President Donald Trump is expected to join other notable figures at Pope Francis’s funeral. As more details about the event surface, many are intrigued by the seating arrangements for such a high-profile individual.
Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21 at the age of 88, will be laid to rest in Rome’s papal basilica of Saint Mary Major following a funeral service in Vatican City on April 26.
Trump plans to travel from the U.S. to Rome for the ceremony. He will be joined by other global leaders, including Prince William representing King Charles, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Joe Ronan from the Catholic Voices media charity predicts the service will last around 90 minutes due to the large number of attendees and the administration of Holy Communion. A seating plan will organize attendees, designating specific areas for viewing the service.
Despite Trump’s prominence, he is not expected to sit at the forefront of the funeral.
According to Vatican protocol and arrangements from Pope John Paul II’s 2005 funeral, Trump will likely be situated in the third row.
The Telegraph reports that foreign dignitaries may be placed in a section next to the pope’s coffin, opposite archbishops, bishops, patriarchs, and cardinals.
World leaders are anticipated to sit in alphabetical order by their country’s name in French, the diplomatic language used for these protocols.
Catherine Pepinster, former editor of The Tablet and commentator on the Catholic Church, noted: “For the funeral of John Paul II, Catholic European royalty, such as the King and Queen of Spain and those of Belgium were given priority and seated at the front.
“Next came the non-Catholic royalty – so Prince Charles, representing his mother, Elizabeth II, along with the Scandinavians and the Dutch. Then came the foreign dignitaries such as the US president, who at the time was George W. Bush.”
The news of Trump’s expected seating has surprised some, with one person suggesting it could ‘potentially bruise his ego’.
“Trump to be in third-tier seats at Pope Francis’s funeral,” another tweeted, while a third speculated that the president might attempt to sit ‘in the front row anyway’ and ‘refuse to move’.
These seating arrangements are particularly notable given Trump’s previous comments about Joe Biden’s seat at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.
In an online post, Trump claimed: “If I were president, they wouldn’t have sat me back there – and our Country would be much different than it is right now.”