Pope Francis to be buried at Basilica of St. Mary Major
Vatican City: Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday at the age of 88 at his residence in Casa Santa Marta, Vatican City, will be laid to rest on Saturday at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.
The basilica, one of the four major papal basilicas, holds personal significance for the late pontiff. He regularly visited the site for prayer, particularly after returning from apostolic visits abroad. This will be the first papal burial at the basilica since the 17th century, when Pope Clement IX was interred there.
The basilica also contains the tombs of seven other popes, early Christian saints including Matthew and Jerome, and the Renaissance artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini and his family.
In accordance with his wishes, Pope Francis will be buried in a simple grave with a single inscription and no elaborate decoration. The Vatican confirmed that his body may be temporarily transferred to St. Peter’s Basilica on Wednesday, April 23, subject to the approval of the College of Cardinals, to allow members of the public to pay their respects.
The Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, has called for General Congregations to begin on Tuesday, in preparation for the upcoming Conclave. The Conclave to elect the next pope is expected to take place between May 5 and May 10.
Heads of state and official delegations from several countries are expected to attend the funeral. Both Italy and India have declared three days of national mourning.
Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was the first Jesuit and the first Latin American to be elected pope. He became the 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church in 2013, following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. Throughout his papacy, he chose to reside at the Vatican guesthouse, Santa Marta, rather than the official papal apartments.
Hours before his death, Pope Francis attended Easter services and held a meeting with United States Vice President J.D. Vance.
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Andhra to be developed as knowledge, creator economy hub: CM Naidu
New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms.
"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.
Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems.
He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion.
The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production.
He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative.
Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education.
He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit.
Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.
