Hundreds of thousands of mourners and world leaders including US President Donald Trump packed St Peter’s Square on Saturday for the funeral of Pope Francis, “pope among the people” and the Catholic Church’s first Latin American leader.
Hundreds of thousands of mourners and world leaders including US President Donald Trump packed St Peter’s Square on Saturday for the funeral of Pope Francis, “pope among the people” and the Catholic Church’s first Latin American leader.
More than 50 heads of state were also present at the solemn ceremony, including Trump — who met several world leaders in a corner of the basilica beforehand, notably Ukraine’s Volodomyr Zelensky, in their first face-to-face since their Oval Office clash in February.
The crowds applauded as the pope’s coffin was carried out of the basilica by white gloved pallbearers, accompanied by more than 200 red-robed cardinals, and then again as it was taken back after the approximately two-hour mass.
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 funeral homily.
Italian and Vatican authorities mounted a major security operation for the ceremony, with fighter jets on standby and snipers positioned on roofs surrounding the tiny city state.
After the funeral, the pope’s simple wooden coffin was put onto a white popemobile for a slow drive through the streets of Rome to the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where he will be buried.
After the mourning, cardinals will gather for the conclave to elect a new pope to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
