POPE Francis' coffin is being moved to St Peter’s Basilica for the faithful to mourn the death of the humble pontiff and pay tributes.
Tens of thousands of Catholics are set to visit the Vatican over the next three days to pay respects to Francis, who will now .
The morning in St Peter’s Square in Vatican City in, with the service scheduled to begin at 10am local time.
Cardinals and top clergy members are expected to attend the event, along with world leaders from across the globe.
Till then, three days of public viewing have been organised for ordinary Catholics to grieve the 88-year-old pope, .
Key events this morning:
- Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the camerlengo, will lead a prayer at Casa Santa Marta before Pope Francis's body is moved
- At 8am UK time, the coffin will be taken to St Peter's Basilica
- The procession will pass through the Piazza Santa Marta and Piazza dei Protomartiri Romani before entering the basilica
- Once inside the Catholic church, his casket will be placed on the main altar of the basilica
- Cardinal Farrell will preside over the Liturgy of the Word
- The public will be allowed to view the Pope from 11am local time
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The Vatican has announced that St. Peter's Basilica will be kept open until midnight on Wednesday and Thursday to allow the faithful to mourn.
The public mourning period will end on Friday at 7pm local time.
Once inside the Catholic church, his casket will be placed on the main altar of the basilica, unlike previous popes who were kept on an elevated bier.
Till now, Francis was kept in the Santa Marta Domus – his residence in the Vatican – in a private viewing for local residents and the papal household.
Yesterday, the Vatican released images showing Francis lying in an open casket, wearing the traditional pointed headdress of bishops and red robes, his hands folded over a rosary.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's number two, was pictured praying by Francis.
As theworld mourns the loss of the beloved pontiff, carefully orchestrated plans are underway in the Vatican for his “humble”funeral.
The service will be led by the dean of the College of Cardinals and is expected to draw top world leaders who will join thousands of mourners from across the globe for the historic event.
This includes Presidentand his wife, Melania, as well as Ukrainian President, who have announced they would attend the Pope's funeral.
Meanwhile, No10 said that Prime Minister Sir will also attend the funeral.
is also to , Kensington Palace announced.
and have .
European Commission President and European Council President António Costa are also expected to attend.
Many nations are likelyto send heads of state or government to take part in the historic and rare event.
THE LAST RIDE
To mark the beginning of the last rites, Francis' coffin will be kept at The Chapel of Casa Santa Marta – his Vatican residence – for a moment of prayer.
A funeral procession, expected to be two miles long, will then start heading towards St. Peter’s Basilica, where the last rites will take place.
The procession will pass through the Vatican’s Santa Marta and the First Roman Martyrs Square.
From the Arch of the Bells, it will exit into St. Peter’s Square and enter St. Peter’s Basilica through the central door.
The Pope will be kept in the open space of the basilica for thousands of followers to see and pray.
A funeral mass will then be co-celebrated by cardinals and ceremonially dressed senior clerics and other members of the clergy.
Following the funeral, the Pope’s body will be moved to the burial site outside the Vatican.
A humble Francis decreed in his will that he would be interred in a simple underground tomb at Santa Maria Maggiore, unlike the previous Popes who had been buried in the crypts beneath St Peter's Basilica.
Francis will be the first pope in more than a hundred years to be buried outside of the Vatican walls.
He also said he had arranged for an unnamed benefactor to cover the costs of the burial.
Even the age-old tradition of preparing three coffins of cypress, lead and oak has been ditched, as desired by Francis during the years before his death.
He will be buried in a simple underground tomb prepared “without particular ornamentation,”; marked only as “Franciscus,”; according to his wishes.
Saturday will mark the first of nine official days of mourning, a traditional period known as novemdiales.
Once this mourning phase concludes, the conclave process to elect the next Pope will formally begin.
Tens of thousands of catholics and followers of Pope Francis are expected to attend the events.
Apart from the top world leaders, a slew of celebrities could go to Rome to attend the historic event.
This could include stars likeLeonardo DiCaprio and football legend Lionel Messi.
‘REFORMER' POPE
Pope Francis made history when he became the first leader of the Catholic Church from the Americas.
The then 76-year-old Archbishop of Buenos Aires, who was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was given his new name after he was elected to succeed Pope Benedict XVI on March 13, 2013.
He was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on December 17, 1936, to Italian immigrants.
The Argentine had worked as a bouncer before turning to the priesthood after recovering from pneumonia back in 1958.
Francis was ordained a priest on 13 December 1969 and trained in Spain for a year before moving back to Argentina.
Francis took over the role of Pope in 2014, and was seen as an outspoken moderniser, reformist and progressive.
He had championed the decriminalisation of homosexuality, warned against threats to democracy, and supported the cause of refugees.
When he became the Pope, he shunned a grand papal apartment and chose to live in a modest two-room residence.
