The “entrance antiphon” that started the ceremony was taken from Psalm 64, verses 2-5. “Praise is due to you in Zion, O God. To you we pay our vows in Jerusalem,” it began.
An antiphons is a passage from scripture, usually one of the psalms, sung as a refrain at the start of liturgical ceremonies.
Reporting from Vatican City
Police and the authorities have told NBC News that the biggest challenge of today is that procession route with Francis’ coffin will move at walking pace through the heart of Rome after the funeral at St. Peter’s Basilica.
It will travel from around 4 miles from St. Peter’s Square to his final resting place in Santa Maria Major, a church he visited 125 times, including on the first day that he was named Pope. He prayed there often.
At the basilica in the center of Rome, there will be a crowd of people there, including poor people, marginalized people, lining the steps as he enters that Basilica.
This is what Pope Francis designed. This is what he wanted, to end the day among the people, among the marginalized communities that he cared so deeply about.
Reporting from Vatican City
There was a huge round of applause when the crowd here saw the coffin being taken out of St. Peter’s Basilica and into the square on the huge jumbotron.
It’s a beautiful sunny day here, not a single cloud in the sky, a perfect day for a solemn occasion.
Reporting from Vatican City
Thousands gather for the funeral in St. Peter’s square.Martina Ucci
There are at least 4,000 police officers on duty as the funeral takes place and at least 3,000 volunteers are helping those who have come to pay their respects.
The order of service, published by the Vatican, contains the prayers and hymns of today’s mass in English and Italian.
The second reading comes from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians.
“Brothers and sisters, our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”
The liturgy is now taking place with the first reading the funeral coming from the Acts of the Apostles.
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Henry Nicholls / AFP via Getty Images
Crowds gather beneath a banner reading “Thank you, Francisco,” in Italian as others line the streets near the Vatican to watch funeral coverage on a large screen.
The funeral service is being led by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re.
Born in Brescia, Italy, the 91-year-old has spent five decades serving in the Roman Curia since being ordained in 1957. In 2001, Pope John Paul II proclaimed him as a cardinal.
In January, he became the dean of the College of Cardinals, the body comprised of the most senior figures of the Catholic Church, and the one which will decide the next pope in a highly secretive ritual known as the conclave.
However, he won’t participate in the upcoming conclave as cardinals over the age of 80 are excluded from voting.
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Pope Francis’ coffin has been laid in the square in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, signalling the start of the funeral service which will be led by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
Tiziana Fabi / AFP – Getty Images
Reporting from Vatican City
The late pope’s tombstone is made of marble from the northern Italian region of Liguria, where Francis’ grandparents were from, according to the Vatican.
President Donald Trump is one of the many world leaders to join the crowds in St. Peter’s Square for the funeral, which has now been closed to the public after reaching full capacity of 50,000 people.
Tiziana Fabi / AFP – Getty Images
His predecessor Joe Biden is also attending along with Britain’s Prince William. King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain, Sweden’s King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia, will be among other European royal families represented, along with Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit.
Britain’s Prince William ahead of the funeral ceremony.Alberto Pizzoli / AFP – Getty Images
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, French President Emmanuel Macron and United Nations Secretary General António Guterres are among the 164 foreign delegations invited to attend. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, are also in Rome for the funeral.
The guests will be seated according to French alphabetical order.
Reporting from Vatican City
A group of poor and needy people will welcome Pope Francis body at St Mary Major, where he will be buried later today, symbolizing the legacy left behind the late pontiff, who chose his papal name to emphasize the spirit of poverty and peace embodied by Saint Francis of Assisi.
“For this reason, a group of poor and needy people will be present on the steps leading to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major to pay their final respects to Pope Francis before the entombment of his casket,” the Vatican said Thursday.
It is very symbolic of the Pope’s life, pontificate and legacy that the rich and powerful, including the heads of state, cardinals, and clergy of the world will bid him farewell when he leaves St. Peter’s Square one last time after the funeral, and the poor and destitute will welcome him on the steps of the Basilica where he will rest in peace.
Reporting from Vatican City
About an hour before the funeral of Pope Francis gets underway, St. Peter’s Square looks close to reaching its full capacity of 40,000 people, police said.
An estimated 100,000 people are already present on Via della Conciliazione, the large road which leads up to St. Peter’s Square and along the access roads, the force said in a statement, adding that 140 delegations have already entered the Vatican this morning.
In life, Pope Francis strayed from the more conservative path forged by his predecessors Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict.
But in death, Francis will follow many of John Paul’s footsteps.
The demise of the first Argentine to lead the Roman Catholic Church set into motion a series of rituals, some of which go back more than 2,000 years and have been used to bury more than 250 popes.
They are compiled in a more than 400-page tome called the “Ordo exsequiarum Romani pontificis,” which includes the liturgy, music and prayers used for papal funerals over the centuries.
As thousands are set to gather for Pope Francis’ funeral on Saturday, security will be on high alert with thousands of police and special forces on the ground, aerial surveillance, and an anti-drone military unit in the area. NBC’s Molly Hunter reports for TODAY.
Most internal promotions don’t get this much attention. Most job selection processes don’t have centuries of history behind them — and few, if any, have a special name.
But then, most job selections don’t end with a new pope.
Catholic cardinals from around the world are converging on Vatican City in advance of the conclave that will elect the successor to Pope Francis, who died Monday. Favorites have emerged, and once the conclave begins it likely won’t be long before a new pope is announced, as data shows that conclaves don’t take as long as they used to.
Conclaves were first used to elect a pope about eight centuries ago, with early elections lasting months, even years.
