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LAST UPDATE | 25 Apr
THE COFFIN OF Pope Francis has been sealed in a private ceremony in St Peter’s Basilica.
The ceremony, which was presided over by Camerlengo and Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell, marks the end of public viewing in the basilica, which saw a quarter of a million people pass through to pay their respects to the late pontiff.
Francis died on Monday morning and has been lying in state in the basilica since Wednesday morning.
He was moved from the chapel in Santa Marta on Wednesday in a ceremony that was also overseen by Farrell.
St Peter’s Basilica closed to the public at 6pm Irish time in preparation for the liturgical rite of the sealing of the coffin.
Over 250,000 people filed into St Peter’s Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis. Now the square lies virtually empty ahead of his coffin being sealed by Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/5Ce0r5EeUY
— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) April 25, 2025
The wooden coffin, in which the pope is lying wearing a red chasuble, white mitre and black shoes, with a rosary laced around his fingers, was closed at 7pm Irish time.
Today, the Vatican confirmed that since St Peter’s opened to the public at 11am on Wednesday, some 250,000 people passed through the basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis.
The basilica was due to close at midnight on Wednesday, but remained open until 5.30am and re-opened at 7am due to the number of people who had arrived to see the late pope.
For a second night in a row, the Vatican kept St Peter’s open past the scheduled hours to accommodate the queues, only closing the doors between 2.30am and 5.40am this morning.
Francis’s funeral will take place at 10am tomorrow. More than 50 heads of state and 10 monarchs are expected to attend, alongside around 200,000 mourners.
President Michael D Higgins and his wife Sabina, who paid their respects to the late pope earlier today, will be in attendance. They will be joined by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris.
After the funeral, Francis’s coffin will be driven at a walking pace for burial at his favourite church, Rome’s papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
According to officials, the hearse will pass down Rome’s Fori Imperiali – where the city’s ancient temples lie – and past the Colosseum.
Big screens will be set up along the route on which to watch the ceremony, according to Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, who estimated the crowds at around 200,000.
The Vatican said a group of “poor and needy” will be at Santa Maria Maggiore to welcome the coffin of Francis, who was known for his advocacy of the poor.
Naoise and his father Diarmuid were among those to visit Santa Maria Maggiore tonight for a Rosary which was led by Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.
Naoise and his dad Diarmuid outside Santa Marie Maggiore, where Pope Francis will be buried tomorrow morning. Naoise talks about his hopes for the next pope while Diarmuid discusses having met a group from Palestine at the rosary which was said from the basilica @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/eIv8HMGZ2T
— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) April 25, 2025
Naoise spoke of his hopes for the next pontiff while Diarmuid remarked on a conversation he had with a group of Palestinians.
The Palestinian group had been due to go to the canonisation of Carlo Acutis, which was scheduled for Sunday but has been postponed due to Francis’ funeral.
A group of Palestinians who were due to be here for the canonisation of Carlo Acutis, which has since turned into the funeral of Francis, who was described as a “friend of Palestine” by the country’s President Mahmoud Abbas @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/aBnD65VZAi
— Diarmuid Pepper (@Diarmuid_9) April 25, 2025
Tomorrow, Francis will be interred in the ground at Santa Maria Maggiroe, his simple tomb marked with just one word: Franciscus.
Tonight, there will be a “presence of prayer and vigil for the body of the Francis, until the preparations for Holy Mass tomorrow morning”.
People will be able to visit the tomb from Sunday morning.
With reporting from Jane Moore
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