Diarmuid Pepper reports from Rome

PRESIDENT MICHAEL D HIGGINS has paid his respects to Pope Francis in St Peter’s Basilica.

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 overseen by Camerlengo and Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell.

President Higgins and his wife Sabina attended the lying in state in the Vatican this afternoon.

President Michael D. Higgins and his wife Sabina today paid their respects to His Holiness Pope Francis in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican pic.twitter.com/pbII1yn1Vm

— President of Ireland (@PresidentIRL) April 25, 2025

Since St Peter’s opened to the public at 11am on Wednesday, 150,000 people have filed into the basilica to pay their respects. 

St Peter’s was due to close at midnight on Wednesday, but remained open until 5.30am and re-opened at 7am. 

Some 13,000 people entered the basilica during these early hours. 

Both President Higgins and his wife Sabina will attend Francis’s funeral on Saturday morning.

They will be joined by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris.

People gather in St Peter's Square at the Vatican to pay their respects to the late Pope Francis. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

US President Donald Trump, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Britain’s Prince William will also be in attendance.

Francis ‘led by example’

In a statement ahead of the funeral, President Higgins said he is “pleased to communicate the appreciation of all of the people of Ireland for the life, the documents and the contacts to the most vulnerable all over the world made by Pope Francis”.

President Higgins met with Francis on five occasions.

“The world was struck by the generosity given by Pope Francis, right until the very last moments of his life, in terms of seeking to embrace, as he put it, all of humanity,” said President Higgins.

Through his life and his work, Pope Francis led by example in embracing so many of the most important issues facing humanity.

He described Francis as a “strong advocate for the fulfilling of obligations in relation to Mother Nature and the indigenous peoples who are paying the highest price for the consequences of climate change”.

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He added that Francis was a “strong spokesperson for how global poverty could be eliminated, and he gave leadership in relation to the rights of migrants”.

Francis’s first papal trip was to Lampedusa, the southern Italian island that has been a gateway to Europe for hundreds of thousands of migrants fleeing war and poverty in Africa and the Middle East.

“In attending the funeral and celebrating the life of Pope Francis, it is important to stress his work on our shared humanity and on the importance of peace, sustainability and of rights,” said President Higgins.

Following the funeral, the President will visit the Pontifical Irish College in Rome, close to Basilica of Saint Mary Major where Francis will be buried. 

Image of Francis' tomb in Saint Mary Major Basilica Vatican Vatican

Francis will be the first pope since Leo XIII, who died in 1903, to be buried outside of the Vatican.