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The full order of service for the funeral of Pope Francis has been released by the Vatican.

More than 200,000 people are expected to attend Saturday’s ceremony in St Peter’s Square, including some 130 delegations.

The service usually lasts about two-and-a-half hours and is mostly conducted in Latin.

Read more: Inside the plans for Pope Francis’s funeral

It is being led by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who will begin with a procession led by a priest carrying a cross, followed by the coffin and ordained clergy.

Francis will then be buried in Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore – or Saint Mary Major – rather than at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, like almost all his predecessors.

Watch full coverage of the Pope’s funeral live on Sky News from 8am.

Order of service

Entrance antiphon

The ceremony will begin with the entrance antiphon – one or more psalm verses or sentences from Holy Scripture which are typically sung or spoken.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.

Praise is due to you in Sion, O God.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re presides over the Easter Vigil in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, April 19, 2025. REUTERS/Claudia Greco
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Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re will oversee the Pope’s funeral ceremony. Pic: Reuters

To you we pay our vows in Jerusalem.

You who hear our prayer. To you all flesh will come.

Our evil deeds are too heavy for us, but only you can pardon our transgressions.

Blessed the one whom you choose and call to dwell in your courts.

We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Peace be with you.

And with your spirit.

Pope Francis' body is carried in a coffin into Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, April 23, 2025.
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Pope Francis’s body being transferred to St Peter’s Basilica. Pic: Reuters

The Penitential Act

This follows the welcome and is a way for the faithful to confess their sinfulness.

Brethren, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God.

May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.

Collect – opening prayer

Let us pray.

O God, immortal shepherd of souls, look on your people’s prayers and grant that our servant Pope Francis, who presided over your Church in charity, may, with the flock entrusted to his care, receive from your mercy the reward of a faithful steward.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.

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Where will Pope Francis be buried?

The Liturgy of the Word

First reading – from the Acts of the Apostles

He is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.

In those days: Peter opened his mouth and said:

‘Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.

As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ – he is Lord of all – you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power.

He went about doing good and healing all those who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem.

They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and caused him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead.

To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis sits in between nuns on the day of a weekly general audience in Paul VI hall at the Vatican, February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo
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Pope Francis sits in between nuns in February. Pic: Reuters

Responsorial Psalm

The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want.

Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose.

Near restful waters he leads me; he revives my soul.

He guides me along the right path, for the sake of his name.

Though I should walk in the valley of the shadow of death, no evil would I fear, for you are with me.

Your crook and your staff will give me comfort.

You have prepared a table before me in the sight of my foes.

My head you have anointed with oil; my cup is overflowing.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.

In the Lord’s own house shall I dwell for length of days unending.

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The pope who loved football

Second Reading – from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians

He will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body.

Brothers and sisters, our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await for, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God.

Acclamation before the Gospel

This is the will of my Father, says the Lord, everyone who believes in the Son should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

Pic: AP
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Pope Francis lying in state. Pic: AP

Gospel

The Lord be with you.

And with your spirit.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to John.

Glory to you, O Lord.

When Jesus had revealed himself to his disciples and they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter: ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’

He said to him: ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’

He said to him a second time: ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you’.

He said to him: ‘Tend my sheep.’

He said to him the third time: ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and he said to him: ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’

Jesus said to him: ‘Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go (this he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God).’

And after saying this he said to him: ‘Follow me.’

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ.

People in Westminster Cathedral in Victoria, London, following the announcement by the Vatican of the death of Pope Francis aged 88. Issue date: Monday April 21, 2025.
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People in Westminster Cathedral in London mark Pope Francis’s death. Pic: Reuters

Homily

Universal Prayer or Prayer of the Faithful

Brothers and sisters, let us pray to God our Father, who today brings us together to commemorate the Paschal Mystery of his only-begotten Son as we celebrate the funeral of the pastor of the universal Church.

May he welcome him into his peace and bestow every blessing upon the Church and the whole world.

