The funeral Mass for Pope Francis will be held on Saturday, April 26 at 10:00 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, marking the first day of the Novemdiales. The Office for Liturgical Celebrations has announced that the liturgy will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals.

At the conclusion of the Eucharistic celebration, the Ultima commendatio and Valedictio will take place. The coffin of Pope Francis will then be taken into St. Peter’s Basilica and subsequently transferred to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore for burial.

Meanwhile, the Vatican has released the first images of the Pope resting in a wooden casket in the Chapel of Santa Marta, wearing a white mitre, a red chasuble, and holding a rosary in his hands. Yesterday, along with the Pontiff’s closest collaborators, those present included Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church; Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State; Father Leonardo Sapienza, Regent of the Papal Household; Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re; and Father Arturo Sosa, Superior General of the Society of Jesus.

Tomorrow morning, the coffin will be moved from the Chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae to St. Peter’s Basilica. At 9:00 a.m., after a brief moment of prayer led by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the procession will begin. It will pass through Piazza Santa Marta and Piazza dei Protomartiri Romani, exit through the Arch of the Bells, and enter St. Peter’s Basilica through the central door. At the Altar of the Confession, Cardinal Farrell will preside over a Liturgy of the Word, after which the faithful will be invited to begin visiting the body of the late Supreme Pontiff.