Pope Francis, the world’s first Latin American pontiff, died Monday. His funeral will be held Saturday. Follow the Star’s live updates.
Pope Francis lies in state in St. Peter’s Basilica ahead of his funeral on Saturday in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.
Canadian Bishops, Métis leader attending funeral for Pope Francis
Donald Bolen, the archbishop of Regina, is travelling to Vatican City for Saturday’s funeral of Pope Francis — a journey, he says, is to honour a pontiff who mirrored his vision and his compassion.
“When (Francis) put out a book called ‘The Name of God is Mercy,’ I smiled. Because my episcopal motto is ‘mercy within mercy within mercy’ — very much that same understanding,” Bolen said in an interview.
“I had enormous respect for Pope Francis through his pontificate.”
Bolen said the pope’s devotion to dialogue and international collaboration was inspiring, as was his commitment to justice.
Carney will not attend Pope Francis's funeral
Prime Minister Mark Carney just told reporters he will not attend the Pope’s funeral Saturday because of the “importance of the nature of this election” campaign that concludes Monday.
Speaking in Victoria, Carney said Governor General Mary Simon will represent Canada, “so we’re represented at the highest level, appropriately so, and we’ll also have a senior delegation.”
Iconic images of Pope Francis' procession captured by AP photographer
The body of Pope Francis is carried into St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, where he will lie in state for three days.
Emilio Morenatti/APVATICAN CITY—Emilio Morenatti, chief photographer in Spain for The Associated Press, arrived in St. Peter’s Square before sunrise to wait for Pope Francis’ casket to pass through the crowd and into St. Peter’s Basilica.
As the pallbearers approached with Francis atop their shoulders, the faithful in rows behind, Morenatti used an extendable pole to lift his camera 2 meters (6.6 feet) above and secure the first close-up pictures of Francis during the procession.
As he was shooting these photos, Morenatti heard someone crying behind him. Without moving from his spot, he turned to find a nun with her eyes flooded with tears, and took her picture.
She explained the depth of her grief over Pope Francis’ passing: “He was everything to me.”
A nun cries as the body of Pope Francis is carried into St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
Emilio Morenatti/AP
JD Vance says it’s ‘pretty crazy’ he met Pope Francis hours before death
The U.S. vice president told reporters he “obviously” didn’t realize he’d be one of the last officials to see the pope, but called their Easter meeting “a great blessing.”
“I try to just, you know, remember that I was lucky that I got to shake his hand and tell him that I pray for him every day, because I did and I do,” Vance, a Catholic convert, said Wednesday during his visit to India.
Italy’s prime minister celebrates ‘the people’s pope’
Speaking at the Italian parliament on Wednesday, conservative Premier shared some personal advice Pope Francis gave her: “Never lose your sense of humor.”
But alongside this cheerful demeanor, Meloni praised Francis’ fortitude and courage to “go against the current.” She pointed to his constant appeals for peace in conflicts like Ukraine, the Middle East and North Africa — knowing his words might be distorted.
She also celebrated the late pope’s ability to talk freely with anyone, despite his exalted position.
“With him you were at ease, you could open up, without filters, without fear of being judged,” she told lawmakers. “He could see your soul, lay it bare.”
Two conservative cardinals bow out of the upcoming conclave to elect next pope
This brings the number of cardinal electors to 133 and deprives the conservative bloc of two necessary votes.
The Archdiocese of Valencia on Wednesday confirmed that Spanish Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, 79, will not be attending due to his health. Bosnian Cardinal Vinko Puljic, 79, said he would also not attend, citing health reasons, the Croatian HRT public broadcaster reported.
Cardinals have not yet said when the conclave would begin, but it could be as soon as May 5.
Faithful join a long line into St Peter’s Square to view the body of Pope Francis.
Christopher Furlong Getty Images
Faithful wait in line to pay their respects, as the body of Pope Francis lies in state after being transferred into St Peter’s Basilica.
Mario Tama/Getty Images
Viewing hours extended to accommodate mourners
A general view as the body of Pope Francis is transferred into the Basilica at St Peter’s Square on April 23, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican. On the third day since the death of Pope Francis was announced by the Vatican, his body is transferred from the Chapel of Santa Marta to the Basilica St Peter. He will lie in state in a simple wooden coffin until his funeral, which will be held on Saturday, 26th April 2025.
Mario Tama Getty ImagesThe basilica will be kept open until midnight on Wednesday and Thursday to allow the faithful to mourn. The public mourning period will end on Friday at 7 p.m. local time.
Israeli Foreign Ministry deletes its pope condolence post
The ministry refused to comment on its decision to post and then quickly delete the post on X, which said: “Rest in peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing.” According to Israeli media, Israeli ambassadors, especially those serving in predominantly Catholic countries, were furious over the deleted post.
Pope Francis was , and , but had also called on Hamas to release the hostages and condemned the rise in antisemitism. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not made any public comment on the pope’s passing.
Vatican may keep St. Peter’s open past midnight for Pope Francis’ viewing
People queue in St. Peter’s Square to pay their respect to the late Pope Francis, who will lie in state at St. Peter’s Basilica for three days, at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025.
Emilio Morenatti APCiting the “elevated turnout’’ of faithful paying their respects, the Vatican said Wednesday that it may keep St. Peter’s Basilica open past midnight. No official numbers of how many people have entered the basilica have yet been released.