Let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For the late Pope Francis, that the chief shepherd, who eternally lives to intercede for us, may welcome him into his kingdom of light and peace.

Let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For the holy Church of God, that in fidelity to her mandate, she may be, in Christ, a leaven of renewal in our human family.

Let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For the souls of the deceased Roman pontiffs and of all those who in the Church proclaimed the Gospel and exercised the priestly ministry, that they may come to share in the heavenly liturgy.

Let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, hear our prayer.

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For all the faithful departed, that they may be granted entrance into the kingdom of heaven.

Let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For us gathered here, that having celebrated the sacred mysteries, we may one day be called by Christ to enter his glorious kingdom.

Let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, hear our prayer.

God, our salvation, hear us as we make our prayer in union with the Blessed Virgin Mary and all the Saints: welcome into the assembly of your elect the soul of your servant and our Pope Francis, who put his trust in the prayer of the Church.

Through Christ our Lord.

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Cardinal anticipates ‘intimidating’ first conclave

The Liturgy of the Eucharist

Offertory Chant

The offertory chant accompanies the procession that brings the bread and wine to the altar.

Give light to my eyes lest I fall asleep in death; lest my enemy say, ‘I have prevailed over him’.

Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.

May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his holy Church.

Prayer over the offerings

Look with favour, we pray, O Lord, on the peaceful offering of your people, with which we confidently commit to your mercy the soul of your servant Pope Francis, and grant, we pray, that, having been, in the midst of the human family, an instrument of your charity and peace, he may merit to delight in the same, for ever with all your Saints.

Through Christ our Lord.

Eucharistic Prayer III

Preface

The hope of resurrection in Christ

The Lord be with you.

And with your spirit.

Lift up your hearts.

We lift them up to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.

A nun reacts as she pays respect to Pope Francis inside St. Peter's Basilica, as Pope Francis lies in state, at the Vatican, April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Dylan Martinez
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A nun pays respect to Pope Francis. Pic: Reuters

It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Lord, holy Father, almighty and eternal God, through Christ our lord.

In him the hope of blessed resurrection has dawned, that those saddened by the certainty of dying might be consoled by the promise of immortality to come.

Indeed for your faithful, Lord, life is changed not ended, and, when this earthly dwelling turns to dust, an eternal dwelling is made ready for them in heaven.

And so, with angels and archangels, with thrones and dominions, and with all the hosts and powers of heaven, we sing the hymn of your glory, as without end we acclaim:

You are indeed holy, O Lord, and all you have created rightly gives you praise, for through your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, by the power and working of the Holy Spirit, you give life to all things and make them holy, and you never cease to gather a people to yourself, so that from the rising of the sun to its setting a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name.

Therefore, O Lord, we humbly implore you: by the same Spirit graciously make holy these gifts we have brought to you for consecration, that they may become the body and blood of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ, at whose command we celebrate these mysteries.

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis waves at the end of the Palm Sunday mass at Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, March 20, 2016. REUTERS/Tony Gentile/File Photo
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Pope Francis with crowds back in 2016. Pic: Reuters

For on the night he was betrayed he himself took bread, and giving you thanks, he said the blessing, broke the bread and gave it to his disciples, saying:

‘Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my body, which will be given up for you.’

In a similar way, when supper was ended, he took the chalice, and giving you thanks, he said the blessing, and gave the chalice to his disciples, saying:

‘Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.

‘Do this in memory of me.’

The mystery of faith.

Pope Francis' body is carried in a coffin
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Pope Francis’s body is carried in a coffin through St Peter’s Square

We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your resurrection until you come again.

Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of the saving passion of your Son, his wondrous resurrection and ascension into heaven, and as we look forward to his second coming, we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice.

Look, we pray, upon the oblation of your Church and, recognising the sacrificial victim by whose death you willed to reconcile us to yourself, grant that we, who are nourished by the body and blood of your Son and filled with his Holy Spirit, may become on body, one spirit in Christ.

