Millions around the world tuned in to watch as Pope Francis was laid to rest on Saturday, with 400,000 mourners alone paying their final respects outside St Peter’s Basilica.
The late pontiff’s coffin was transported outside Vatican City into Rome, where it was buried at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, with the inscription of his papal name in Latin: Franciscus.
Francis’s funeral marks the first day of the ‘Novemdiales’, or nine days of mourning, before the Cardinals can begin the papal conclave, a centuries old ritual to select the next pope.
Pope Francis, 88, died following a stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure, the Vatican announced.
The pope was hospitalised for several weeks in February, after suffering from double pneumonia. He returned to the Vatican in mid-March to recover.
As the first pope from Latin America, Pope Francis had led the 1.4 billion-member church since 2013.
Here is the timeline of events from the pope’s death and what will happen going forward.
20 April 2025 – the pope’s final public appearance
The day before the pope died, he carried on working through Easter Sunday. Francis even made a public appearance, his first since he was discharged from Gemelli hospital after five weeks with double pneumonia, as he went out into St Peter’s Square in the popemobile.
He was originally hesitant to make the surprise appearance, asking his 24-hour personal health care assistant, Mr Strappetti: “Do you think I can manage it?”
But once he was in the Square, he embraced the crowd in a poignant moment of his last outing. He would say to Mr Strappetti: “Thank you for bringing me back to the Square.”
21 April 2025 – Pope Francis dies aged 88 on Easter Monday
The Vatican announced that Pope Francis had died early on Monday morning at 7.35am. The camerlengo, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, announced his passing two hours later to the rest of the world via the Vatican’s news outlet.
It was later revealed that the pope suddenly fell ill at 5.30am before slipping into a coma. His cause of death was due to a stroke and irreversible heart failure.
