On Easter Monday (April 21), the first Latin American leader of the Catholic Church passed away at the age of 88.
This came less than 24 hours after appearing in a wheelchair at St Peter’s Square to lead an Easter address in front of thousands of worshipers.
His passing followed a period of ill-health that saw him spend five weeks in hospital with double pneumonia.
Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, will preside at the Rite of Sealing of the Coffin of the late Pope Francis on Friday, April 25, at 8:00 PM, ahead of the papal funeral on Saturday morning.
The liturgical rite will be attended by several Cardinals and… pic.twitter.com/7jN1ROsL91
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) April 24, 2025
Born on December 17, 1936, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Jorge Mario Bergoglio succeeded Pope Benedict XVI in 2013 and served for 12 years.
The Vatican has announced his funeral will take place on Satudray, April 26.
BBC announces schedule change to show Pope Francis’s funeral
The Pope’s funeral will take place at 9am BST (10am local time) on Saturday morning in St Peter’s Square, according to The Times.
For the third night, people gathered at the Basilica of St. Mary Major to pray the Rosary in suffrage for Pope Francis, led by Cardinal Baldassare Reina.. pic.twitter.com/Mmwjln83H5
— Vatican News (@VaticanNews) April 23, 2025
On the Radio Times schedule, BBC One will have a programme showing the funeral between 8.30am and 12.30pm.
No further details have been stated at the time of writing, except that Reeta Chakrabarti will be presenting.
Due to the timing of the programme, it will cut into the slot used by BBC Breakfast which usually runs until 10am.
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Additionally, Saturday Kitchen Live, Mary Berry – Love to Cook, and Football Focus will all be moved over to BBC Two.
Live coverage of the funeral is expected across all main TV news services, including BBC News Channel and Sky News.
Additionally, the Vatican website and YouTube channel will have live coverage of the event.
