President Donald Trump is slated to attend Pope Francis’ funeral, scheduled to take place Saturday, as the world continues to mourn the loss of the Roman Catholic Church leader.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced that he and first lady Melania Trump are planning to attend the funeral of the late pontiff, who died at the age of 88 on Monday morning.
“We look forward to being there!” Trump proclaimed.
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The Holy See Press Office announced in a statement Tuesday morning that Francis’ funeral will be at 10 a.m. local time Saturday on the parvis of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside over the ceremony.
Francis died at his residence located in the Vatican guest house known as Domus Sanctae Marthae, weeks after his release from the hospital following a prolonged illness. Francis led the Roman Catholic Church for 12 years, with his papacy beginning in 2013.
The Holy See Press Office revealed the causes of Francis’ death as a stroke, coma and irreversible cardiovascular collapse in a statement Monday. Francis’ existing health problems included a “previous episode of acute respiratory failure in the context of bilateral multimicrobial pneumonia, multiple bronchiectasis, arterial hypertension and type II diabetes.”
The late pontiff was laid in his coffin in the Chapel of Domus Sanctae Marthae in a ceremony that took place on Monday. On Wednesday morning, another ceremony will occur where Francis’ coffin will be moved from the Chapel of Domus Sanctae Marthae to St. Peter’s Basilica. There, mourners will have the opportunity to pay their respects.
After the conclusion of Saturday’s funeral, Francis’ body will be returned to St. Peter’s Basilica. From there, it will be transported to the Basilica of St. Mary Major for burial. Francis outlined his wish for burial in the papal basilica in a testament authored in June 2022, nearly three years before his death. The Holy See Press Office made the testament public after Francis’ death on Monday.
Francis’ burial plans differ significantly from his predecessors.
Pope St. John Paul II, who served as pope from 1978-2005, is buried alongside several other late pontiffs and church leaders in the Vatican Grottoes located beneath St. Peter’s Basilica. Francis’ immediate predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, who served from 2005 until resigning and becoming Pope Emeritus in 2013, is also buried underneath St. Peter’s Basilica.
Per Trump’s order, flags flown at the White House as well as “all public buildings and grounds, at all military posts and naval stations, and on all naval vessels of the Federal Government and the District of Columbia and throughout the United States and its Territories and possessions” will fly at half-staff through sunset on the day of Pope Francis’ internment.
The order also applies to “all United States embassies, legations, consular offices, and other facilities abroad, including all military facilities and naval vessels and stations.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
