Tens of thousands of people are expected at the funeral, including Catholic mourners, cardinals and world leaders.

As tradition dictates, the late pontiff’s signet ring will be destroyed — or defaced, at least — within the walls of the Vatican following his death on Easter Monday.

Navarrosa, who is currently writing his thesis on the pope’s 2016 encyclical 'Amoris Laetitia,' recalls meeting Francis in 2021 and says he had hoped to meet him again. “I’m not worried about the future of the church, because it is guided by the Holy Spirit,” he says.