Cardinals are set to convene a meeting on Tuesday in the Vatican to plan Pope Francis’ funeral with world leaders, including Donald Trump, due to attend the ceremony.
Pope Francis, 88, died following a stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure, the Vatican has said.
In his final testament, the pontiff expressed his wish to be buried at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, and not at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican like many previous pontiffs.
The will specified that Francis wanted to be buried "in the ground, without particular decoration" but with the inscription of his papal name in Latin: Franciscus.
The pope was hospitalised for several weeks in February, after suffering from a bout of double pneumonia. He returned to the Vatican in mid-March to recover.
Pope Francis, originally from Argentina and the first pope from Latin America, led the 1.4 billion-member church since 2013.
Pontiff’s final wishes and place of burial
Pope Francis has decreed in his will that he be buried in a simple underground tomb in St Mary Major Basilica.
The will specified the late pontiff wanted to be buried "in the ground, without particular decoration" but with the inscription of his papal name in Latin: Franciscus.
In his final testament, the pope expressed his wish to be buried in Rome, and not at St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican like many previous pontiffs.
Read the full article here:
Pope Francis’s will in full: Pontiff’s final wishes and place of burial
Alongside the will, the Vatican announced the pope died following a stroke that led to irreversible heart failure
Holly Evans22 April 2025 07:46
Anonymous benefactor to pay for Pope Francis funeral
An anonymous benefactor will pay for the cost of Pope Francis’s funeral, the Vatican has said.
“The expenses for the preparation of my burial will be covered by the sum of the benefactor that I have arranged,” Francis’s will said.
Cardinals will meet on Tuesday morning for the first time since the Pope died to confirm the details of his funeral.
Those currently in Rome have been invited to meet at 8am BST (9am local time) to commence planning, according to the BBC.
Holly Evans22 April 2025 07:35
India declares 3 days of mourning
The Indian flag flew at half-staff on Tuesday at all government buildings as the country observed three days of mourning as a mark of the respect for Pope Francis.
The Indian flag will be flown half-staff on government buildings across the country for the next two days, as well as on the day of the pontiff's funeral, the Home Ministry said in a statement.
Holly Evans22 April 2025 07:29
Live: Cardinals gather to discuss Pope Francis funeral plans
Shweta Sharma22 April 2025 07:16
Australian election campaign paused after pope's death
Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton paused their election campaigns this morning in the wake of Pope Francis's death.
Mr Albanese held a press conference to confirm he is cancelling a number of events and said “the first Pope from the southern hemisphere was close to the people of Australia”.
He announced that Commonwealth flags would fly at half-mast for the rest of the day.
It was after Mr Dutton said the time was not for "big politicking" and confirming the suspension of his own campaign.
Shweta Sharma22 April 2025 07:15
East Timor starts seven days of mourning for Pope Francis' death
Timor-Leste, a tiny southeast Asian nation also known as East Timor where some 97 per cent of the population is Catholic, has begun seven days of national mourning to mark the death of Pope Francis.
People gathered on Tuesday for prayers and flags were flying at half-mast across the tropical island nation.
Francis last year became the first pope to visit the country in more than 30 years during his Asia tour, following in the footsteps of John Paul II, whose own visit gave Timor-Leste's movement for independence from Indonesia a historic boost and rare prominence on the global stage.
"It is the duty of the state, on behalf of the Timorese people, to demonstrate a deep sense of gratitude and recognition, paying a deserved tribute to this great leader of the Catholic Church," a statement from the country's Council of Ministers said in announcing the mourning period on Tuesday.
More than 97 per cent of Timor-Leste is Catholic, making it one of the largest majorities in the world outside the Vatican, and, along with the Philippines, it is one of only two predominantly Christian countries in Asia.
More than 600,000 people – or nearly half its 1.3 million population – turned out to see Francis last year during his 12-day visit to Asia and Oceania.
Shweta Sharma22 April 2025 06:57
Pope Francis’s moral leadership on climate crisis
Pope Francis emerged as one of the most influential moral voices on the climate crisis in the 21st century.
His 12 years of papacy marked a turning point in how the Catholic Church – and by extension, billions around the world – engage with issues of environmental justice, sustainability, and the moral dimensions of climate change.
