Cardinal Farrell To Preside Over the Closing of Pope Francis’ Coffin

Cardinal Kevin Joseph Farrell. X/ @PanAmPost_es

April 23, 2025 Hour: 8:15 am

Heads of state from around the world will attend the funeral in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday.

Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Joseph Farrell will preside on Friday at 8:00 p.m. local time over the rite of the closing of Pope Francis’s casket in St. Peter’s Basilica, as well as his burial in the Basilica of St. Mary Major.

Present at both the casket-closing ceremony and the burial will also be the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, six cardinals, State Secretary Pietro Parolin, the Vicar General of Rome Baldassare Reina, the Papal Almoner Konrad Krajewski, several archbishops, and Francis’s secretaries.

On Saturday, Cardinal Re will officiate the funeral at 10:00 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, in a ceremony that is expected to be attended by heads of state from around the world. At the conclusion of the service, the casket will be transferred to St. Mary Major for burial.

Last year, Pope Francis simplified the funeral rites in the document “Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis,” in which he stated that he wished to lie in repose in the chapel of his residence and that his body be displayed in an open casket rather than on a catafalque in the basilica. In his will, Francis requested the following:

Pope Francis began holding nightly calls with Gaza’s Catholic parish in October 2023.

As the months went on, and the bombs continued to drop, he increasingly advocated for Palestinians in Gaza: “This is cruelty. This is not war.” pic.twitter.com/HCR5WPDxH0
— AJ+ (@ajplus) April 21, 2025

“I request that my tomb be prepared in the niche of the side nave between the Pauline Chapel (Chapel of Salus Populi Romani) and the Sforza Chapel of the aforementioned Papal Basilica… The tomb must be in the ground; simple, without particular decoration, and with the sole inscription: Franciscus.”

Meanwhile, thousands of faithful are waiting to enter St. Peter’s Basilica to bid their final farewell to the Pope, after dozens have already had the opportunity to pay tribute to the Pontiff since 11:00 a.m. local time.

On Wednesday, the basilica will remain open until midnight and will reopen tomorrow at 7:00 a.m., remaining open until Friday at 7:00 p.m., when it will close for the commencement of the casket-closing rite.