May he make of us an eternal offering to you, so that we may obtain an inheritance with your elect, especially with the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, with blessed Joseph, her spouse, with your blessed apostles and glorious martyrs, and with all the saints, on whose constant intercession in your presence we rely for unfailing help.

May this Sacrifice of our reconciliation, we pray, O Lord, advance the peace and salvation of all the world.

Be pleased to confirm in faith and charity your pilgrim Church on Earth, with the order of bishops, all the clergy, and the entire people you have gained for your own.

Listen graciously to the prayers of this family, whom you have summoned before you: in your compassion, O merciful Father, gather to yourself all your children scattered throughout the world.

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis opens the Holy Door to mark the opening of the Catholic Holy Year, or Jubilee, in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, December 8, 2015. REUTERS/Max Rossi/File Photo
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Pope Francis opens the Holy Door to mark the opening of the Catholic Holy Year in 2015. Pic: Reuters

Remember your servant Pope Francis whom you have called from this world to yourself.

Grant that he who was united with your Son in a death like his, may also be one with him in his resurrection, when from the Earth he will raise up in the flesh those who have died, and transform our lowly body after the pattern of his own glorious body.

To our departed brothers and sisters, too, and to all who were pleasing to you at their passing from this life, give kind admittance to your kingdom.

There we hope to enjoy for ever the fullness of your glory, when you will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

For seeing you, our God, as you are we shall be like you for all the ages and praise you without end, through Christ our Lord, through whom you bestow on the world all that is good.

Through him, and with him, and in him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honour is yours, for ever and ever.

Members of the Swiss Guard stand next to the coffin containing Pope Francis' body, on the day of the translation of his body, in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Yara Nardi
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Members of the Swiss Guard stand next to the pope’s coffin. Pic: Reuters

The Communion Rite

At the Saviour’s command and formed by divine teaching, we dare to say:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed by thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

Deliver us, Lord, we pray, from every evil, graciously grant our peace in our days, that, by the help of your mercy, we may be always free from sin and safe from all distress, as we await the blessed hope and the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours now and for ever.

Lord Jesus Christ, who said to your Apostles: Peace I leave you, my peace I give you, look not on our sins, but on the faith of your Church, and graciously grant her peace and unity in accordance with your will.

Who live and reign for ever and ever.

The peace of the Lord be with you always.

And with your spirit.

Let us offer each other the sign of peace.

Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world.

Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb.

Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.

Pope Francis tours St. Peter's Square in his popemobile after bestowing the Urbi et Orbi (Latin for to the city and to the world) blessing at the end of the Easter mass presided over by Cardinal Angelo Comastri in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Sunday, April 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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Pope Francis on Easter Sunday, a day before he died. Pic: Reuters

Communion Antiphon

Let perpetual light shine upon him, with your Saints for ever, for you are merciful.

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD;

LORD, hear my voice!

O let your ears be attentive to the sound of my pleadings.

If you O LORD, should mark iniquities, LORD, who could stand?

But with you is found forgiveness, that you may be revered.

I long for you, O LORD, my soul longs for his word.

My soul awaits the LORD more than watchmen for daybreak.

More than watchmen for daybreak, let Israel hope for the LORD.

For with the LORD there is mercy, in him is plentiful redemption

It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

Like the deer that yearns for running streams, so my soul is yearning for you, my God.

My soul is thirsting for God, the living God; when can I enter and appear before the face of God?

My tears have become my bread, by night, by day, as I hear it said all the day long: ‘Where is your God?’

Nuns wait on the day of the translation of Pope Francis' body and its transfer to Saint Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Coombs
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Nuns outside St Peter’s Basilica. Pic: Reuters

Prayer after Communion

Let us pray.

As we come to the table of your eternal banquet, we humbly beg your mercy, Lord, for the soul of your departed servant Pope Francis, that he may rejoice at last in possession of the truth in which he faithfully confirmed your people.