He passed on the simple message of the social consequences of human influence on the planet as world leaders deliberated the technical and economic aspects of the crisis.
He said humankind was turning the glorious creation of God into a “polluted wasteland full of debris, desolation and filth”, and said the cause of the climate crisis was the people’s “selfish and boundless thirst for power”.
Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’, subtitled “On Care for Our Common Home,” is widely regarded as his most significant contribution to global climate discourse.
In it, he reframed the environmental crisis as not just a scientific or political issue, but a deeply moral and spiritual challenge. He calls on humanity to hear “both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor,” linking ecological degradation to global inequality.
He declared a global climate emergency in 2019 and held a conference on “the economics of the common good” in his final months.
Laurence Tubiana, chief of the European Climate Foundation who is also one of the architects of the 2015 Paris agreement, called the pope an “important voice” in a social media post.“By clearly setting out the causes of the crisis we are experiencing, [he] reminded us who the fight against the climate crisis is aimed at: humanity as a whole.”
Barbados prime minister Mia Mottley described Pope Francis as a “beacon of global moral and strategic leadership,” crediting him with offering guidance and inspiration during the “dark and desolate days” of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“His voice comforted and inspired many. His hands led him to places where others dared not go, and his heart knew no boundaries. His humour and his laughter were not only infectious but calming. Let us, each and every day, see, hear, and feel people – to fight the globalisation of indifference.”
Shweta Sharma22 April 2025 06:36
Landmarks around the world marked the death of Pope
Iconic buildings around the world remembered Pope Francis following his death on Monday.
The Eiffel Tower in Paris went dark in remembrance, and the Vatican's St Peter's Square became a gathering place for mourners.
The Empire State Building in New York was illuminated in memory of Pope Francis on Monday night.
The Sydney Harbour Bridge in Australia flew its flags at half-mast, as did several state buildings around the world, including the White House in the US and the presidential office in Taiwan.
And in his hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina, Pope Francis' portrait was projected on the Obelisk.
Shweta Sharma22 April 2025 05:58
Who could be the next Pope?
The death of Pope Francis on Monday sets in motion a centuries-old ritual involving sacred oaths, performed by the cardinals who will elect his successor.
The process of electing a new Pope is shrouded in secrecy, with cardinals forbidden from communicating with the outside world what happens in the conclave, which takes place within the frescoed walls of the Sistine Chapel.
The pontiff’s age, along with his health concerns in recent years – including his recent complex lung infection – led to questions being asked well before his death about who would succeed him.
Here we break down what we know about the favourites – and those with an outside chance.
Who could be the next Pope? Cardinals who might succeed head of the Catholic Church
The late pontiff’s health concerns in recent years led to contenders to succeed him known a papabile emerging even before his death
Shweta Sharma22 April 2025 05:26
Read pope's spiritual testament in his own words
Pope Francis wrote his spiritual testament in 2022 which was unsealed following his death.
In the document dated 29 June 2022 the pope expressed his wish to be buried at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
In the name of the Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
As I sense the approaching twilight of my earthly life, and with firm hope in eternal life, I wish to set out my final wishes solely regarding the place of my burial.
Throughout my life, and during my ministry as a priest and bishop, I have always entrusted myself to the Mother of Our Lord, the Blessed Virgin Mary. For this reason, I ask that my mortal remains rest - awaiting the day of the Resurrection - in the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
I wish my final earthly journey to end precisely in this ancient Marian sanctuary, where I would always stop to pray at the beginning and end of every Apostolic Journey, confidently entrusting my intentions to the Immaculate Mother, and giving thanks for her gentle and maternal care.
I ask that my tomb be prepared in the burial niche in the side aisle between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of the Salus Populi Romani) and the Sforza Chapel of the Basilica, as shown in the attached plan.
The tomb should be in the ground; simple, without particular ornamentation, bearing only the inscription: Franciscus.
The cost of preparing the burial will be covered by a sum provided by a benefactor, which I have arranged to be transferred to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major. I have given the necessary instructions regarding this to Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, Extraordinary Commissioner of the Liberian Basilica.
May the Lord grant a fitting reward to all those who have loved me and who continue to pray for me. The suffering that has marked the final part of my life, I offer to the Lord, for peace in the world and for fraternity among peoples.
Shweta Sharma22 April 2025 04:44
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