Photos: Pope Francis lies still in open coffin ahead of his funeral - Red robe, mitre on head and rosary in hand

Pope Francis stated in his last will and testament that he would be laid to rest at the basilica of St. Mary Major, which is outside the Vatican. ...read more

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Updated on Apr 22, 2025 06:20 PM IST

A pope's death initiates a sequence of meticulously planned ceremonies and rites even before the conclave to select his successor starts. They include the funeral and burial once the death certificate is certified and his body is publicly displayed for the faithful to pay their condolences.(AP)

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Updated on Apr 22, 2025 06:20 PM IST

On Tuesday, the Vatican released a picture and a video of Pope Francis in his open casket, wearing a red robe, holding a rosary, and wearing the papal mitre on his head. (AFP)

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Updated on Apr 22, 2025 06:20 PM IST

The photos were taken in the chapel of the Casa Santa Marta, Francis's residence at the Vatican where he died Monday, age 88.(AFP)

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Updated on Apr 22, 2025 06:20 PM IST

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, left, prays in front of the body of Pope Francis laid out in state inside his private chapel at the Vatican, Monday, April 21, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP, HO)

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Updated on Apr 22, 2025 06:20 PM IST

A Catholic nun of the Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Saint Teresa, prays as a portrait of Pope Francis, placed over the saint’s tomb following his death, in Kolkata, India, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)  

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Updated on Apr 22, 2025 06:20 PM IST

Devotees carry a cutout of the late Pope Francis during a procession ahead of a prayer in Dili, East Timor, Tuesday, April 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Lorenio L.Pereira)

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Updated on Apr 22, 2025 06:20 PM IST

People attend a ceremony inside Notre Dame cathedral where a poster shows Pope Francis following the Vatican’s announcement of his death, Monday, April 21, 2025 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

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Updated on Apr 22, 2025 06:20 PM IST

In a private ceremony, Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the Vatican camerlengo, or "chamberlain," who effectively serves as head of the Vatican between the end of one papacy and the beginning of the next, read the official declaration of death aloud after the pontiff's body was placed in the coffin late Monday night.