Pope Francis’s coffin will be transferred to St Peter’s Basilica Wednesday for three days of lying in state, with scores of Catholics and well-wishers expected to pay their respects to the beloved spiritual leader before he is laid to rest.
The body of the Argentine pope, who died on Monday aged 88 after a stroke, will remain there until his funeral on Saturday in the majestic Baroque plaza in front of the basilica.
Francis died in the Casa Santa Marta, the modest residence where he lived during his 12-year papacy, and his body was moved to its chapel on Monday evening.
On Wednesday, it will be taken to the ornate St Peter’s at 9:00 am (0700 GMT) in a procession accompanied by a liturgy, psalms and prayers.
His simple wood coffin will enter through the central door of the basilica before being placed before the Altar of the Confession, where Bernini’s bronze baldacchino soars up towards Michelangelo’s famous dome.
The public will be allowed in from 11:00 am until midnight. Thursday hours are 7:00 am to midnight, with Friday from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm.
Saturday’s funeral is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, as well as world leaders including US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky, as well as Britain’s Prince William.
Afterwards, Francis’s coffin will be transported to his favourite church, Rome’s papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where his coffin will be interred in the ground and marked by a simple inscription: Franciscus.
He will become the first pope in more than 100 years to be laid to rest outside the Vatican.
Source: AFP
