Altar servers and priests arrive for a requiem mass for the late Pope Francis at the St. Francis Assisi Cathedral in Kochi, on April 22, 2025.
| Photo Credit: AP
The government announced that the third and final day of state mourning, in honour of Pope Francis, will be observed on Saturday (April 26, 2025), coinciding with his funeral mass and burial. The state mourning is being held as a mark of respect for the Supreme Pontiff of the Holy See, who passed away earlier this week.
As part of the mourning, the National Flag will be flown at half-mast across all government buildings throughout India on Saturday (April 26, 2025), and there will be no official entertainment scheduled for the day, an official statement issued on Thursday (April 24, 2025) confirmed.
“The Government of India had declared a three-day state mourning in honour of His Holiness Pope Francis following his passing. State mourning was observed on April 22 and April 23, 2025, and the final day of mourning will coincide with the funeral,” the statement read.
Pope Francis, the first non-European Pope in nearly 1,300 years, passed away on April 21, 2025, at the age of 88, after a brief illness. He had been diagnosed with double pneumonia shortly before his death.
Published – April 24, 2025 11:05 pm IST
