Pope Francis Funeral Latest: The Vatican turns into fortress for world leaders to fly in to bid farewell to Pontiff

As the world prepares to offer goodbye to Pope Francis, Rome and the Vatican are transformed into a fortress.

With 50 state heads, 10 monarchs and at least 130 foreign delegations to attend Saturday’s funeral at St. Peters Torv, it enforces Italian and Vatican authorities some of the strictest security measures seen in recent memory.

A flight zone has been declared, drones grounded, snipers located on the rooftops and fighter jets located in standby.

Streets around the Vatican are under strict control, where law enforcement authorities coordinate to control the expected influx of hundreds of thousands of grieving.

Security officials are preparing not only for crowd management, but also diplomatic sensitivity as world leaders – including Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky, Javier Milei and Prince William – arrive at Rome.

The leader of Pope Francis’ medical team has revealed new details about Pontiff’s last moments.

Francis died without undue suffering, and medical intervention could not have saved him, Dr. Alfieri.

He told about receiving an urgent call around 1 p.m. 05.30 Monday and calls him to the Vatican. When he arrived approx. 20 minutes later, he found the pope consciously, but does not respond.

“I went into his rooms and he (Francis) had his eyes open,” Dr. Alfieri to Corriere della sera.

The Vatican ends the preparations for Pope Francis’ funeral, which is scheduled for Saturday at St. Peter’s square, after his death on 88 Monday from pneumonia.

Tens of thousands have paid their respect under his lying in the state. His coffin will be sealed on Friday night in a ceremony led by Cardinal Kevin Farrell.

Over 130 foreign delegations, including 50 heads of state and 10 monarchs – Among them, Donald Trump, Volodymy Zelensky, Prince William and Argentina’s President Javier Milei are expected to participate.

Safety is tight with snipers, drones blocked and fighter jets in standby.

After the funeral his coffin is buried in Santa Maria Maggiore, simply marked as Franciscus.

Ireland’s Post Service offers to send mass or sympathy cards to the Vatican for free to people who want to pay their respect to Pope Francis.

Post offices in Ireland have received inquiries from the public looking for advice on what was the right address and stamp to use. In response, a post said it would offer the service for free and send cards to the Vatican from Ireland in a three -week batch.

A post said: “Cards can be sent to the following mailbox for free until May 14, and a post will ensure that they are delivered directly to the Vatican: ‘Map to the Vatican, Po Box 13812, FreePost, Dublin 1’. ‘

Mourners have criticized co -visitors to St. Peter’s Basilica to use their phones to take selfies with the deceased pope when he is in the state.

Janine Venables, a 53-year-old from Pontypridd told MailOnline: “What surprised me was the fact that we were previously told that no photos in the Sistine Chapel, and here people got their phone out and made selfies with the coffin. I thought it was a little in bad taste and I am surprised that no one stopped them.”

Another visitor was reported as complaining that people had “ignored warnings” and taken photos instead of paying properly, adding that it was “sad to see such a disrespect”.

Outlet quoted a Vatican source to say, “It would be good if people could try to remember where they are and have some respect, but there is little else that can be done.”

Since Pope Francis’ death on Easter Sunday, leaders from all over the world have shared their tribute to the late pontiff as 1.39 billion Catholics across the globe go into grief.

Cardinals gathered the next day to establish the date of the funeral in front of the papal conclave where a new pope is chosen.

The pontiff was broken from tradition when he requested to be buried outside the Vatican’s grounds on the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, with the inscription of his papal name in Latin: Franciscus.

Steffie Banatvala and Bryony Gooch Report:

Pope Franci’s funeral is set to deviate from his predecessors as he requested a simpler affair than the usual pomp.

While his predecessors st John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI lay on an elevated bees, Francis’s body rests inside a simple coffin that is hardly raised from the floor of the basilica.

Francis chose to simplify the “Funeral Rituals of the Roman Pontiff” to emphasize even more that the funeral of the Roman pontiff is a priest and disciple of Christ and not of a powerful person in this world.

The new rituals ask that the deceased pontiff be placed directly in a simple, open wooden list lined with zinc, where earlier traditions saw a pope that has been turned into three different chests – one of Cypress Wood, one of lead and one of oak.

The burial rituals are typically divided into three stations – their homes, the Basilica of the Vatican and the burial ground.

Instead, the deceased pope requested the first station to be a chapel, even though it made up part of his home in Casa Santa Marta residence.

Francis will also be buried outside the Vatican in Roma’s papal basilica by Saint Mary Major.

A retired US Cardinal, which has been subjected to allegations of cases of sexual abuse abuse, was chosen to help seal Pope Francis Coffin and Entomb his leftovers during the funeral rituals.

Attorneys for victims of Catholic priests for sexual abuse criticize the appointment of Roger Mahony, Archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 to 2011, to the ceremonial role at the pope’s funeral. Mahony denies any wrongdoing.

Critics say his commitment sends a harmful message of impunity in church leadership.