Through Christ our Lord.

Pope Francis arrives for a special audience with members of the dioceses of Cassano allo Jonio, southern Italy, at the Vatican, Saturday, Feb. 21, 2015. (AP Photo/L' Osservatore Romano, pool)
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Pope Francis at the Vatican in 2015. Pic: AP


Final commendation and farewell

Introduction

Dear brothers and sisters, let us commend to God’s tender mercy the soul of Pope Francis, bishop of the Catholic

Church, who confirmed his brothers and sisters in the faith of the resurrection.

Let us pray to God our Father through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit; may he deliver him from death, welcome him to eternal peace and raise up him on the last day.

Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, queen of apostles and protectress of the Roman people, may God reveal to our Pope the face of his beloved Son and console the Church with the light of the resurrection.

Cardinals pay their respects to Pope Francis inside St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Wednesday, April 23, 2025, where his body will lie in state for three days. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, Pool)
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Cardinals pay their respects. Pic: AP

Prayer of the Church in Rome

Holy Mary,

Pray for him.

Holy Mother of God…

Mother of the Church…

Protectress of the Roman people…

The cardinal will then list all holy angels, patriarchs and prophets, apostles and evangelists, disciples, pontiffs and holy men and women, which he asks the congregation to pray for.

O God, faithful rewarder of souls, grant that your departed servant and our bishop, Pope Francis, whom you made successor of Peter and shepherd of your Church, may happily enjoy for ever in your presence in heaven the mysteries of your grace and compassion, which he faithfully ministered on Earth.

Through Christ our Lord.

23 April 2025, Vatican, Vatikanstadt: The faithful process past the open coffin of the late Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica. Pope Francis died at the age of 88 and will be buried on Saturday, April 26, 2025. Photo by: Michael Kappeler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images
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People queue to see Pope Francis lying in state. Pic: AP

Prayer of the Eastern Churches

God of our salvation, grant rest to the soul of your servant.

Lover of mankind, lead him, with the souls of the just, to the blessings of eternal life in your presence.

Guide the soul of your servant to the place of your rest, Lord, where your Saints repose, you who alone are immortal.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

You are our Saviour, our God, who descended into hell and freed those imprisoned there from its pains; now grant repose to the soul of your servant.

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be.

Amen.

May the Blessed Virgin Mary, most pure and immaculate, who without loss to her virginity became the Mother of God, pray for the salvation of the soul of your servant.

Have mercy on us, O God, in your great kindness; we beseech you, hear us and be merciful.

Lord, have mercy.

Again, let us pray for the repose of the soul of this departed servant of God, Francis, bishop, that he may be forgiven his every sin and failing.

Lord, have mercy.

May the Lord God lead his soul to the resting place of the righteous.

Let us ask Christ, our immortal king and God, to bestow on him the divine mercy, the kingdom of heaven, and the forgiveness of his sins.

Hear us, Lord.

Let us pray to the Lord.

Lord, have mercy.

The body of Pope Francis is carried into St. Peters Basilica for three days of lying in state, in Vatican City, 23 April 2025. ALESSANDRO DI MEO/Pool via REUTERS
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The body of Pope Francis is carried into St. Peters Basilica. Pic: Reuters

God of souls and of all flesh, who trampled death underfoot, vanquished the devil and gave life to the world, grant repose to the soul of your departed servant Francis, bishop, in a place of light and joy, a verdant place, a place of blessedness, where suffering, pain and sorrow are no more.

Forgive every sin he committed in thought, word or deed, for you are a gracious God and a friend to mankind.

No one who lives is without sin; you alone are sinless, your righteousness is eternal and your word is truth.

For you, O Christ our God, are the resurrection, the life and the repose of your servant Francis, bishop, who has fallen asleep.

We give you glory, with your eternal Father and your Holy Spirit, who is gracious and the giver of life, now and forever.

