Among the final words of the Pope was a thank you to the nurse who had helped him through his recent illness and allowed him to surprise crowds in St Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday with a short tour in the Popemobile.
“Thanks for bringing me to the square,” Francis told Massimiliano Strappetti, his personal healthcare assistant since 2022, the Vatican’s official news outlet reported.
The Pope initially had doubts about the Easter Sunday Popemobile ride. “Do you think I can manage it?” the pontiff had asked Mr Strappetti.
Meanwhile, Kensington Palace announced on Tuesday that the Prince of Wales will attend the Pope’s funeral on behalf of King Charles III. William will travel to Vatican City on Saturday and the decision is in keeping with modern tradition.
The pope, aged 88, died on Monday morning from a stroke and heart failure. He had spent 38 days in hospital fighting double pneumonia but returned to the Vatican almost a month ago and had seemed to be recovering.
Francis spent his final day working, defying the advice of doctors who had told him to take two months’ rest to allow his ageing body to heal.
About 35,000 Catholic faithful lined the aisles inside St Peter’s Square on Sunday as the pope made his tour, seated in a raised chair in the back of the Popemobile. There were shouts of “viva il papa” (long live the Pope) and the vehicle stopped occasionally so Francis could bless babies brought forward by aides.
The rest of the pope’s final day was spent normally, the Vatican News reported. He had a “peaceful dinner,” it said. The first signs of a “sudden illness” occurred at 5:30 am local time [0300 GMT] on Monday.
“A little more than an hour later, making a farewell gesture with his hand to Strappetti … the pontiff went into a coma,” said the outlet. “He did not suffer, and it all happened very fast.”
The Vatican on Tuesday released photographs of Francis dressed in his vestments and holding a rosary, lying in an open coffin placed in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence, where he lived during his 12-year papacy.
Vatican Pope Francis Obit (Vatican Media)
His body will be taken into the adjacent St Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday morning at 9:00 am local time [0700 GMT] in a procession led by cardinals. He will lie in state there until Friday evening.
His funeral service will be held at 10:00 am. the following day in St Peter’s Square, in front of the 16th century basilica. It will be presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals.
The Prince of Wales will attend in what will be seen as a major milestone in William’s role as a global statesman and future king.
Charles as the Prince of Wales went to Pope John Paul II’s funeral, representing his mother the late Queen, in 2005. Queen Elizabeth II never attended the funeral of a pontiff, the head of the Roman Catholic Church.
William will gather alongside world leaders including Sir Keir Starmer and US president Donald Trump.
Francis was the first pontiff from Latin American and charmed the world with his humble style and concern for the poor but alienated many political conservatives with critiques of capitalism and climate change.
In a break from tradition, Francis confirmed in his final testament that he wished to be buried in Rome’s Basilica of Saint Mary Major and not St Peter’s, where many of his predecessors were laid to rest.
Francis’s death has set in motion ancient rituals, as the 1.4-billion-member Church started the transition from one pope to another, including the breaking of the pope’s “Fisherman’s Ring” and lead seal, used in his lifetime to seal documents, so they cannot be used by anyone else.
A conclave to choose a new pope normally takes place 15 to 20 days after the death of a pontiff, meaning it should not start before 6 May. The exact date will be decided by cardinals after Francis’s funeral.
Some 135 cardinals are eligible to participate in the secretive ballot, which can stretch over days before white smoke pouring from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel tells the world that a new pope has been picked.
There is no clear frontrunner to succeed Francis.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
