The farewell ceremony for Pope Francis concluded in St. Peter’s Basilica on the evening of April 25. Approximately 250,000 people came to pay their respects to the pontiff, who passed away on April 21 at the age of 88 after a prolonged illness, according to the Vatican. For three days, the church remained open around the clock.

After the basilica closed at 7:00 PM local time, a solemn ceremony was held in the nearly empty space to seal the coffin. As per Catholic tradition, the pope’s face was covered with a white silk cloth in the presence of several cardinals, reported the dpa news agency.

The funeral will take place on April 26. According to the pope’s will, he will be buried in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in the center of Rome. Before that, a mourning procession will pass through the streets of the city. Over 10,000 security personnel will be deployed to maintain order in the Italian capital on the day of the funeral. Around 200,000 people are expected to gather in St. Peter’s Square, where the coffin will be placed, and hundreds of thousands are likely to join the funeral march.

The procession will pass by Rome’s major landmarks, including the Colosseum, and is expected to take about 30 minutes. The burial will be a private ceremony attended by several cardinals, Pope Francis’s personal nurse Massimiliano Strappetti, and, as per the pope’s wish, a few poor and homeless individuals. The burial itself will be modest—a white marble slab inscribed with Franciscus (in Latin, without mention of his title) and an image of his silver pectoral cross.

World leaders may use their presence in Rome for the pope’s funeral to discuss other international matters. This practice is referred to as “funeral diplomacy,” notes the dpa agency. A total of more than 150 international delegations are expected to arrive in the Italian capital.