Pope Francis was laid to rest in Rome yesterday after a Vatican funeral for the “pope among the people” attended by hundreds of thousands of mourners as well as world leaders, including US President Donald Trump.
About 400,000 people packed St Peter’s Square and lined the streets of Rome to say goodbye to the Argentine pontiff, a champion of the poor who had led the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics since 2013.
After a solemn funeral in front of hushed crowds, Francis’ plain wooden coffin — a testament to a life of humility — was driven slowly to Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore church, where he would be interred in a private ceremony.
Photo: REUTERS
Fourteen white-gloved pallbearers carried the coffin into the church, as children placed baskets of flowers at the altar and a choir sang prayers.
The marble tomb of the Catholic Church’s first Latin American leader is inscribed with just one word: “Franciscus,” his papal name in Latin.
Francis, who died on Monday aged 88, was “a pope among the people, with an open heart,” who strove for a more compassionate, open-minded Catholic Church, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said in his homily.
Photo: AP
There was applause from the masses gathered under bright blue skies as he hailed the pope’s “conviction that the Church is a home for all, a home with its doors always open.”
Francis sought to steer the centuries-old Church into a more inclusive direction during his 12-year papacy, and his death prompted a global outpouring of emotion.
Maria Mrula, 28, a student from Germany, said she drove 16 hours to be at the funeral.
Photo: AFP
“Giving to the poor and being with the poor,” Francis had inspired many, she said.
“The Church is alive,” she said. “It was great being here.”
Italian and Vatican authorities mounted a major security operation for the ceremony, with fighter jets on standby and snipers positioned on the roofs surrounding the tiny city-state.
Red-robed cardinals and purple-hatted bishops sat on one side of the altar in St Peter’s Square during the funeral, with world dignitaries sitting opposite.
In front of the altar lay the pope’s simple cypress coffin, inlaid with a pale cross.
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