Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff.
The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10.
The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
Photo: I-Hwa Cheng, AFP
In Taipei, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said that Taiwan is talking with the Vatican over a proposed visit by President William Lai (賴清德) to attend the pope’s funeral.
The Holy See is one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies. Then-presidents Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) and Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had respectively attended John Paul II’s funeral in 2005 and Francis’ investiture 12 years ago.
US President Donald Trump said he and first lady Melania Trump plan to attend, and Argentine President Javier Milei is also expected.
Photo: I-Hwa Cheng, AFP
The Argentine pope died on Monday at age 88 after a stroke put him in a coma and led his heart to fail. He had been recovering in his apartment after being hospitalized for five weeks with pneumonia. He made his last public appearance on Sunday, delivering an Easter blessing and greeting followers from his popemobile, looping around St Peter’s Square.
His Easter appearance from the same loggia where he was introduced to the world as the first pope from the Americas on March 13, 2013, was a fitting bookend to a 12-year papacy that sought to shake up the church and return it to its Gospel-mandated mission of caring for the poorest.
“He truly gave everything he had, up to the end,” said Sister Nathalie Becquart, one of the highest-ranking women at the Vatican.
While the ordinary faithful will have an opportunity to pay their respects beginning today, Vatican officials were allowed to say their goodbyes starting on Monday evening.
Speaking to reporters after she paid her respects, Becquart marveled at Francis’ final Easter salute to his flock.
“He really walked with his people,” she said.
Italian Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi said it was specifically Francis’ effort to promote the role of women in the church that would be one of his greatest legacies.
Ravasi said that Francis chose to be buried near his favorite icon of the Madonna, in a basilica across town, and not in the grottoes underneath St Peter’s, as is typical for popes.
“He wanted to be buried under the shadow of a woman, in this case Maria,” said Ravasi, the Vatican’s former culture minister as he arrived for yesterday’s first meeting of cardinals.
“That is significant, his desire for the church to do more for women,” he said.
The first images of Francis’ body were released yesterday, showing him in red vestments and his bishop’s miter in a wooden casket, with the Vatican secretary of state praying over him in the chapel of the Domus Santa Marta hotel where he lived and died.
Bells tolled in chapels, churches and cathedrals around the world and flags flew at half-staff in Taiwan, Italy, India and the US after Francis’ death was announced by the camerlengo, who takes charge of the Vatican after a pope’s death.
World leaders praised Francis for his moral leadership and compassion, while ordinary faithful remembered his simplicity and humanity.
“Like every Argentine, I think he was a rebel,” said 23-year-old Catalina Favaro, who had come to pay her respects in the Buenos Aires church where Francis discovered his priestly vocation. “He may have been contradictory, but that was nice, too.”
Additional reporting by staff writer
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