseas trip.
While it’s a less orthodox place to be laid to rest, Saint Mary Major is still fit for a pontiff, with seven other popes choosing to be buried there.
Here’s the route Francis’s coffin will take from St Peter’s Basilica to the Santa Maria Maggiore:
Good morning and welcome to our coverage of Pope Francis’s funeral.
Around 200,000 people are expected to attend, with an estimated one million trying to see the procession in Rome.
The major event means a host of world leaders have been jetting in to the Italian capital over recent days. Sir Keir Starmer has met Giorgia Meloni, while Donald Trump touched down on Air Force One last night.
Despite earlier doubts being raised over whether Volodymyr Zelenskyy would attend after Ukrainian embassy sources told US reporters that he may not be there, it now appears he’s on the list of expected presidential delegations.
But with so many world leaders gathering at St Peter’s Basilica, their presence means there’s a major security operation in place.
Sources have told our team at the Vatican that there will be 4,000 police officers overseeing the security operation.
That figure doesn’t include army personnel, emergency services or around 4,000 volunteers.
We’ll be resuming our live updates shortly. Before we do, here’s everything you need to know about how the service will unfold.
Thanks for following our coverage on the eve of Pope Francis’s funeral.
We’re pausing our updates for now, but will be back with full coverage of tomorrow’s service.
Today was the last opportunity for thousands of mourners to file into St Peter’s Basilica to pay their respects to the pontiff.
It was the last day his body was lying in state in an open casket, with the Vatican saying at least 250,000 had visited since Wednesday.
Watch: Final mourners queue to see the Pope
World leaders have also been arriving in Rome ahead of the funeral.
Sir Keir Starmer met Giorgia Meloni, while Donald Trump touched town in the Italian capital.
Before he got on Air Force One, Trump told reporters that Pope Francis was a „good man“ and „he loved the world“.
Despite earlier doubts being raised over whether Volodymyr Zelenskyy would attend after Ukrainian embassy sources told US reporters that he may not be there, it now appears he’s on the list of expected presidential delegations.
We also saw France’s President Emmanuel Macron enter St Peter’s Basilica moments before it closed its doors to pay his respects to the pontiff ahead of tomorrow’s service.
After those doors closed, a private ceremony was held to seal the Pope’s coffin, with a white cloth draped over his face and the coffin lid being fixed.
Watch: Pope’s coffin sealed ahead of funeral
It means the stage is set for tomorrow’s funeral, with around 200,000 people expected to attend and a total of one million trying to watch the procession in Rome.
We’ll be back in the morning with more updates – you can also watch full coverage of the funeral across our digital platforms from 8am.
The Pope’s doctor has said he found him in a coma with his eyes open, but that he died quickly and didn’t suffer undue pain.
Dr Sergio Alfieri said there was nothing that could have saved Francis, describing it as „one of those strokes that, in an hour, carries you away“.
Dr Alfieri headed up the team that treated the Pope during his recent stay in hospital due to double pneumonia. He told Italy’s Corriere della Sera he was called at 5.30am on Monday and arrived at the Vatican 20 minutes later.
„I entered his rooms and he [Francis] had his eyes open,“ he said.
„I ascertained that there were no respiratory problems. And then I tried to call his name, but he did not respond to me.
„He didn’t respond to stimuli, not even painful ones. In that moment I knew there was nothing more to do. He was in a coma.“
Pope Francis’s decision to be buried outside the Vatican has heightened the security operation around his funeral, which is drawing in leaders from around the world.
In the port of Rome, a naval destroyer has been primed for action and there are also fighter jets ready to take off.
Our Europe correspondent Adam Parsons has been at the Vatican, and has this report on an „unprecedented“ security operation.
The Vatican has published the order of service ahead of Pope Francis’s funeral, giving us an insight into what we can expect tomorrow.
It shows the contents of the service in English, Italian and Latin and has other sections in languages including Portuguese and French.
You can scroll through the full 87-page document below.
Earlier, we brought you comments from Donald Trump before he boarded Air Force One to travel to Italy for the Pope’s funeral (see 4.57pm post).
He told reporters that Pope Francis was a „good man“ and „he loved the world“ as well as saying he was a „fantastic kind of a guy“.
The US president has now touched down in Rome in the last few minutes.
By Rob Harris, sports correspondent
For Pope Francis, there was faith – and football. And concerns about corruption tainting the joy and purity of sport.
But at the Argentine club supported by Jorge Bergoglio since childhood, this week of prayers has turned to protests.
Scandal engulfed the club hours after San Lorenzo president Marcelo Moretti issued tributes on Monday, recounting conversations with Francis about elevating the club.
A covertly-recorded video from 2024 was aired by Argentine TV, alleging to show Moretti receiving bundles of cash from a youth player’s mother before signing her son.
And so it became a night of contrasts on Wednesday.
Some fans gathered for a memorial mass to honour the club’s famous fan at a church in the Buenos Aires district where the club, known as the Saints, was founded in 1908.
„Francisco was truly great, the best player on the field, the best player in the world, who never believed in himself,“ Father Juan Pablo Sclippa told the congregation.
Be the first to get Breaking News
Install the Sky News app for free
Pope Francis latest: Security ramping up ahead of Pope's funeral – as Starmer meets with Italian PM – Sky News