Amen.

May your remembrance be eternal, dear brother, worthy of blessedness, never to be forgotten.

Amen.

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, left, prays in front of the body of Pope Francis laid out in state inside his private chapel at the Vatican, Monday, April 21, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP, HO)
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The Pope’s body in a private chapel before being moved to St Peter’s Basilica. Pic: AP

Responsory

A responsory is an anthem said or sung by a choir.

I know that my redeemer lives: on the last day I shall rise again.

And in my flesh I shall see God my saviour.

I shall see him myself, face to face and my own eyes shall behold him.

And in my flesh I shall see God my saviour.

Within my heart this hope I cherish:

That in my flesh I shall see God my saviour.

Gracious Father, we commend to your mercy our Pope Francis whom you made successor of Peter and shepherd of the Church, a fearless preacher of your word and a faithful minister of the divine mysteries.

Welcome him, we pray, into your heavenly dwelling place, to enjoy eternal glory with all your chosen ones.

We give you thanks, Lord, for all the blessings that in your goodness you bestowed upon him for the good of your people.

Grant us the comfort of faith and the strength of hope.

To you Father, source of life, through Christ, the conqueror of death, in the life-giving Spirit, be all honour and glory for ever and ever.

An aerial view from a Carabinieri helicopter shows crowds queueing to enter St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, to pay respects as Pope Francis lies in state, as seen from Rome, Italy April 25, 2025. REUTERS/Vincenzo Livieri TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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Crowds queueing to enter St Peter’s Basilica a day before the Pope’s funeral. Pic: Reuters

Antiphons

May the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs come and welcome you and take you to the holy city, the new and eternal Jerusalem.

May choirs of angels welcome you and with Lazarus, who is poor no longer, may you have eternal rest.

Canticle of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Luke 1:46-55

My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.

And his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; he has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; he has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy, as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his offspring for ever.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end.

Amen.

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More than 100 people die of hunger in Gaza, including 80 children, say Palestinian officials

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More than 100 people die of hunger in Gaza, including 80 children, say Palestinian officials

For the first time since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, Palestinian officials have said that dozens of people are dying of hunger.

At least 101 people are known to have died of malnutrition during the conflict, including 80 children, most of them in recent weeks, according to officials.

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres has said malnourishment is soaring and starvation is knocking on every door in Gaza, describing the situation as a “horror show”.

Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza.
Pic: Reuters
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Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis in Gaza. Pic: Reuters

Latest updates on the Middle East

Israel controls all supplies entering Gaza and has denied it is responsible for food shortages.

Some food stocks in the Palestinian territory have run out since Israel cut off all supplies in March and then lifted the blockade in May with new measures it said were needed to prevent aid from being diverted to militant groups.

Israel has blamed the UN for failing to protect aid it says is stolen by Hamas and other groups. The fighters deny stealing it.

More on Gaza

‘There is nothing left’

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) has said its aid stocks are completely depleted in Gaza and some of its staff are starving, with the organisation accusing Israel of paralysing its work.

“Our last tent, our last food parcel, our last relief items have been distributed. There is nothing left,” said Jan Egeland, the council’s secretary-general.

The NRC said that for the last 145 days, it has not been able to get hundreds of truckloads of tents, water, sanitation, food and education materials into Gaza.

COGAT, the Israeli military aid coordination agency, and Israeli authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Israel denies accusations it is preventing aid from reaching Gaza.

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Israel wants to ‘finish off’ Gaza

Aid workers ‘fainting due to hunger’

The NRC comments echo those made earlier by the head of the UN Palestinian Refugee Agency (UNRWA), who said doctors and aid workers have been fainting on duty due to hunger and exhaustion.

“Caretakers, including UNRWA colleagues in Gaza, are also in need of care now. Doctors, nurses, journalists, humanitarians, among them. UNRWA staff are hungry. Many are now fainting due to hunger and exhaustion while performing their duties,” UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said.

