Buried Pope Francis today, at least 200,000 people and many world leaders expected

The funeral of Pope Franciscus takes place today. Jorge Mario Bergoglio died on Easter Monday at the age of 88. At his request, he gets a highly spent funeral mass that starts at 10 am.

The funeral takes place on Sint-Pietersplein in Vatican City. The expectation is that at least 200,000 people will be present. Among them are around 170 world leaders, such as US President Donald Trump, chairman of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and the Argentinian President Javier Milei from the native of the deceased Pope. Prime Minister Dick Schoof and Minister of Foreign Affairs Caspar Veldkamp (NSC) are present on behalf of the Netherlands.

In recent days, the pope’s body has been laid out in the St. Peter’s Basilica. Tens of thousands of people said goodbye to him there.

After the funeral today, the coffin will be transferred to the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. On the stairs to the basilica, the Vatican says he reserve space for a group of arms and needy, so that they can bring the pope a final tribute. Francis is the first pope in a century that is not buried in Vatican City. He chose this basilica because as a pope he liked to pray and thought Maria’s worship was important.

In November 2024, Franciscus made the rituals for a funeral. He is not, like earlier popes, buried in a three -part coffin, but in one box. He also did not want decorations on his grave, which therefore only gets the inscription ‘Francis’. The grave can be visited by the public from Sunday morning.