Sir Keir Starmer among world leaders to attend Pope Franciss funeral

Sir Keir Starmer will be among world leaders and dignitaries to attend the funeral of Pope Francis this weekend.

The late pontiff will be buried on Saturday, following his death on Easter Monday aged 88.

His body will be laid out for public view from Wednesday in St Peter’s Basilica, so mourners can pay their respects to a man dubbed the People’s Pope.

The Prime Minister will join other leaders including US President Donald Trump, who had already said on social media that he and his wife Melania plan to attend the funeral.

Sir Keir said the “outpouring of grief” following Francis’s death reflects the “high esteem” in which the Pope was held “not just by millions and millions of Catholics, but by many others across the world, myself included”.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, the PM said the Pope was “a quite remarkable man, and the work and commitment that he put into fairness over so many years, and globally, I think will be a real lasting legacy”.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said it’s “right, like other world leaders are, that he (Sir Keir) pays tribute to his life and attends his funeral”.

Downing Street would not be drawn on whether Sir Keir would have talks with counterparts while attending the funeral.

Details of the Pope’s funeral mass, due to take place at 10am local time (9am BST) in St Peter’s Square and celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals, were confirmed on Tuesday.

The news came as the first images of the late pontiff were published.

Francis’s body was pictured lying in a private chapel in a wooden coffin dressed in red, with rosary beads draped across his hands.

His death, following a cerebral stroke that led to a coma and irreversible heart failure, prompted an outpouring of tributes across the globe.

The King, who met Francis earlier this month, said he was someone who had “profoundly touched the lives of so many”, while Sir Keir described him as having been “a pope for the poor, the downtrodden and the forgotten”.

Irish-born Cardinal Kevin Farrell – the camerlengo or senior Vatican official – will carry out the administrative and financial duties of the Holy See until a new pope takes over.

There is a nine-day period of mourning following the funeral, after which the secretive meeting – known as the conclave – to elect a new pope begins.

Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Vincent Nichols is among those travelling to Rome.

There are currently five cardinals across the UK and Ireland, although only three – Cardinal Nichols, Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe and Rome-based Cardinal Arthur Roche – are younger than 80 and therefore of voting age.

Cardinal Nichols, the leader of Catholics in England and Wales, presided over a Requiem Mass for Francis at Westminster Cathedral on Monday evening.

He told worshippers gathered in the London church that Francis had been a pope “filled with compassion, mercy, righteous indignation and irrepressible hope, for which we thank God”.

Asked about the next pope at a separate press conference on Monday, Cardinal Nichols told reporters: “He has to be a man of great inner strength, and I think great inner peace.”

He added: “I think those inner capacities of closeness to God and peace are the absolute essentials.”

Cardinal Radcliffe said: “I think that we always open ourselves to be surprised. All recent popes have been quite different from each other.”

Cardinals Nichols and Radcliffe both appeared to rule themselves out of the running to become the next pontiff.

Cardinal Nichols told reporters he was “too old, not capable”, while Cardinal Radcliffe said he believed the Holy Spirit was “far too wise to even think of me (as pope) for the shortest moment”.

Published: 22/04/2025 by Radio NewsHubClick here to read this story in full at Radio News Hub