THE Pope’s last words included thanks to his nurse for encouraging him to greet the crowds in St Peter’s Square one last time, the Vatican has said.
And the ailing pontiff asked the medic “Do you think I can manage it?” before Easter Sunday’s Popemobile ride.
Before passing away at the age of 88 on Monday morning, he expressed his gratitude to his personal nurse Massimiliano Strappetti by saying, “Thank you for bringing me back to the square.”
Francis, who had recently been in hospital for weeks with breathing problems, died of a stroke and coronary failure.
Starting today, he will be laid in state at St. Peter’s Basilica at the center of the Vatican. It is anticipated that a large number of mourners will visit the basilica to pay their final respects by passing by his coffin.
Contrary to the elaborate catafalque platform that was traditionally used, his final instructions, which he provided to Vatican staff during his last days, call for a modest open wooden coffin.
Huge queues began forming yesterday to view his embalmed body.
The Vatican confirmed the Holy Father’s funeral plan yesterday after releasing the first pictures of him laid out at a traditional ceremony.
It took place on Monday night, with Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican’s most senior cardinal, reading the official declaration of death aloud.
Francis’s body was placed in an open wooden casket in the chapel of his Domus Santa Marta residence.
Official pictures show him lying peacefully, dressed in red robes, wearing the papal mitre and holding a rosary while flanked by Swiss Guards in ceremonial dress.
His apartment has been formally sealed and his traditional “Fisherman’s Ring” broken with a special hammer to destroy the unique seal he used to sign official letters.
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The Congregation of Cardinals gathered yesterday to fine-tune plans for the funeral and the elaborate rituals marking the end of one papacy and start of the next.
Argentinian Francis chose to be entombed at the Basilica of St Mary Major — the first time a Pope will be buried outside the Vatican in more than a century.
The church — more than three miles from the Vatican — was the first place he prayed at when he ended his recent five-week hospital stay, battling double pneumonia.
In typical style, the down-to-earth “Pope of the Poor” was ferried there on that last visit in the front seat of a tiny white Fiat 500.
But enormous crowds are set to line the route on Saturday as he makes his final journey in a funeral cortege.
Vatican officials announced yesterday that the coffin will today be taken from Casa Santa Marta to St Peter’s Basilica to begin lying in state.
Senior cardinal Farrell will lead a prayer before the body is moved in a procession through the Piazza Santa Marta and Piazza dei Protomartiri Romani.
Bible readings will follow before the procession of mourners begins to file past continuously until Saturday. US President Donald Trump — who met Francis in 2017 — announced he would be attending the funeral with wife Melania.
He will join other world leaders, despite the Pope’s vocal opposition to his headline-grabbing policies on immigration.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron will also attend. Prince William is due to represent King Charles.
It was a discreet death, almost sudden, without long suffering or public alarm, for a Pope who had always been very reserved about his health
Vatican News
Others due to be there will be EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Polish President Andrzej Duda and Argentina’s President Javier Milei.
More details emerged yesterday of the events surrounding the death of Francis early on Monday, just hours after he wished “Happy Easter” to crowds from a Vatican balcony.
He started to feel unwell at around 5.30am, when medics were alerted.
He managed a final farewell gesture to devoted nurse Mr Strappetti, before then slipping into a coma.
Vatican officials also disclosed the touching exchange between the pair while Mr Strappetti was at his side on Easter Sunday.
Francis thanked the nurse, previously credited with saving his life, for “bringing me back to the square”, the Vatican News, the Holy See’s media outlet, revealed.
Francis spent about 15 minutes waving at the crowd and blessing babies from his Popemobile in his final public appearance.
Doctors said he suffered a stroke then heart failure but died peacefully at 7.35am on Monday.
Vatican News said yesterday: “He did not suffer. It all happened quickly. It was a discreet death, almost sudden, without long suffering or public alarm, for a Pope who had always been very reserved about his health.”
The funeral in the shadow of St Peter’s Basilica will start at 9am UK time on Saturday and will be led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals.
It will be followed by a conclave of cardinals to elect a new Pope, no sooner than May 6.
The conclave election normally takes place 15 to 20 days after the death of a pontiff, but the exact date will not be decided until after the funeral.
Around 135 cardinals are eligible to participate in the secretive ballots, which can last days, until white smoke pouring from a chimney of the Sistine Chapel tells the world a new Pope has been selected.
There is currently no clear front-runner to succeed Francis.
What’s happening today at Vatican?
Cardinals are gathering this morning in the Vatican for a high-stakes meeting to kick off funeral planning and preparations for choosing Pope Francis’s successor.
According to the apostolic constitution, today’s agenda will focus on several urgent decisions, including:
- Setting the date and time of the funeral, which must take place “between the fourth and sixth day after death”
- Determining when the pope’s body will be moved to St Peter’s Basilica for public homage
- Arranging accommodation for the 135 cardinals flying in for the conclave, likely at the House of St Martha
- Choosing two ecclesiastics to deliver “well-prepared meditations” on challenges facing the Church and what qualities to seek in the next pope
- Discussing funeral costs and reviewing any final documents Pope Francis may have left
- Picking the date for the conclave, expected to begin 15–20 days after his death
The meeting marks the start of a historic transition for the 1.4 billion-member Church.
