President Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that he will attend Pope Francis’ funeral at the Vatican.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (LifeSiteNews) -- U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he will attend Pope Francis' funeral.
In an April 21 post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump shared that he and his wife Melania will travel to Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis, who died at the age of 88 on Easter Monday.
"Melania and I will be going to the funeral of Pope Francis, in Rome," Trump wrote. "We look forward to being there!"Pope Francis' funeral is scheduled to take place on Saturday, April 26, following the public veneration of his body in the days prior.
The Saturday morning funeral for the deceased pontiff will take place in St. Peter’s Square. It will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who is dean of the College of Cardinals. Following this, the pope’s remains will be transferred inside the basilica and from there will be taken to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he is to be buried in accord with his wishes.
Prior to that, the pope’s remains will be on public display in St. Peter’s Basilica. He will be taken from the Casa Santa Martha guesthouse to the Vatican basilica on Wednesday morning and there displayed in front of the high altar for all to see.
The announcement of the pope’s funeral arrangements came during the course of the first of the General Congregations for the College of Cardinals, which began at 9 a.m. on Tuesday morning. [To read LifeSiteNews’ full explainer on the process following a pope’s death, see here]
LifeSiteNews will be providing breaking updates regarding the funeral and upcoming conclave. Our breaking reporting can be found here.
LifeSiteNews readers are invited to pray for the repose of Francis’ soul and for the cardinals now tasked with electing a new pope.
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