Foreign dignitaries converge on Rome for funeral of Pope Francis

Heads of state and royalty started converging on Rome on Friday for the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square.

US President Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei are among the leaders arriving Friday, the last day the Argentine pope will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica before his coffin is sealed in the evening in preparation for his funeral Saturday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday he may miss the funeral due to important “military meetings.”

“If I am not (there) in time, Ukraine will be represented at a proper level. The foreign minister and the first lady will be there. As for me, it was important for me to be here. There are several military meetings in Ukraine today,” Zelensky said as he visited the site of a deadly Russian strike on Kyiv.

The Vatican said that 164 delegations are confirmed, including 54 heads of state and 12 reigning sovereigns.

Paying respects

Tens of thousands of mourners have waited hours in line to bid farewell to Francis, who died Monday after suffering a stroke at the age of 88.

A higher-than-expected turnout prompted the Vatican to extend the basilica’s opening hours overnight.

By noon on Friday, more than 150,000 people had filed past Francis’ open coffin placed in front of the basilica’s main altar to pay their respects — at times praying, at times holding smartphones aloft — despite instructions not to.

The late pontiff was laid out in red robes, a bishop’s pointed miter and a rosary entwined in his hands.

St. Peter’s Basilica remained open most of the second night, closing for just a few hours. Mourners began arriving before dawn, and sprinted into the piazza when security reopened the flows.

The three days of public viewing are scheduled to end at 7 p.m. on Friday, after which Francis’s simple wooden coffin will be sealed in a private moment.

Cardinal Kevin Farrell will preside over the closing and sealing of the coffin in his role of camerlengo, or interim Vatican administrator. A white cloth will be placed over the pope’s face, and a bag containing coins minted during his papacy will be put in the coffin along with a one-page written account of his papacy.

Cardinals ‘are in discussions’

The work of the conclave to choose a new pope won’t start until at least May 5, after nine days of public mourning.

Cardinals have also been arriving in Rome, with 149 meeting on Friday morning to discuss church business. They won’t meet again until next week, meaning a conclave date is unlikely to be set until after the funeral.

Cardinal François-Xavier Bustillo, who hosted Francis during his last papal trip, to Corsica last year, remembered Francis as “a free man” who “humanized the church without desacralizing it.”

He described the atmosphere inside the meetings as “good,” but said that they weren’t yet “at the point of decisions; we are in discussions.”

Papal burial

In keeping with Francis’s embrace of the marginalized, the Vatican said a group of poor and needy people will meet the pope’s coffin to pay homage to him when it arrives at St. Mary Major Basilica for burial on Saturday. It has already become a point of pilgrimage.

The tomb is being prepared behind a wooden barrier within the basilica that he chose to be near an icon of the Madonna that he revered and often prayed before. The burial will take place in private, the Vatican said.

Photos released by the Vatican on Friday show the marble tombstone flat against the pavement, with the simple engraving in Latin that he requested in his last testament: “Franciscus.”

Cardinals will visit the St. Mary Major Basilica on Sunday. Entering through the Holy Door, they will visit the Salus Populi Romani icon, which was dear to Francis, and celebrate evening prayers, the Vatican said.

Security measures

Italy is deploying more than 2,500 police officers and 1,500 soldiers to provide security during the funeral, which is expected to gather about 200,000 mourners in St. Peter’s Square and up to 300,000 people along the 4-kilometer (2½-mile) route from the Vatican to the pope’s burial place across Rome.

The major security operation includes stationing an armed naval vessel off the coast, and putting squads of fighter jets on standby, Italian media reported.

Royals and leaders

Trump, who is traveling with first lady Melania Trump, is scheduled to arrive Friday, after Francis’ coffin has been sealed.

Among the other foreign dignitaries confirmed for the papal funeral are:

Americas

ARGENTINA: President Javier Milei

BRAZIL: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife, Janja

CANADA: Governor General Mary Simon and her husband, Whit Fraser

HONDURAS: President Xiomara Castro

UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

UNITED STATES: President Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, as well as former president Joe Biden and his wife, Jill

Europe

ALBANIA: President Bajram Begaj

AUSTRIA: Chancellor Christian Stocker

BELGIUM: King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, with Prime Minister Bart De Wever

BULGARIA: Prime Minister Rossen Jeliazkov

CROATIA: President Zoran Milanovic, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic

CZECH REPUBLIC: Prime Minister Petr Fiala

DENMARK: Queen Mary

ESTONIA: President Alar Karis

EUROPEAN UNION: European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa

FINLAND: President Alexander Stubb

FRANCE: President Emmanuel Macron

GERMANY: President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz will not attend

GREECE: Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis

HUNGARY: President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban

ICELAND: President Halla Tomasdottir and Foreign Minister Thorgardur Kathrin Gonnarsdottir

IRELAND: President Michael Higgins and his wife, Sabina, plus Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheal Martin

KOSOVO: President Vjosa Osmani

LATVIA: President Edgars Rinkevics

LITHUANIA: President Gitanas Nauseda

MOLDOVA: President Maia Sandu

MONACO: Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene

MONTENEGRO: President Jakov Milatovic

THE NETHERLANDS: Prime Minister Dick Schoof and Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp

NORTH MACEDONIA: President Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova

NORWAY: Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide

POLAND: President Andrzej Duda and his wife, Agata Kornhauser-Duda

PORTUGAL: President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Luis Montenegro

ROMANIA: Interim president Ilie Bolojan

RUSSIA: Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova

SERBIA: Prime Minister Djuro Macut

SLOVAKIA: President Peter Pellegrini

SLOVENIA: President Natasa Pirc Musar and Prime Minister Robert Golob

SPAIN: King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia

SWEDEN: King Carl XVI Gustaf and his wife, Queen Silvia, as well as Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson

UKRAINE: President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife, Olena Zelenska

UNITED KINGDOM: Prince William, representing head of state King Charles III, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer

Middle East

IRAN: Culture Minister Abbas Salehi, representing President Masoud Pezeshkian (according to state news agency IRNA)

ISRAEL: Yaron Sideman, Ambassador to the Holy See. He is the highest-ranking government representative to attend amid a rift between Israel and the Vatican in the shadow of the war in Gaza.

Africa

ANGOLA: President Joao Lourenco

CAPE VERDE: President Jose Maria Neves

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: President Faustin-Archange Touadera

DR CONGO: President Felix Tshisekedi

GABON: President Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Cardinal Stephen Brislin, president of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference

Asia

INDIA: President Droupadi Murmu

PHILIPPINES: President Ferdinand Marcos and First Lady Liza Marcos