Rome is on high security as world leaders gather ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican this morning.
This week, a quarter of a million people paid their respects, filing past the pontiff's coffin while he was lying-in-state.
More than 200,000 people are expected to attend today's ceremony in St Peter's Square, including some 170 delegations.
Among those will be the Taoiseach Michael Martin.
Clergy and the faithful arrive ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)The service usually lasts about two-and-a-half hours and is mostly conducted in Latin.
It will get underway at 9am Irish time at St Peter’s Square in Rome.
The Pope's body will then be buried in Rome's Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore - or Saint Mary Major - rather than at St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, like almost all his predecessors.
He requested a "simple" tomb "in the ground" and will be the first pontiff buried outside the Vatican City in over a century.
Newstalk chief reporter Barry Whyte told The Anton Savage Show it was "quite the spectacle".
"St Peter's Square here is packed," he said.
"You can see the crowds of people going down the square for as far as the eye can see, the crowds stretch for a couple of kilometres."
Barry said people queued for hours to attend the ceremony.
Main image: Former U.S. President Joe Biden, second left, and his wife Jill arrive for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
