Resurrection of the Lord Catholic Church

On Tuesday evening, Cardinal Pietro Parolin leads the Rosary at Saint Mary Major, the second Rosary prayed in memory of Pope Francis at the Basilica.

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In Saint Peter’s Square, the Rosary on Tuesday evening was offered in suffrage for Pope Francis, who returned to the House of the Father on Easter Monday. Leading the Marian prayer was the Dean of the College of Cardinals, who praised Francis as a pilgrim of hope. Hundreds of faithful gathered in the square in a moving atmosphere of reverence.

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The death of a Pope marks the beginning of a series of events that lead to the eventual start of a conclave and election of a new Successor of St. Peter. We lay out in detail the events that lead to the election of a new Pope.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The funeral Mass of Pope Francis will be celebrated April 26 in St. Peter's Square, the Vatican announced.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, will preside over the liturgy, which begins a nine-day period of official mourning and daily memorial Masses.

The deceased pope's body, which was taken to the chapel of his residence late April 21, the day of his death, will be carried into St. Peter's Basilica for public viewing and prayer early April 23.

The public viewing was scheduled to end late April 25 with another prayer service to close the coffin.

Matteo Bruni, director of the Vatican press office, said the Mass originally scheduled for the Jubilee for Adolescents April 27 would be one of the eight memorial Masses that follow the funeral of the pope. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who was secretary of state under Pope Francis, will preside.

The rites and rituals for dressing the body, moving it to St. Peter's Basilica and celebrating the funeral are published in the "Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis" ("Funeral Rites of the Roman Pontiff"). 

The rites originally were approved by St. John Paul II in 1998 but were released only when he died in 2005. Modified versions of the rites were used after Pope Benedict XVI died Dec. 31, 2022, and Pope Francis revised and simplified them in 2024.

U.S. Cardinal Kevin J. Farrell, the chamberlain of the Holy Roman Church, presided over a prayer service for the formal verification of the pope's death April 21 in the chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis celebrated an early morning Mass most days before his final illness.

Cardinal Farrell will lead the prayerful procession to take the pope's body, already in its coffin, from the chapel, into St. Peter's Square and then into the basilica.

According to the book of rites, he will say, "Dearest brothers and sisters, with great emotion we accompany the mortal remains of our Pope Francis into the Vatican basilica where he often exercised his ministry as the bishop of the church that is in Rome and as pastor of the universal church."
 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis' final moments were peaceful, and he managed to give one last farewell to his nurse, Massimiliano Strappetti, before slipping into a coma early April 21, Vatican News reported.

Among his last words were his thanks to Strappetti late April 20 when he said, "Thank you for bringing me back to the square," referring to the pope's surprise appearance after giving his Easter blessing from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica.

The 88-year-old pope, who was still recovering from pneumonia, did not attend the Easter Mass April 20, but he did appear shortly after noon to give the solemn blessing. With his voice still weak, he wished everyone a Happy Easter and he barely raised his arms as he made the sign of the cross. 

"The pope wanted to make one last significant surprise by going to St. Peter's Square for a ride in the popemobile," Vatican News said in a report April 22. However, the pope was a little unsure and asked Strappetti, "Do you think I can do it?"

The nurse, who had been by his side for the 38 days he was hospitalized in Rome's Gemelli hospital and then by his bedside 24/7 at the pope's residence in the Domus Sanctae Marthae since his return March 23, reassured him that he could, Vatican News reported. 

For 15 minutes, Pope Francis rode around St. Peter's Square and a portion of the wide boulevard leading to the square, filled with about 50,000 people. He blessed a few babies and tried to wave; the crowds were thrilled, waving and running where possible to get a closer view. 

Even though the pope made a number of surprise appearances in his wheelchair in St. Peter's Basilica after he was discharged from the hospital and he appeared briefly in the square in his wheelchair at the end of the closing Mass of the Jubilee of the Sick and Health Care Workers April 6 and Palm Sunday April 13, Easter marked his first open popemobile ride since his one-day trip to Corsica in December.

Vatican News reported the pope returned to his residence April 20 "tired, but happy" and he thanked Strappetti for "bringing me back to the square." The pope hired him to be his personal nurse in 2022.

The pope then rested that afternoon and had a relaxing dinner, Vatican News said.

The first signs that something was wrong happened the next day around 5:30 a.m. followed by "prompt intervention by those watching over him," it said. 

