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What we know
- The first of tens of thousands of mourners began filing into St. Peter's Basilica to pay their respects to Pope Francis, who will lie in state for three days.
- Francis reformed his own funeral rites to ensure they reflected his wish to be remembered as a simple man, so his coffin is not on an elevated platform, but placed at ground level facing the pews.
- Earlier, a solemn procession of patriarchs, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, canons and other priests chanted the names of the saints in Latin as they carried the late pontiff to St. Peter's Basilica ahead of his funeral on Saturday at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET).
- Before the procession set off from nearby Santa Marta, where Francis lived and died, Cardinal Kevin Farrell presided over a ceremony of farewell.
Parents of hostage killed by Hamas remember Francis' ‘immense humanity’
Rachel Goldberg-Polin and Jon Polin, the parents of deceased Israeli American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, join Chris Jansing to discuss their meetings with Pope Francis and what his support meant to the families of the hostages.
Charts: Conclaves, popes and cardinals
Most internal promotions don’t get this much attention. Most job selection processes don’t have centuries of history behind them — and few, if any, have a special name.
But then, most job selections don’t end with a new pope.
Catholic cardinals from around the world are converging on Vatican City in advance of the conclave that will elect the successor to Pope Francis, who died Monday. Favorites have emerged, and once the conclave begins it likely won’t be long before a new pope is announced, as data shows that conclaves don’t take as long as they used to.
Read the story: Cardinals, conclaves and popes, in five charts
Pope Francis remembered as advocate for the Special Olympics and ‘championing inclusion’
Pope Francis was a believer in sport being a place of unity and he championed the Special Olympics. Chairman of the Special Olympics Timothy Shriver joins José Díaz-Balart to share more on the pope’s personal relationship with the athletes.
Pope John Paul II's body was not fully embalmed, Vatican spokesman says
Pope John Paul II, who served as the head of the Catholic Church from 1978 until his death in 2005, was not embalmed, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said.
Navarro-Valls said Paul's body underwent a treatment to "preserve" it during public viewing. Vatican officials indicated that the procedure involved the injection of a formaldehyde-based fluid, which falls short of a full embalming process.
Pope Francis’ body underwent a temporary embalming, Agence France-Presse reported.
Jerusalem’s Latin patriarch remembers Pope Francis
Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, spoke of Pope Francis’ legacy and hailed his commitment to Gaza.
"He was very close to the community of Gaza, the parish of Gaza. He kept calling them many times," Pizzaballa told a group of journalists.
As funeral preparations get underway, thousands wait patiently to say goodbye to Francis
Next to the lines of people waiting outside St. Peter's Basilica, preparations are being made for Saturday's funeral.
Hundreds of gray chairs have been laid out for guests and scaffold is being erected for TV cameras.
Inside, hundreds of people are lining up. Some of them have been waiting for hours. There is a soft hum of conversation as they wait patiently to catch a glimpse of the pontiff.
As people approach the coffin, they file by quickly, some saying quiet prayers as they pass.
Pope Francis' interment details confirmed
When it takes place Saturday, the funeral of Pope Francis will be a carefully choreographed and extremely public ceremony that tens of thousands of people inside Vatican City and millions of people around the world will bear witness to.
But when the rite has taken place, the coffin and body of the late pontiff will be interred at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in accordance with the pope's wishes.
That detail was confirmed today in a statement from Diego Ravelli, the Holy See's master of pontifical liturgical celebrations.
The Vatican camerlengo and interim head of the church, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, will preside over the rite, with the following leading Catholic figures required to take part.
- His Eminence Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re — Dean of the College of Cardinals
- His Eminence Cardinal Roger Michael Mahony — Cardinal Presbyter
- His Eminence Cardinal Dominique Mamberti — Cardinal Protodeacon
- His Eminence Cardinal Stanisław Ryłko — Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major
- His Eminence Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas — Coadjutor Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major
- His Eminence Cardinal Pietro Parolin — former Secretary of State
- His Eminence Cardinal Baldassare Reina — Vicar General of His Holiness for the Diocese of Rome
- His Eminence Cardinal Konrad Krajewski — Almoner of His Holiness
- His Excellency Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra — Substitute of the Secretariat of State
- His Excellency Archbishop Ilson de Jesus Montanari — Vice Camerlengo di Santa Romana Chiesa
- Msgr. Leonardo Sapienza — Regent of the Pontifical Household
- The canons of the Chapter of the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major
- The Liberian Ordinary Penitentiaries
- The Secretaries of the Holy Father
- Other persons admitted by the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations
Time frame for pope visitors may be extended, Vatican says
The Vatican may extend the time frame for pilgrims to visit Pope Francis’ body in St. Peter’s Basilica until beyond midnight in Rome (6 p.m. ET) due to the large number of visitors, it said in a statement.
Gaza church remembers Pope Francis as its ‘shield’
To the world, he was Pope Francis, leader of 1.4 billion Catholics. To parishioners at the Holy Family Church in Gaza, the late pontiff was a “shield” who fought to provide succor to their tiny community in the besieged Palestinian enclave.
“He was a real father to us,” George Antone, a parishioner in the enclave’s only Catholic church, told NBC News’ crew in Gaza. “Pope Francis was like a shield for the Christians in the enclave. He was the fighter, he was fighting for our rights and for our protection.”
Throughout the war, parishioners and leaders of the church said, Francis had been a significant source of strength, making near-nightly calls for the past year and a half, even as he faced his own health struggles in his final months.
Who is Kevin Farrell, the U.S. cardinal who is acting head of the Vatican?
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the acting head of the Vatican since Pope Francis’ death, is a Dublin-born naturalized American citizen who spent most of his career in the U.S.
The 77-year-old studied in Spain and Rome before being ordained as a priest in 1978. Six years later, he moved to Washington, in 1984, to join the archdiocese, according to his Vatican biography. He went on to hold a series of positions including as an auxiliary bishop of Washington in 2001.
He was elevated through the ranks at the Vatican before being personally appointed by Francis in 2019 for the official title of cardinal camerlengo, a key dignitary tasked with overseeing the crucial time of transition between popes.
During a news conference in 2016, he recounted his shock when he first received a phone call from the pope.
“My administrative assistant came in and said, ‘The pope’s on the telephone,’ and I felt like saying, ‘Yeah, yeah,’” Farrell said. “Eventually, she did put on the pope, and he told me that he would like me to go to Rome because Dallas needed a much better bishop than I am.”
Farrell, who was tasked with announcing Francis’ death, also sealed the doors of the papal apartments, destroyed the late pope’s symbolic fisherman ring, led the funeral procession and will now prepare the conclave.
