Everything to know about Pope Francis funeral

Pope Francis died at 88 on Monday — just one day after making an appearance at St.Peter’s Square in his final public appearance on Easter Sunday.

Francis, 88, died of a stroke Monday after a weeks-long battle with pneumonia that left him hospitalized.He’d managed to return to the papal residence recently, however, and made a final appearance to crowds in St.Peter’s Square for Easter Sunday hours before his death.Francis awoke the next morning feeling unwell, and his health rapidly deteriorated before he slipped into a coma and died.

Officials who were on-hand say he was peaceful and did not suffer.In the year before his death Francis laid plans for his funeral — which he insisted on keeping a modest affair that celebrated piety over personal fanfare.Viewers in the US will need to tune in early as the procession will begin at 9 a.m.local time — which is 3 a.m.

EST.The actual funeral service will begin at 10 a.m.local time, and be held in St.

Peter’s Square outside of the more than 500-year-old basilica.Pope Francis’ funeral will be televised on most major news networks, and on their websites and YouTube channels.NBC News has confirmed it will be broadcasting the entire funeral on its local television channels, and also on its streaming apps like Peacock.The BBC will also stream live coverage on its website.The funeral is expected to be attended by numerous world leaders, including President Trump, Prince William, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and the British prime minister, to name a few.Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re — the 91-year-old Dean of the College of Cardinals — will preside over the service, according to Vatican News.Afterwards, Francis’ body will then be taken across Rome to the St.Mary Major basilica for burial.Francis’ funeral will begin an official nine-day period of mourning.Conclave — the process by which the world’s cardinals pick the next pope in a closed-door ritual — will likely begin in early May, and ty...