Why Pope Francis did not attend Queen Elizabeth’s funeral
British Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See’s de facto “foreign minister”, was the pope’s official representative at the royal funeral on Monday at Westminster Abbey
Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See’s secretary for relations with states and international organizations, represented Pope Francis at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II on Monday September 19th at Westminster Abbey.
The 68-year-old prelate, a Liverpool native who’s been in the Vatican’s diplomatic service since 1980, joined hundreds of world leaders for the final farewell to Britain’s longest serving monarch who died on September 8 at age ninety-five.
Some have wondered why the pope did not himself attend the royal funeral along with the long list of other foreign heads of state and monarchs.
The pope never goes to funerals outside of Rome
Among the 2,000 in the legendary church were Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan, King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, King Philippe of Belgium, King Harald V of Norway and Prince Albert II of Monaco.
Also on hand were a number of presidents, including Joe Biden of the United States, Emmanuel Macron of France, Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil.
So why not the pope, too? The simple answer is that Roman Pontiffs never go to funerals outside of Rome.
The only funerals the pope normally attends are those for cardinals or for relatives or close friends.
For example, Francis attended the January 2021 funeral of his personal physician, Dr. Fabrizio Soccorsi. The liturgy was held at the Church of Maria Regina della Famiglia in the Vatican.
When Queen Elizabeth’s father and predecessor, King George VI, died in 1952 the pope at the time, Pius XII, did not attend the royal funeral. Neither did Pius XI in 1936 when George V died.
Prince Charles attended the funeral of John Paul II
The British monarch is also the supreme governor of the (Anglican) Church of England, but that is not why the popes have never attended a royal funeral.
Popes do not travel abroad for the funerals of Catholic sovereigns, either. For instance, when King Baudoin of Belgium died in 1993, Pope John Paul II sent a personal representative.
Queen Elizabeth II did not attend the most recent papal funeral, either, that of John Paul II who was the first pope to visit Great Britain since 1543 when Henry VIII broke with the Church of Rome.
When John Paul died in 2005, the Queen sent her son and heir to the throne, Prince Charles.
However, the papal funeral took place on April 8, the same day the prince (who is now King Charles III) was to marry Camilla Parker Bowles.
The royal couple ended up postponing their wedding until the following day.