Head of state Jakov Milatović will attend the funeral of Pope Francis, scheduled for Saturday, in Rome - the office of the President of Montenegro told ''Vijesti''.
The funeral ceremony for Pope Francis, who died on Monday at the age of 88, will begin on Saturday in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, and the coffin will then be transferred to the Basilica of St. Mary Major in central Rome, where the funeral will take place, the Vatican said in a statement.
In his will, Francis expressed his wish to be buried in Rome's Basilica of Saint Mary Major, rather than in Saint Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, like many of his predecessors.
The Pope died after a months-long battle with illness. According to Vatican doctors, the cause of death was a stroke.
The Government did not respond to "Vijesti" whether anyone from the executive branch will attend the funeral. According to unofficial information from the newspaper, it is not ruled out that no one from the executive branch will go to Rome, as Prime Minister Milojko Spajić is on an official visit to Washington until April 28, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ervin Ibrahimović has scheduled an official visit to North Macedonia from today until April 26.
When asked by ''Vijesti'' whether anyone would attend Pope Francis' funeral, the Assembly did not respond either. However, one of its vice-presidents, Nikola Camaj (Albanian Forum), told the newspaper that someone from the highest legislative chamber would definitely travel to Rome.
The funeral will, according to announcements, be attended by top world leaders, including the first man of the United States of America (USA) Donald Trump, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, and the head of the European Council Antonio Koštu.
The funeral will be attended by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Prince of Wales William, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and, as reported by world media, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is also expected to attend.
The arrival was also announced by Argentine President Javier Milay and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, as well as, as reported by N1, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Spanish King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, Belgian King Philippe and Queen Mathilde, Prince Albert II of Monaco and his wife Charlene...
From the region, the President and Prime Minister of Croatia, Zoran Milanović and Andrej Plenković, have so far announced their attendance at the funeral, as well as the President of Slovenia, Nataša Pirc Musar, and the Prime Minister of Slovenia, Robert Golob.
The Public Order and Security Committee of the Prefecture of Rome, at a meeting chaired by Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi, estimated that more than 200.000 people will be in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican on Saturday morning for the funeral of Pope Francis.
The first pope from Latin America, he did not hesitate to face problems
Francis was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio on December 17, 1936, in the working-class neighborhood of Flores, Buenos Aires, to an Italian immigrant father and an Italian-born mother. He was the first pope from Latin America and the Western Hemisphere, and the first non-European pontiff since the Syrian-born Gregory III, who reigned from 731 to 741.
In this sense, his arrival at the head of the Holy See on March 13, 2013, was a reflection of the reorientation of Roman Catholicism in the modern era from its historical stronghold in Europe towards the Americas, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, according to the Financial Times.
Like his German predecessor Benedict XVI, Francis has struggled with the legacy of John Paul II (1978–2005), the second-longest-serving pope in the more than 2.000-year history of the Roman Catholic Church. John's reign has been plagued by a number of problems, from financial scandals and sexual abuse within the ranks of the church to conflicts over doctrine and, critics say, excessive centralization of the Church under the Polish pontiff.
Francis, known for his humble lifestyle, chose his papal name to recall the humility of St. Francis of Assisi. Yet he never hesitated to confront opponents and speak out forcefully on the burning issues of his time, the British newspaper points out.
In the final months of his pontificate, Francis sharply criticized the Donald Trump administration’s plans for “mass deportations” of migrants. In a letter to US bishops that some commentators interpreted as an implicit criticism of J.D. Vance, Trump’s Catholic vice president, the pope condemned measures that “link the illegal status of some migrants with criminality.” The pope received Vance for a brief private audience before his death on Easter Monday. The US vice president also met with senior church officials who conveyed the Vatican’s concerns about Washington’s immigration policies.
In an attempt to heal divisions and set a long-term direction for the future, Francis convened a synod of senior prelates and laypeople in October 2023 to discuss the most pressing issues facing the Church and its faithful worldwide, which the Vatican estimates numbered around 1,39 billion in 2022. The strongest proposal from the synod’s final documents was a call for greater participation of women in Church leadership positions. However, this remained at the level of a recommendation for the pope’s consideration.
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