The great of the Earth in Rome for the solemn funeral of Pope Francis, scheduled for Saturday morning.
Around 170 foreign delegations are expected and the list of heads of state and government who will attend the funeral is long.
US President Donald Trump , who will arrive with his wife Melania on his first trip to Europe since the beginning of his second term, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen , the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola and the President of the European Council Antonio Costa .
Volodymyr Zelensky will also arrive in Rome, accompanied by his wife Olena , while Vladimir Putin will not be there (among other things, he is “chased” by an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for war crimes that Italy would have the duty to execute on the way to the Vatican).
The Kremlin has yet to decide who will represent Russia, but there will be Father Antony of Volokolamsk , responsible for external relations of the Russian Church, who had close contacts with the Pope.
Even China - which has no official relations with the Vatican and officially expressed its condolences only 24 hours after the news of the Pope's death - has so far given no indication whether a representative will be present at Saturday's funeral.
From his native Argentina will come President Javier Milei , from Brazil Luis Ignacio Lula.
All European leaders are also expected, from French Emmanuel Macron who shortened his trip to the Indian Ocean, to German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier with outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz , from Polish Andrzej Duda to Portuguese Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa with Prime Minister Luís Montenegro .
And then sovereigns and princes: the heir to the English throne William (without his wife Kate, but with the British Prime Minister Keir Starmer), Felipe of Spain with Queen Letizia, King Philip and Matilda of the Belgians , while the royals of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander and his wife Maxima , have not yet resolved the issue of the coincidence with King's Day, a celebration much felt by the Dutch.
(Online Union)
