World leaders, others bid farewell to Pope Francis today

World Leaders, representation from Catholic-majority countries, Patriarchs, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, priests, representatives of world organisations, and diplomats along with huge crowds of the faithful will converge on St. Peter’s Square in Rome for the funeral service of the late Pope Francis, who led the Roman Catholic Church for 12 years.

Such an important and influential figure to many, Pope Francis’ passing gained condolences and prayers from leaders worldwide and figures from all sides of the political spectrum who are set to attend his funeral.

Pope Francis, one of the most reform-driven leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, died on Easter Monday, April 21, 2025, at the age of 88, his passing came after continued health issues, which saw him endure several hospital stays.

Francis' life and time as Pope, which was noted for humility and outreach efforts to people of disparate backgrounds and faiths, will be remembered during the funeral service on Saturday. 

Pope’s ascension

The Pope’s ascension to the papacy in 2013 heralded many firsts, as he was the first Pope from the Americas or the Southern Hemisphere.

The first non-European elected in almost 1,300 years. Not since Syrian-born Gregory III died in 741 had there been a non-European Bishop of Rome.

The first Jesuit was also the first member of his order to be elected to the throne of St Peter, and his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, was the first Pope to retire voluntarily in almost 600 years.

For almost a decade, the Vatican Gardens hosted two popes.

Most popes choose their papal name upon election, a practice that’s been common for the past thousand years so when Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected, he chose the name Francis, the first pope to use the name Francis as by comparison, there have been more than 20 Popes with the most common name, John.

30 Popes have served

Since 1600, more than 30 popes have served. Nine of those, including Francis, were 70 years of age or older when elected.

And more than half worked into their 80s something that’s happening more and more as the average age of popes climbs.

Following the resignation of Pope Benedict, many Catholics had assumed the new pontiff would be a younger man but Pope Francis, known as Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires of Argentina was already in his seventies when he became the Pope in 2013.

He had presented himself as a compromise candidate: appealing to conservatives with orthodox views on sexual matters while attracting the reformers with his liberal stance on social justice.

Not only was the late Pope new in his approach to leading the Catholic Church, but his legacy nonetheless remains profound.

The Vatican

More recently, the Vatican has been involved in efforts to end the war in Ukraine and has advocated for peace in Gaza and South Sudan. Earlier this year, the Vatican brokered a deal with Cuba that led to the release of hundreds of people jailed for taking part in anti-government protests.

Pope Francis also reached out to the Muslim world, signing a historic declaration of fraternity with the grand Imam of al-Azhar in the first-ever papal visit to the Arabian Peninsula in 2019.

“Some western countries have assumed that because religion didn’t matter in their country to the same extent that it once did, therefore it didn’t matter to the rest of the world.”

“But the Roman Catholic Church has a massive global spread.

It has diplomatic relations with nearly every country, and almost 20 per cent of the world’s population identifies as Catholic, and the church’s diplomacy is deep and it is wide, but often it is invisible to the naked eye.

The Holy See has a unique convening power that will play out on Saturday. 

World leaders

As of last Thursday, 130 foreign delegations had confirmed they were attending Pope Francis' funeral, and that number includes "approximately" 50 heads of state and 10 reigning sovereigns. President Donald Trump, and First Lady Melania Trump, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Prince William, King Charles III’s eldest son and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer are among those expected to attend.

As world leaders arrive in Rome for the funeral of Pope Francis today, fraught Vatican officials will be poring over logistics to avoid diplomatic awkwardness.

The Pope’s funeral provides an unexpected opportunity for impromptu international diplomacy and uncomfortable encounters.

The 10 a.m. start means most heads of state and political leaders arrived in Rome yesterday evening, with a brief window for meetings if desired.

The last comparable occasion, the funeral of Pope John Paul II in April 2005, was the “diplomatic event of the year”, according to the Centre on Public Diplomacy at the University of Southern California.

It “brought numerous world leaders together, including many that would not normally appear in the same country, let alone the same room”.

Brief Biography

Pope Francis was born on December 17, 1936, and was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2013 until he died in 2025.

He was the first Jesuit pope, the first Latin American, the first from the Americas, the first from the Southern Hemisphere, and the firstborn or raised outside of Europe since the 8th-century Syrian Pope Gregory III.

The funeral came amid the intensity of the Iraq War, which John Paul II had opposed.

When a close-up image of President George Bush’s face appeared on large outdoor television monitors, jeering erupted from the crowd.

US President Bush found himself sitting close to the leaders of Iran, Syria and Cuba.

He and his ally Tony Blair gave them the cold shoulder.

About 250 cardinals, a multitude of bishops, priests, religious brothers and sisters will attend the funeral Mass for the Holy Father Francis on Saturday, April 26, starting at 10:00 a.m.

The wooden and zinc coffin of the deceased Pontiff, sealed on Friday evening, will be placed on the forecourt of the Basilica, just in front of the altar.

It will face a vast crowd, expected to number several hundred thousand people, hailing from all geographical, social, political, and cultural backgrounds to pay their final respects.

This diverse crowd represents the Church of Francis, the one that welcomes “everyone, everyone, everyone,” as he tirelessly repeated.