{"id":4798,"date":"2025-04-23T06:00:40","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T06:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4798"},"modified":"2025-04-23T06:00:40","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T06:00:40","slug":"vatican-prepares-for-pope-francis-funeral-as-his-body-lies-in-state","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=4798","title":{"rendered":"Vatican prepares for Pope Francis\u2019 funeral as his body lies in state"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Pope Francis\u2019 body will lie in state at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica starting Wednesday, allowing the faithful to pay their final respects ahead of a high-profile funeral on Saturday expected to draw global leaders including US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>The 88-year-old pontiff died Monday of a stroke and cardiac arrest after a prolonged period of poor health.<\/p>\n<p>His passing ends a 12-year papacy marked by reform efforts, environmental advocacy, and tension with Catholic traditionalists.<\/p>\n<p>The late pope will be buried in the Basilica of St. Mary Major, per his wishes, rather than in the traditional tombs under St. Peter\u2019s.<\/p>\n<p>A grand procession featuring cardinals and Latin chants will accompany his body from his residence at the Vatican to the basilica.<\/p>\n<p>Public viewing begins at 9 a.m. Wednesday and continues through Friday evening.<\/p>\n<p>His funeral will be held outdoors in St. Peter\u2019s Square at 10 a.m. Saturday, led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.<\/p>\n<p>Among those attending are leaders from France, Germany, Britain, Ukraine, the European Union, and Francis\u2019 native Argentina.<\/p>\n<p>United Nations Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres will also attend, honoring shared priorities between the UN and the pope on migration, climate change, and human dignity.<\/p>\n<p>Cardinals have begun preliminary meetings to plan the conclave that will elect Francis\u2019 successor.<\/p>\n<p>The vote is not expected before May 6. Early frontrunners include Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines and Cardinal Pietro Parolin of Italy.<\/p>\n<p>In the interim, Cardinal Kevin Farrell serves as camerlengo, overseeing the Vatican\u2019s day-to-day affairs during the \u201csede vacante.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, last appeared publicly during Easter celebrations.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Vatican, he passed peacefully after falling into a coma early Monday.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pope Francis\u2019 body will lie in state at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica starting Wednesday, allowing the faithful to pay their final respects ahead of a high-profile funeral on Saturday expected to draw global leaders including US President Donald Trump. The 88-year-old pontiff died Monday of a stroke and cardiac arrest after a prolonged period of poor [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4798"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4798\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}