Thousands of people have been lining up in St. Peter’s Square since early Wednesday morning, some waiting hours to enter the basilica where Francis’ open casket has been set in front of the main altar. The initial plan was for the basilica to stay open until midnight Wednesday and Thursday, with the official period of mourning closing on Friday at 7 p.m. ahead of Saturday’s funeral.
Pope Francis converted to the environmental cause and denounced those he blamed for climate change
Pope Francis speaks at a conference with religious leaders in an appeal to governments to commit to ambitious climate targets, at the Vatican, Oct. 4, 2021.
Alessandro Di Meo/APFew moments in Pope Francis’ papacy better exemplify his understanding of climate change and the need to address it than the rain-soaked Mass he celebrated in Tacloban, Philippines, in 2015.
Wearing one of the cheap plastic yellow ponchos that were handed out to the faithful, Francis experienced first-hand the type of freak, extreme storms that scientists blame on global warming and are increasingly striking vulnerable, low-lying islands.
He had traveled to Tacloban, on the island of Leyte, to comfort survivors of one of the strongest recorded tropical cyclones, Typhoon Haiyan. The 2013 storm killed more than 7,300 people, flattened villages and displaced about 5 million residents.
Who are the Jesuits, Pope Francis’ religious order?
The Rev. Brian Strassburger, left, and the Rev. Flavio Bravo, right, bless migrants during Mass at the Casa del Migrant shelter in Reynosa, Mexico, on Dec. 15, 2022.
Giovanna Dell'Orto/AP file photoPope Francis was the first pontiff elected from the Society of Jesus — also known as the Jesuits.
It’s one of the most prominent religious orders in the Catholic Church, with approximately 15,000 priests, brothers and novices from more than 110 countries.
Their reach extends from prestigious universities in world capitals to humble migrant shelters in sweltering jungle hamlets, all in pursuit of the mission encapsulated in their motto — “ad majorem Dei gloriam” (“for the greater glory of God”).
Cardinals speak about needs of Catholic Church while honoring pope
Cardinals look on as the body of Pope Francis is transferred into the Basilica at St Peter’s Square on April 23, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican.
Mario Tama/Getty ImagesCardinal Lazarus You Heung-sik, the South Korean head of the Vatican’s office for priests, said he expected a short conclave but is non-committal on whether an Asian might be elected.
“For the Lord there is no west, nor east,” he said.
When asked by reporters what the church needs today, Cardinal Mario Zenari, the Vatican’s ambassador to Syria, referred to Francis’ call for the church to go out and meet the faithful where they are.
”(The pope) used very nice expressions ‘The church that goes out’, ‘The church as a field hospital,’ ‘The church as a house with open doors,’” Zenari said, adding that it was “the right direction.”
Throngs of faithful start paying final respects to pope
Pilgrims and visitors stand next to barriers and next to an Italian police officer, as they wait to enter the St Peter’s Basilica and pay respects to the late Pope, on Via della Conciliazione in Rome on April 23, 2025.
Andrej Sakovic/AFP via Getty ImagesThey made their way slowly to the main altar of the 16th-century St. Peter’s Basilica, where Francis’ simple wooden casket was perched on a slight ramp, as four Swiss Guards stood at attention.
Over the coming days, tens of thousands of people are expected to pass through the basilica.
Pope Francis had a troubled course on dealing with clergy sexual abuse
From left, survivor-activists Denise Buchanan, Peter Isely, Leona Huggins and Timothy Law hold a wooden cross as they arrive at the Vatican, Sept. 27, 2023, at the end of their pilgrimage to protest the pope’s failure to end clergy abuse.
Riccardo De Luca/AP file photoVATICAN CITY—Few could have predicted that a comment Pope Francis made during a 2018 visit to Chile would blow up into the biggest crisis of his papacy, and one that eventually set the Catholic Church on a new path of accountability for clergy sexual abuse.
Francis was asked by a TV reporter about a Chilean bishop who had been accused by victims of having covered up the crimes of Chile’s most notorious pedophile. Francis had been defending the bishop for years and shot back that there was “not one shred of proof against him. It’s all slander. Is that clear?”
His irate response struck a nerve in Chile and it prompted Francis’ top child protection adviser to sternly rebuke the pope for his harmful words.
St. Peter’s Basilica opens to the public to pay their respects
A general view as the body of Pope Francis is transferred into the Basilica at Saint Peter’s Square on April 23, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican.
Mario Tama/Getty ImagesVATICAN CITY—The Vatican opened St. Peter’s Basilica to the general public Wednesday to pay their final respects to Pope Francis, with thousands of people filling the central aisle and Swiss Guards standing at attention.
Francis’ body will lie in state in the basilica until Saturday’s funeral and burial.
Earlier, the bells of St. Peter’s tolled as his body was transferred from the Vatican hotel where he lived into the basilica, escorted by a procession of solemn cardinals and Swiss Guards through the same piazza where the pontiff had greeted the faithful from his popemobile just days before in what became his final good-bye.
Pope Francis’ funeral to be held Saturday
Pope Francis will be laid to rest Saturday at 10 a.m. after lying in state for three days in St. Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff.
The cardinals met Tuesday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10.
These are the need-to-know terms — some of them in Latin — to help make sense of news in the coming days. (AP Video / April 22, 2025)
