Hundreds of thousands of mourners have lined up to pay their respects and bid farewell to Pope Francis ahead of the Holy Father's funeral on Saturday, April 26.
Pope Francis, 88, passed away on Easter Monday, April 21, after a weeks-long health battle. His body has been lying in state since Wednesday, April 23, in St. Peter's Basilica.
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump will attend the funeral, the White House said. Other world leaders expected to attend include UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Britain's Prince William, who will attend the funeral on behalf of his father, King Charles III. Also attending are U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Pope Francis passed away on April 21 after suffering a stroke and heart failure, according to Vatican doctor Andrea Arcangeli's death certificate released on Monday, as reported by Reuters. The pope had fallen into a coma before his passing, as indicated in the certificate published by the Vatican.
His death followed a battle with double pneumonia and other health issues. Pope Francis had been struggling to breathe and speak before being admitted on Feb. 14 to a Rome hospital, where he was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia.
During his five-week hospital stay, the pope underwent bronchoscopies to clear his air passages. He was also diagnosed with a polymicrobial infection and mild renal insufficiency. Physicians had considered stopping treatment to allow Pope Francis to pass peacefully.
Released from the hospital on March 23, the pope returned to his Vatican residence at the Casa Santa Marta to continue his recovery. The Vatican had reported earlier that the pope was showing signs of improvement.
Pope Francis' passing on April 21 was swift and painless, with doctors unable to do anything to save him, as stated by Sergio Alfieri, head of the pontiff's medical team at Rome's Gemelli hospital, as reported by Reuters.
Following the memorial service on Saturday, April 26, at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET), Pope Francis' body will be laid to rest at Rome's Basilica of Saint Mary Major in a simple wooden casket, as per his request.
Prior to his hospitalization, Pope Francis had written about death in the preface of a book on old age by Italian Cardinal Angelo Scola.
"Death is not the end of everything, but the beginning of something," he wrote, as reported by Reuters. "It is a new beginning ... because eternal life, which those who love already begin to experience on earth, is the beginning of something that will never end."
"For this reason, that (death) is a 'new' beginning, because we will live something we have never fully lived before: eternity," he wrote.
USA TODAY will be streaming the event live. Click here to watch.
Contributing: John Bacon, Eric Lagatta, Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy, Anthony Robledo and Mary Walrath-Holdridge
Mike Snider is a reporter on USA TODAY's Trending team. You can follow him on Threads, Bluesky, X and email him at mikegsnider & @mikegsnider.bsky.social & @mikesnider & msnider@usatoday.com
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