How the late Pope Francis’s funeral will unfold

Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday at the age of 88, will be laid to rest on Saturday morning in Rome.

His funeral will be attended by more than 150 delegations, including 54 heads of state and 12 reigning sovereigns, the Vatican confirmed, as well as thousands of faithful.

Here is what exactly happens leading up to and during the funeral:

At 7pm local time (6pm BST) public access to the queue to visit Francis’s coffin officially closed after it was visited by 250,000 people.

The coffin, originally in Francis’s residence in the chapel of the Santa Marta, had been moved to St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday morning for three days in public view.

The coffin did not pass through the Apostolic Palace for another exposition, as was done previously for John Paul II, and was not displayed on an elevated bier – the so-called “Canaletto” or “death bed” – as happened with both John Paul II and Benedict XVI.

At 8pm local time, Pope Francis’s coffin will be closed in the Rite of Sealing of the Coffin at St Peter’s Basilica.

The liturgical rite, presided over by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, will mark the end of public viewing of the coffin.

The cardinals present at the sealing of the coffin will be Giovanni Battista Re, Pietro Parolin, Roger Mahony, Dominique Mamberti, Mauro Gambetti, Baldassare Reina and Konrad Krajewski.

The sealed coffin will then remain in St Peter’s Basilica until Saturday morning.

Archbishops and bishops will begin to assemble in the Constantine Wing, a corridor adjacent to St Peter’s Basilica. They will wear chasuble (the outer garment worn by clergy during services), alb, belts and a simple white mitre.

Priests and deacons will also assemble at 8.30am in the area set aside for them in St Peter’s Square. They will wear a chasuble, alb, belt and a red stole.

At 9am, the patriarchs and cardinals will meet in Saint Sebastian’s Chapel in the Basilica. They will wear the white Damascene mitre.

They will all then walk in the funeral procession alongside Francis’s coffin, where the late Pope will be dressed in a red chasuble, damask and golden papal mitre.

At 10am local time (9am BST) the funeral will begin and the coffin will be laid in the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica.

The service will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Deacon of the College of Cardinals.

The Prince of Wales, who is attending the service on behalf of the King, is listed beside the Prince of Norway in the “order of precedence” for international attendees.

William and Haakon are listed in their own category as crown princes, and are followed in the order of precedence by representatives from the Andorran government.

The British Government delegation includes Sir Keir Starmer, who will be accompanied by his wife Victoria, as well as Foreign Secretary David Lammy, UK ambassador to the Vatican Chris Trott, and Ailsa Terry, the Prime Minister’s private secretary for foreign affairs.

The UK Government delegation is listed between groups from Qatar and Serbia led by those countries’ heads of government.

Ireland’s delegation comes ahead of both William and the British Government delegation as it is led by head of state President Michael D Higgins.

It falls between groups from Indonesia and Iceland, also led by those countries’ heads of state.

Francis’s birth country Argentina will take precedence in the seating, followed by Italy.

The reigning sovereigns will then be seated in alphabetical order in the French language, followed by heads of state.

The French language is used as traditionally French was considered the language of diplomacy.

Other figures expected to be in attendance include US President Donald Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron, as well as former US president Joe Biden.

The funeral will follow the Funeral Rites of the Roman Pontiff and the guidelines set out in Universi Dominici Gregis, a document issued by Pope John Paul II in 1996.

The ceremony will begin with the entrance antiphon, a selection of psalm verses or scripture passages that are traditionally sung or recited.

This will be followed by the Penitential Act which allows the faithful to confess their sins to God.

The opening prayer comes after the Penitential Act.

The first reading will be given in English by Kielce Gussie, a journalist from Vatican News.

The second reading will be delivered in Spanish by Edgar Pineda.

This will be followed by the Universal prayers.

Before the end of the mass, Cardinal Re will sprinkle the coffin with holy water and incense.

At the end of the service, valedictory rite and final commendation, where the Pope is formally entrusted to God, will take place.

Francis’s coffin will then be carried to the left of the altar at St Peter’s.

At the end of the funeral – approximately 11.45am local time – the procession will begin.

Francis’s coffin will be taken from St Peter’s Square to Santa Maria Maggiore where he will be buried. This is expected to take around 30 minutes, depending on crowds.

The route crosses the river Tiber and passes Piazza Venezia followed by the Colosseum.

Francis left instructions asking to be buried in a simple underground tomb in Rome’s papal basilica of Saint Mary Major.

The burial will be held in private.

This makes Francis the first pontiff in more than a century not to be buried at St Peter’s Basilica. The last pope who asked to be buried outside of the Vatican was Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903.

A “group of poor and needy people” will be present on the steps leading to Saint Mary Major to pay their last respects to Francis before he is entombed, the Holy See said on Thursday.

The Vatican announced that people will be able to visit Francis’s tomb from Sunday morning.

The funeral marks the beginning of the Novemdiales, an ancient tradition of nine days of mourning and masses for the repose of the late Pope’s soul.

The Novemdiales masses will be held each day at 5pm local time in St Peter’s Basilica, apart from the mass on Divine Mercy on Sunday April 27, which will take place at 10.30am in St Peter’s Square.

The secret meeting of cardinals, known as the conclave, to pick Francis’s successor is expected to begin between 15 and 20 days after the Pope’s death.