Pope Francis’ funeral: Donald Trump, Zelenskyy among dignitaries converging on Rome

Faithful queue to enter St. Peter’s Basilica to pay respects as Pope Francis lies in state, April 25, 2025.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Heads of State and Royalty will start converging on Rome on Friday (April 25, 2025) for the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square, but the group of poor people who will meet his casket in a small crosstown basilica are more in keeping with Pope Francis’ humble persona and disdain for pomp.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei are among the leaders arriving Friday (April 25), the last day Argentine Pope will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica before his coffin is sealed in the evening in preparation for his funeral on Saturday (April 26).

The Vatican said 130 delegations are confirmed, including 50 Heads of State and 10 reigning Sovereigns.

Paying respects

Tens of thousands of mourners have waited hours in line to bid farewell to Pope Francis, who died Monday (April 21) after suffering a stroke at the age of 88. A higher-than-expected turnout prompted the Vatican to extend the basilica’s opening hours overnight.

By Thursday (April 24) evening, more than 90,000 mourners had filed past Pope Francis’ open coffin placed in front of the basilica’s main altar — at times praying, at times holding smart phones aloft for a photo of the late pontiff laid out in red robes, a Bishop’s pointed miter and a rosary entwined in his hands.

Emanuela Bisco took the day off work to pay her last respects to Pope Francis, as she had 20 years ago for St. John Paul II.

Pope Francis “was the pope of the forgotten, who was close to the simplest people, the homeless who were not pushed away,” Ms. Bisco said. “I hope that the next pope will be at his level, and continue his struggles, his openness, everything that he did.”

Cardinals meet

The work of the conclave to choose a new pope won’t start until at least May 5, after nine days of public mourning.

Cardinals have been also been arriving in Rome, with 113 meeting Thursday (April 24) morning to discuss church business. They will meet again Friday (April 25) before taking a break for the weekend.

“We are getting ready, but we still have not entered into the more intense phase. We are in the organizational phase,” Italian Cardinal Fernando Filoni said Thursday (April 24).

Papal burial

In keeping with Pope Francis’ embrace of the marginalised, the Vatican said a group of poor and needy people will meet the pope’s coffin to pay homage to him when it arrives at St. Mary Major basilica for burial on Saturday (April 26).

The tomb is being prepared behind a wooden barrier within the basilica that he chose to be near an icon of the Madonna that he revered and often prayed before.

Photos released by the Vatican on Friday (April 25) show the marble tombstone flat against the pavement, with the simple engraving in Latin that he requested in his last testament: “Franciscus”

Delegations

U.S. President Trump, who is traveling with first lady Melania Trump, is scheduled to arrive Friday (April 25) , after Pope Francis’ coffin has been sealed.

Among the other foreign dignitaries confirmed for the papal funeral are:

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and first lady Olena Zelenska

• French President Emmanuel Macron

• Indian President Droupadi Murmu

• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer

• Prince William

• Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia

• Hungarian President Viktor Orbán

• Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Sil