Hundreds of thousands, world leaders gather for funeral of Pope Francis
Hundreds of thousands of mourners and over 50 world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, gathered at St Peter’s Square on Saturday for the funeral of Pope Francis, the Catholic Church’s first Latin American leader and a figure widely celebrated as the “pope among the people.”
The Vatican reported that around 250,000 people attended the solemn ceremony, with many having waited overnight to secure a place in the square outside St Peter’s Basilica. More than 200 cardinals in red robes accompanied the pope’s coffin, as white-gloved pallbearers carried it into and out of the basilica during the nearly two-hour mass.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, delivering the funeral homily, praised Francis, who died on Monday at the age of 88, as a leader with “an open heart” who worked tirelessly to make the Church a “home for all, a home with its doors always open.” His death marks the end of a 12-year papacy marked by efforts to guide the Catholic Church toward greater compassion and inclusivity.
Among the attendees were several world leaders, including President Trump, who met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in their first face-to-face meeting since a political clash earlier in the year.
“It’s beautiful to see all these nationalities together,” said Jeremie Metais, a mourner from Grenoble, France. “It’s a bit like the centre of the world today.”
Security was tight for the funeral, with Italian and Vatican authorities deploying fighter jets and positioning snipers on rooftops around the city-state. After the mass, the pope’s simple wooden coffin was placed on a white popemobile and driven slowly through the streets of Rome to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where he will be buried.
The funeral marks the beginning of nine days of official mourning for Pope Francis. Following this period, cardinals will convene in a conclave to elect the next leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
