Pope Francis funeral schedule: From St Peter’s Square opening time to Argentine pontiff's burial - List of events here

Pope Francis funeral date April 26, Saturday, was decided by cardinals meeting in a so-called “general congregation,” which marks the first of a series of meetings. A new pope will be elected following a series of meetings which culminate in a conclave within three weeks of the death of Catholic Church's head.

The funeral ceremony of Argentine pontiff will be attended by notable dignitaries, including President Droupadi Murmu, US President Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei. Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju; Minister of State for Minority Affairs and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, George Kurian; and Deputy Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly, Joshua De Souza will be the other delegates from India who will be paying their last respects to Pope Francis.

Other dignitaries who will be present at the funeral are:

• US First lady Melania Trump
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and first lady Olena Zelenska
• French President Emmanuel Macron
• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer
• Prince William
• Spain's King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia
• Hungarian President Viktor Orbán
• Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Sil

According to the Vatican, 130 delegations are confirmed to converge for the funeral of Pope Francis, in the Vatican's St Peter's Square. This includes 50 Heads of State and 10 reigning Sovereigns. Pope Francis passed away on April 21 (Easter Monday) after suffering a stroke at the age of 88.

Pope Francis' coffin was placed in Vatican's St Peter's Basilica ahead of his scheduled funeral on Saturday evening. The coffin of the head of the Catholic Church will be presented to the poor and needy who will pay their respects after it arrives at St Mary Major basilica for burial on Saturday.

News agency AFP listed out the official programme of the ceremonies for the late pontiff, which is as follows-

• 5:30 AM (9:00 AM IST)- St Peter’s Square opens.
• 10:00 AM (1:30 PM IST)- The funeral mass, which will commence at 1:30 pm, will be presided over by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re.

Given below are the proceedings of the day in chronological order:

• Reading of liturgical texts
• A homily by Cardinal Re
• A universal prayer in several languages
• The consecration of the bread and wine
• Participants exchanging a sign of peace or handshake
• The Eucharist
• A moment of silence
• The sprinkling of holy water on the coffin
• 13:00 PM (4:30 PM IST) Pope Francis' coffin will be brought inside St Peter’s Basilica at the end of the mass.
• About 13:00 p.m. (1100 GMT) the coffin arrives at Santa Maria Maggiore, where it will be welcomed by a group of the “poor and needy”.