He warned that seeking food has become “as deadly as the bombardments”, describing the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid distribution scheme as a “sadistic death trap”.

“This cannot be our new norm, humanitarian assistance is not the job of mercenaries,” he added.

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Lammy: I hope and pray for Gaza ceasefire soon

The UK, and several other countries, have condemned the current aid delivery model, backed by the Israeli and American governments, which has reportedly resulted in Israeli troops firing on Palestinian civilians in search of food on multiple occasions.

More than 800 people have reportedly been killed in recent weeks trying to reach food, mostly in shootings by Israeli soldiers posted near distribution centres.

Read more:
Gaza food situation ‘worst it’s ever been’, charity says
Israel launches ground assault on central Gazan city

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IDF enters this Gaza city for first time – why?

Israel ‘risking more civilian deaths’

Meanwhile, Israeli displacement orders followed by intensive attacks on the central Gaza city of Deir al Balah will lead to further civilian deaths, the head of the UN human rights office has said.

On Monday, Israeli tanks pushed into southern and eastern districts of the city for the first time after Israel issued an evacuation order.

The area is packed with Palestinians who have been displaced during the war in the coastal territory, and Israeli sources said the military believes hostages may be held there.

Now, Volker Turk, the head of the UN Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, has said: “It seemed the nightmare couldn’t possibly get worse.

“And yet it does… given the concentration of civilians in the area, and the means and methods of warfare employed by Israel until now, the risks of unlawful killings and other serious violations of international humanitarian law are extremely high.”

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Gazan doctor being held

Tents sheltering displaced people ‘hit by strikes’

Also, at least 20 people were killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza on Tuesday, according to officials in the Hamas-run strip.

Among them were 12 who died when tents sheltering displaced people in the Shati refugee camp on the western side of Gaza City were hit, according to Shifa Hospital, which treated casualties.

The dead included three women and three children, said hospital director Dr Mohamed Abu Selmiyah, who added that 38 other Palestinians were injured.

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And eight people were killed in an overnight strike that hit crowds of people waiting for aid trucks in Gaza City, according to hospitals. The Palestinian Red Crescent said at least 118 people were wounded.

Israel blames the deaths of Palestinian civilians on Hamas because the militants operate in densely populated areas. It accuses the group of prolonging the war because Hamas has not accepted Israel’s terms for a ceasefire – including calls to give up power and disarm.

Health officials say Israeli forces have killed almost 60,000 Palestinians in airstrikes, shelling and shooting since launching their assault on Gaza in response to Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, when 1,200 people were killed and 251 others taken hostage.

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Rows of decomposing bodies that haven’t been buried because of fierce fighting in Syrian city

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Rows of decomposing bodies that haven't been buried because of fierce fighting in Syrian city

The smell hit us before we turned the corner into the backyard of Sweida City’s main hospital.

Neatly laid out in lines were rows of white body bags: some of the victims of the vicious bloodletting which the mainly-Druze city has suffered over the past week.

There are more than 90 corpses in the yard, now badly decomposing in the heat.

They are still picking up bodies from the hospital’s front garden as we arrive.

They say they have been unable to bury them because of the fierce fighting around the Syrian city.

Body bags
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There are dozens of corpses in the hospital yard, now badly decomposing in the heat

Most of the dead here are unidentified and will be buried in a mass grave near the hospital in the hope that a full investigation will be launched in less turbulent times.

Inside the hospital, we’re taken through darkened corridors powered by a generator. The electricity and internet in the city and the surrounding villages are not working.

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A body being carried outside the hospital

Traumatised patients

Food and water are scarce and the doctors say medical supplies are dwindling. The hospital is in a shockingly dirty state, and many of the people in it are traumatised and frightened.

A Druze fighter in a destroyed hospital corridor
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A Druze fighter in a destroyed hospital corridor

Dr Obeida Abu Fakher, who is the head of resident doctors, told us that the lack of medical supplies and poor hygiene were now threatening the condition of those saved in emergency operations, some carried out along hospital corridors because the operating rooms were full.

