The late pope had asked for his funeral to be simple and there will only be two official national delegations.
President Joe Biden will not attend the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI in Vatican City on Thursday. The U.S. government will instead be represented by an ambassador.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre confirmed in a press briefing on Tuesday that the U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Joe Donnelly, will attend the funeral.
The event will be significantly different from the state funeral of the U.K.’s Queen Elizabeth II, which took place in September and was attended by many world leaders including Biden.
The former head of the Catholic Church had expressed a wish for a simple funeral and just two official national delegations will attend the event. One delegation will be from the late pope’s native Germany and the other from Italy.
Vatican City, an independent city-state, is contained entirely within Italian territory and the two countries have a close relationship.
