7 hours ago
2
President Trump and first lady Melania will likely have a third-row seat to Pope Francis’ funeral on Saturday, sandwiched between African dignitaries — and far away from Ukrainian President Volodmyr Zelensky.
World leaders are expected to sit in alphabetical order according to the name of their country in French, in line with Vatican protocol that also dictated Pope John Paul II’s funeral in 2005. That puts the delegation from the US — which translates to États-Unis — after Ethiopia and before Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland.
Front row to the papal service, which begins Saturday at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, will be powerful archbishops, bishops and cardinals.
Also in the front will be Argentinian President Javier Milei, the leader of Francis’ home country, according to reports. Italy will get the second-best placement because the pope is the bishop of Rome.
Behind them will be royals including the Prince of Wales, the King and Queen of Sweden and Crown Prince and Princess of Norway. No distinction will be made between Catholic and non-Catholic royalty for the seating order, the Vatican said.
Then will come the other heads of state, according to reports. At least 130 foreign delegations, including 50 leaders and 10 reigning monarchs, plan to attend the funeral, according to the Vatican.
Trump, who will be seated along with the US group, will likely be spared from sitting uncomfortably close to Zelensky in what would be the pair’s first face-to-face meeting since their public clash in the Oval Office in February.
The US delegation, led by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), will include former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Reps. Laura Gillen (D-NY) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY).
Former President Joe Biden is attending but will not be part of the official US delegation and should be sitting further back alongside other VIPs, according to reports.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer — whose country translates to Royaume-Unimight in French — may not be as lucky in escaping the tensions posed by the war between Russia and Ukraine, potentially being placed directly next to Russia.
Starmer has stood by Zelensky and this week challenged a peace proposal from the US that would legally grant Russia possession of Crimea, which it occupied from Ukraine in 2014.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not be attending the funeral, the Kremlin announced on Tuesday.
Along with the VIPs, up to 200,000 mourners are expected to attend the services. Tens of thousands have already paid their respects as the late Pontiff’s body was on view at St. Peter’s Basilica this week.
The 88-year-old pope died of a stroke on Easter Monday.
Italian police and military are reportedly building a complex “ring of steel” around Vatican City including thousands of officers including soldiers equipped with guns to shoot down drones, rooftop snipers and fighter jets from the Italian Air Force.
With Post wires
English (US)