Söder and Steinmeier travel to Rome for the historical pope burial!

Söder and Steinmeier travel to Rome for the historical pope burial!

Rom, Italien - Next Saturday, April 25, 2025, Pope Francis will be buried in a moving ceremony in the Vatican. The funeral service, which begins at 10:00 a.m. on St. Peter's Square, is headed by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re. Reports from pn.de , around 200,000 funeral guests are expected, including a variety of prominent state guests.

Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the managing Chancellor Olaf Scholz will be present among the German participants. Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) has also announced his participation and is expected to fly from Berlin. The ceremony is also accompanied by other international leaders, including the Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj and US President Donald Trump, who will travel together with his wife Melania.

international state guests and cancellations

The funeral ceremony is not only visited by German heads of state, but also by numerous other international representatives. Among other things, France's President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Strandmer and the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who canceled her trips to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, have promised to participate. Austria is represented by Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and ÖVP Chancellor Christian Stocker.

also royal representatives from different countries, including King Felipe and Queen Letizia of Spain as well as King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, will take part in the celebrations. Polish President Andrzej Duda declared the mourning day a national day of commemoration.

Details about the funeral ceremony

Pope Francis, who died on a stroke on Easter Monday, is buried in the Santa Maria Maggiore church. The funeral service in Rome is visited by over a million pilgrims and other international guests. It is unclear whether China will send an official delegation after the spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry could not provide any information.

Overall, the burial of Pope Francis becomes a symbolic event that will combine the world in its grief. Further details on the celebrations are continuously added to ensure that the global community can appropriately appreciate the loss of one of the most influential religious leaders in history. The atmosphere is expected to be both festive and sad, while the world mourns the legacy of Pope Francis.