Trump and Zelenskyy apart at pope's funeral by French seating order

With the funeral of Pope Francis set for Saturday, the Vatican is working at full speed to define the details of the ceremony.

In accordance with the pontiff’s wishes, the ceremony will be sober and simple. However, the current geopolitical situation calls for special attention to the seating arrangements for the 170 international delegations to prevent the commemoration from becoming a site of escalating diplomatic crises.

As was the case for the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005, most delegations will sit not in order of importance, but according to alphabetical order — in French.

This means that President Donald Trump of the US (in French, États-Unis) will not sit next to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine, but could be positioned between the African states of Eswatini and Ethiopia, and not far from French President Emmanuel Macron, who has lately been Trump’s major critic.

This arrangement should avoid diplomatic embarrassments, however. Using Italian-language alphabetical order would, for example, have seen Trump and Zelenskyy sitting uncomfortably close together.

The Ukrainian leader has made it known that he had asked for a meeting with his US counterpart on the sidelines of the ceremony at the Vatican, which would be his first face-to-face encounter with Trump since a disastrous visit to the White House earlier this year.

Nothing has been confirmed at the moment, but it is not yet ruled out that the two presidents may have informal meetings in the Italian capital.

EU bigwigs Ursula von der Leyen, António Costa and Roberta Metsola are also reportedly considering bilateral talks after the ceremony.

The delegations will sit according to a precise pattern

There are some exceptions to the alphabetical rule. Representatives from Italy and Argentina, Pope Francis’ native country, will sit in the front row.

Argentine President Javier Milei is expected to arrive in Rome as early as Friday morning, where he will pay homage to the late pontiff despite their history of personal ill feeling.

The Italian delegation, meanwhile, is expected to be the largest representing one nation, with about 70 people. Among them will be President Sergio Mattarella, accompanied by his daughter Laura, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the president of the Senate, Ignazio La Russa; the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Lorenzo Fontana, Constitutional Court President Giovanni Amoroso and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani.

Next in the seating hierarchy will be the members of the Catholic royal houses, the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, the non-Catholic royal houses and then the representatives of the governments of the other nations. Those represented by a head of state will sit first, followed by those sending a head of government, then countries represented by only ministers, and finally ambassadors.

The civil authorities will be seated on the right side of the parvis of St Peter’s Basilica, while cardinals will be lined up at the entrance.

Crown Prince William of Wales will be representing the UK, as is tradition, together with Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The royals of Belgium, Sweden, Norway and Monaco will also attend.

The Spanish royals, King Felipe and Queen Letizia, will be accompanied by three ministers, but their Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, will be absent.

The Dutch royals, William Alexander and Máxima, will not attend the funeral due to the coincidence of the date with King’s Day, which celebrates the Dutch sovereign’s birthday. This is despite Maxima being Argentinian and Catholic, setting her apart from the Protestant majority of her subjects.

Glaring absences

The most noteworthy absentees will be Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as both leaders are under international arrest warrants for war crimes.

Some Italian media have claimed that Putin might not be arrested should he come to Italy, but Minister Nordio said that this is not possible because the arrest warrant would be activated should the Russian leader arrive in Italy or if details of his imminent arrival emerge.

Russia will instead be represented in St Peter’s Square by Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova.

Israel, meanwhile, will send only its ambassador to the Holy See, Yaron Sideman.

Men attending the ceremony have been told to wear a dark suit with a long black tie and a badge of the same colour on the left lapel of their jackets. Women are expected to wear a dress with black gloves and a veil. The only ornamentation allowed is a string of pearls.