Pope Francis given final farewell

The late Pope Francis has been laid to rest at the Basilica of St Mary Major earlier today.

His funeral service was held in front of St Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, where mourners paid their final respects.

Pope Francis, who had been battling health issues for several months, died following a cerebral stroke that led to a coma and cardiovascular failure on Easter monday. A day before his death, he delivered a message in the balcony of the Vatican during Easter.

A procession brought his coffin on Wednesday directly to St. Peter’s Basilica, where his body was being displayed in a wooden coffin, lined with zinc. He had also been dressed in papal vestments, his head covered with a white bishop’s miter, where tens of thousands of mourners bid farewell.

He will be buried at the Basilica of St Mary Major, in a break from tradition, as popes are typically burried at St Peter’s Basilica.

The funeral service began at 10am on Saturday. Cardinal Re presided over the Mass, with a procession leading from St Peter’s Basilica. As per the Pope’s request, he will be buried in a single coffin rather than the typical three-coffin system

The coffin was brought into St Peter’s, and will then be taken to the Basilica of St Mary Major.

As the Funeral Mass gradually drew towards a close on early Saturday afternoon, people lined up close to the Vatican’s Perugino Gate to bid farewell as Pope Francis leaves the Vatican for the very last time where he is transported in the Pope mobile through the streets of Rome.

Following the funeral, the Vatican will enter the sede vacante period, during which the College of Cardinals will gather to elect a new pope.

The conclave will begin within 15 to 20 days, with cardinals under the age of 80 eligible to vote.

The election process will take place in secret, and the chosen pope will be announced with the traditional declaration, "Habemus papam."