“I think you can smell the bad smell coming from the wound?” Dr Fakher says to us, as another medic delicately replaces the bandage on a young man’s leg.

“This is a very big problem because all the patients we treated in the operations rooms are now (getting infected) and risk dying right here.”

An injured father and son
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An injured father and son in hospital

The wards are packed with the civilian victims caught up in Syria’s complex tribal and political violence – the worst since the toppling of the country’s dictator Bashar al Assad by fighters backed by Turkey and led by former Islamist Ahmed al Sharaa.

Among the victims is 21-year-old Hajar, who was nine months pregnant with her first baby when she was shot through both legs.

Medics managed to save her life but not her baby – a victim of this brutal outbreak of violence before even being born.

A pregnant woman with Sky's Alex Crawford
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Doctors managed to save Hajar’s life but not her baby

A male nurse openly weeps in the corner of the ward where Hajar is laying immobile on a dirty hospital bed. Hajar’s bandages hold together her shattered legs and there’s blood still caked on her feet.

“She needs specialist operations which we cannot do right now,” a doctor explains.

An elderly woman in hospital

Hajar is just one of the many casualties among the dozens crammed in this hospital, as well as the tens of thousands of others affected by what’s happened over the past 10 days of brutality in Sweida.

The UN estimates nearly 130,000 people have fled their homes. The death toll is still being calculated but is thought to be more than a thousand so far.

Men in the hospital

We have driven through multiple Druze checkpoints to get here. The Druze-dominated area is extremely edgy now and bunkered down behind sand chicanes and armed barricades.

Read more from Sky News:
Homes burning after mass pillaging in city
Who are the Druze and who are they fighting in Syria?

Druze fighter with flag
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A Druze fighter with a flag representing the Druze faith

The cycle of tit-for-tat kidnappings and revenge attacks between Druze and Arab Bedoin tribes in the city quickly spiralled into an international crisis when witnesses said some government forces sent in as peacekeepers went on to join Bedoin tribes in the killing spree and robbing of the Druze minority.

Two old men in hospital

Israeli forces, who had warned against any of the Syrian army operating in the area, intervened with airstrikes, killing hundreds of troops as well as civilians.

It was an act of aggression which the new Syrian president would later describe as pushing the country into a “dangerous phase” and threatening its stability.

A shelled ambulance in Syria
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An ambulance that was severely damaged by shelling

Days of anarchy

The Israeli bombings forced the government troops to withdraw and, in their absence, Druze militia demanding autonomy from Damascus, embarked on a rash of revenge attacks and kidnappings.

Days of anarchy followed with thousands of Arab fighters including Islamic extremists massing on the area, pillaging and looting mainly Druze homes and businesses and engaging in pitched battles with Druze militia as well as civilians defending their homes and families.

A young man in the hospital
A man in the hospital

Shocking but mostly unverified social media posts showing executions and beheadings from both Druze and Arab accounts have fuelled the fear and fighting.

There are misinformation and disinformation propaganda campaigns – many by Islamists – which are inciting the violence and cementing divisions.

Body bags outside the hospital

The beleaguered new Syrian leader thanked America and the UAE for brokering a ceasefire – but it is shaky and in its infancy, and there’s a massive trust deficit all round which it is tentatively plastering.

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This is so much more than a bloody sectarian crisis – and comes at a time when Syria is emerging from more than a decade of civil war and is economically broken.

The crisis is complex, multi-layered and drawing in others.

Anadolu Agency quoted the Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan as warning that any attempt to divide Syria will be viewed as a threat to Turkish national security and lead to direct Turkish intervention.

These are words that will chill the many millions of Syrians desperate for peace.

:: Alex Crawford reports from Syria with camera operator Garwen McLuckie, specialist producer Chris Cunningham and Syrian producers Mahmoud Mosa and Ahmed Rahhal.

