On Saturday, April 26, 2025, the funeral procession for Pope Francis, who died on April 21, 2025, will start at 10 a.m. from St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, moving through central Rome to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where he will be buried according to his wishes, with an expected 200,000 attendees and a high-security deployment including 11,000 personnel, drones, and snipers.

Did you know?

Papal funerals are steeped in centuries-old traditions, governed by the Vatican’s “Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis” (Order for the Funeral of a Roman Pontiff).

Unlike his predecessors, Pope Francis simplified the rites, opting for a single ceremony, a plain wooden coffin, and burial outside the Vatican at Santa Maria Maggiore, reflecting his emphasis on humility.

The basilica, one of Rome’s four major papal basilicas, is significant for housing the icon of Maria Salus Populi Romani, to which Francis was deeply devoted.

His choice breaks from the tradition of burial in St. Peter’s Basilica, where most popes since the 17th century have been interred.