The Vatican has released images of Pope Francis lying in an open coffin, taken during the Confirmation of the Death of the Pontiff ceremony held on Monday.
The images show the late pontiff dressed in red liturgical vestments, wearing a bishop’s mitre, and holding a rosary in his folded hands, resting in an open coffin inside the chapel of Casa Santa Marta, his Vatican residence.
Pope Francis, who passed away on Monday, April 21, 2025, at age 88 after suffering a stroke that led to irreversible heart failure, had been hospitalized recently for pneumonia.
His funeral is set to take place on Saturday at 10:00 am (0800 GMT) in the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
“He did not suffer. It all happened quickly,” Vatican News reported, citing those who were with the pontiff in his final moments. Before falling into a coma, Pope Francis waved to his personal nurse Massimiliano Strappetti from his bed, in what was described as “a gesture of farewell.”