More than an hour later, the pope, who was lying on his bed in his apartment, gestured to wave farewell to Strappetti and slipped into a coma, it said.

"He did not suffer, everything happened quickly," according to those who were with the pope those final moments, Vatican News reported.

The pope died at 7:35 a.m. from a stroke, the coma and heart failure, the Vatican said.

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Reporting by CNS Rome is made possible by the Catholic Communication Campaign. Give to the CCC special collection in your diocese May 10-11 or any time at: https://bit.ly/CCC-give

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis was a pastor first, "so consistently, so spontaneously and with such deep conviction," that it will remain a gift to the Catholic Church, said Cardinal Michael Czerny.

The cardinal, who served as prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, spoke with Catholic News Service April 22, the day after Pope Francis died at the age of 88.

"Pope Francis will be remembered as a pastoral pope," he said. "The word 'pastoral' is easy to use, and you can apply it to many things, but to see it lived consistently by the person with the highest responsibility in the church is a really important contribution."

Cardinal Czerny, 78, said it is not that previous popes were not pastoral, but Pope Francis excelled at "showing how the church was first and foremost interested in the welfare, the salvation, the happiness, the development of people and ready to reach out as far as possible, to accompany people in their path of salvation and of development." 

Making the pastoral a priority -- learning "to go out and bring the Gospel to reality, to all creation" -- is something the church needs "to relearn" with every generation, the cardinal said. "And Pope Francis showed us how."

Cardinal Czerny, a Jesuit like Pope Francis, said the late pope clearly embodied the Jesuit ideal of "finding God in all things."

"He was able to find God and to hope to meet God in every circumstance and in every person," the cardinal said. "He never gave up on 'these people' or on 'that situation,' and that's also a gift of our spirituality, which, in a sense, overcomes a false distinction between what's religious and what isn't."

One of the aims of the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order, is to help believers focus on finding "the freedom to serve God and to serve people free from the forces, the powers, the confusions that can lead us in the wrong way," the cardinal said.

"I will personally remember him for his freedom," he said. "I found him so free in his attitudes, in his reactions and his responses."

Unlike his two predecessors, St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis did not participate in the Second Vatican Council. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1969, four years after the council ended.

But, Cardinal Czerny said, "his legacy to the church at large will be his renewal of the implementation of Vatican II, and precisely the implementation of Vatican II as a pastoral council. This is something that we urgently needed, and which he began wholeheartedly and developed in many interesting directions, but always very, very faithful to the council, always rooted in the council."

Pope Francis advocated tirelessly for the people and issues Cardinal Czerny's dicastery focuses on most: migrants, refugees, the poor, peace and the environment. 

Asked if people accepted the pope's teaching on the Christian requirement to "listen to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth," the cardinal said, "In fact, the people have accepted it. The governments haven't."

"I think he has reached people -- ordinary people, parishes, other communities, Christian movements, and also groupings and movements of people outside the church," the cardinal said. "He has reached them widely and deeply."

"And it's a real pity that governments are opting for short term gain, populism, with their eye only on the next election and on the bottom line," the Cardinal Czerny said. "It's up to people to correct their governments, and I really hope this will happen."

The cardinal said the migrants, refugees and poor people he works with have reacted to Pope Francis' death much like he has.

"First of all, we're shocked because we didn't expect it; seeing the Holy Father on Sunday doesn't prepare you for hearing that he died on Monday morning," he said.

But "at the same time, the real feeling is not the shock or even the sorrow, but gratitude," he said. "We can't help thinking of him without gratitude, without thanking God for this pastor, this pastor with the smell of the sheep, who has guided and encouraged the church so much over the past 12 years and who leaves us with hope and with a lot to do."
 

The first General Congregation of the College of Cardinals takes place in the Vatican, marking the beginning of a period of prayer, reflection, and preparation following the death of Pope Francis.

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Among the final words of the late Pope Francis was a "thank you" to his personal healthcare assistant, Massimiliano Strappetti, for encouraging him to take one last ride in the popemobile on Sunday after the Urbi et Orbi. He rested in the afternoon, had a quiet dinner, and then at dawn suddenly fell ill and died.

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The body of the late Pope Francis will be transferred to St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday to lie in state until his funeral on Saturday morning.

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Cardinal Camerlengo Kevin Farrell presides over the rite of the ascertainment of death and the placement of the late Pope Francis' body in the coffin, which took place on Monday evening in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta.

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