A number of global leaders have announced they will travel to Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, which is likely to draw huge crowds in the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
Here is a list of the expected VIP guests:
US President Donald Trump said he and his wife Melania would attend the ceremony, adding in a social media post that “We look forward to being there!
“Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him!” he said in another post.
President Javier Milei of Argentina, where Francis, the first Latin American pope, was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 1936, will also attend, his office said.
The pope had a delicate relationship with politics in his homeland, but Milei hailed his “goodness and wisdom”.
Europe
EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa, head of the European Council, will both travel to Rome, officials said.
King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain will attend, the royal palace said, with Felipe calling the 88-year-old Argentine pontiff “an enormous ethical beacon of our world, of our time”.
French President Emmanuel Macron, who cut short a visit to France’s Indian Ocean territories after the pope’s death, told reporters: “We will attend the pope’s funeral as we should”.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is also expected along with President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who will lead Germany’s delegation.
But incoming chancellor Friedrich Merz, who expressed “great sorrow” at Francis’s death, will not attend following his conservative party’s election victory in February.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer will attend, his office said, though Buckingham Palace has yet to say whether head of state King Charles III will join him.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who said Francis had “prayed for peace in Ukraine”, will attend with his wife Olena Zelenska.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over his invasion of Ukraine, will not attend, the Kremlin said.
Belgium’s Prime Minister Bart De Wever will attend, as will King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, who attended a mass celebrated by Francis in Belgium in September 2024, one of his last foreign visits.
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda, who declared a national day of mourning for Saturday, will be among the mourners with his wife, his office said.
Portugal’s President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister Luis Montenegro will lead a delegation to Rome.
Hungary’s President Tamas Sulyok has confirmed his attendance, as have Austria’s Chancellor Christian Stocker and Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar, who will be in Rome with Prime Minister Robert Golob.