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Gaza food situation ‘worst it’s ever been’, charity says – as tank attack reportedly kills 12 at camp

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Gaza food situation 'worst it's ever been', charity says - as tank attack reportedly kills 12 at camp

An aid worker in Gaza has told Sky News the food situation in the enclave is “absolutely desperate” and “the worst it’s ever been”.

Her comments to chief presenter Mark Austin come amid fresh outcry over aid restrictions, with the UK joining 24 other countries to urge an immediate end to the war.

It also comes as at least 12 more Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded when tanks shelled a tent encampment in western Gaza City, according to health authorities.

Middle East latest: Key points from UK statement on Gaza

Medics, speaking early on Tuesday, said two shells were fired at tents housing displaced people from tanks positioned north of the Shati camp.

Israel hasn’t yet commented on the reports.

Rachael Cummings, humanitarian director for Save The Children, spoke to Sky News from Deir al Balah, a city where tens of thousands of people have sought refuge during repeated waves of mass displacement.

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She said: “One of my colleagues said to me yesterday, ‘We are all walking together towards death’. And this is the situation now for people in Gaza.

“There is no food for their children, it’s absolutely desperate here.”

Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, July 20, 2025. REUTERS
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Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen. Pic: Reuters

“The markets are empty,” she said. “People may even have cash in their pockets yet they cannot buy bread [or] vegetables.

“My team have said to me, ‘There’s nothing in my house to feed my children, my children are crying all day, every day.”

Israel launched a ground assault on southern and eastern Deir al Balah for the first time on Monday after having issued an evacuation order.

Local medics said at least three people were killed when houses and mosques were hit by tank shelling.

Sources told Reuters news agency that Israel believes some of the hostages kidnapped by Hamas in October 2023 could be in the area.

Smoke rises during Israeli strikes amid the Israeli military operation in Deir Al-Balah.
Pic: Reuters
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Smoke rises during strikes amid the Israeli operation in Deir al Balah. Pic: Reuters

Ms Cummings’s remarks came as the UK and 24 other nations issued a joint statement calling for a ceasefire.

The statement criticised aid distribution in Gaza, which is being managed by a US and Israel-backed organisation, Gaza Health Foundation (GHF).

Hundreds of people have reportedly been killed while trying to get food in recent weeks, both from GHF and UN convoys.

“The Israeli government’s aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,” the joint statement said.

The 25 countries also called for the “immediate and unconditional release” of hostages captured by Hamas during the 7 October 2023 attacks.

Lammy promises £40m for Gaza

Foreign Secretary David Lammy has promised £40m for humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

He told MPs: “We are leading diplomatic efforts to show that there must be a viable pathway to a Palestinian state involving the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, in the security and governance of the area.

“Hamas can have no role in the governance of Gaza, nor use it as a launchpad for terrorism.”

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Lammy: ‘There must be a viable pathway to a Palestinian state’

Addressing the foreign secretaries’ joint written statement, charity worker Liz Allcock – who works for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) in Gaza – told Sky News: “While we welcome this, there have been statements in the past 21 months and nothing has changed.

“In fact, things have only got worse. And every time we think it can’t get worse, it does.”

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“Without a reversal of the siege, the lack of supplies, the constant bombardment, the forced displacement, the killing, the militarisation of aid, we are going to collapse as a humanitarian response,” she said.

“And this would do a grave injustice to the 2.2 million people we’re trying to serve.

“An immediate and permanent ceasefire, and avenues for accountability in line with international law, is the minimum people here deserve.”

The war in Gaza started in response to Hamas’s attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people and saw about 250 taken hostage.

More than 59,000 Palestinians have since been killed, with more than half being women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

In recent weeks hundreds of Palestinians have reportedly been killed while waiting for food and aid.

The Israeli military has blamed Hamas militants for fomenting chaos and endangering civilians.

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