By NICOLE WINFIELD and COLLEEN BARRY, Related Press
VATICAN CITY (AP) — World leaders and rank-and-file Catholic devoted bade farewell to Pope Francis in a funeral Saturday that highlighted his concern for individuals on the peripheries and mirrored his want to be remembered as a easy pastor. Although presidents and princes attended the Mass in St. Peter’s Sq., prisoners and migrants welcomed Francis’ coffin at his closing resting place in a basilica throughout city.
In accordance with Vatican estimates, some 250,000 individuals flocked to the funeral Mass on the Vatican and 150,000 extra lined the motorcade route by way of downtown Rome to witness the primary funeral procession for a pope in a century. They clapped and cheered “Papa Francesco” as his easy wood coffin traveled aboard a modified popemobile to St. Mary Main Basilica, some 3.5 miles away.
As bells tolled, the pallbearers introduced the coffin previous a number of dozen migrants, prisoners and homeless individuals holding white roses exterior the basilica. As soon as inside, the pallbearers stopped in entrance of the icon of the Virgin Mary that Francis cherished. 4 kids deposited the roses on the foot of the altar earlier than cardinals carried out the burial ceremony at his tomb in a close-by area of interest.
“I’m so sorry that we’ve misplaced him,” stated Mohammed Abdallah, a 35-year-old migrant from Sudan who was one of many individuals who welcomed Francis to his closing resting place. “Francis helped so many individuals, refugees like us, and plenty of different individuals on this planet.”
Earlier, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re eulogized historical past’s first Latin American pontiff in the course of the Vatican Mass as a pope of the individuals, a pastor who knew how one can talk to the “least amongst us” with a casual, spontaneous model.
“He was a pope among the many individuals, with an open coronary heart in the direction of everybody,” the 91-year-old dean of the School of Cardinals stated in a extremely private sermon. He drew applause from the group when he recounted Francis’ fixed concern for migrants, exemplified by celebrating Mass on the U.S.-Mexico border and touring to a refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece, when he introduced 12 migrants dwelling with him.
“The guiding thread of his mission was additionally the conviction that the church is a house for all, a house with its doorways all the time open,” Re stated, noting that together with his travels, the Argentine pontiff reached “essentially the most peripheral of the peripheries of the world.”
A rare assembly about Ukraine on the sidelines
Regardless of Francis’ concentrate on the powerless, the highly effective had been out in power at his funeral. U.S. President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.N. Secretary-Basic António Guterres and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined Prince William and continental European royals main greater than 160 official delegations. Argentine President Javier Milei had delight of place given Francis’ nationality, even when the 2 didn’t significantly get alongside and the pope alienated many in his homeland by by no means returning there.
On this picture supplied by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Workplace, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, proper, and President Donald Trump, speak as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025.(Ukrainian Presidential Press Workplace through AP)
In a unprecedented growth, Trump and Zelenskyy met privately on the sidelines. A photograph confirmed the 2 males sitting alone, dealing with each other and hunched over on chairs in St. Peter’s Basilica, the place Francis usually preached the necessity for a peaceable finish to Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
Tens of hundreds flocked earlier than daybreak to the Vatican
Francis choreographed the funeral himself when he revised and simplified the Vatican’s rites and rituals final 12 months. His goal was to emphasise the pope’s function as a mere pastor and never “a robust man of this world.”
It was a mirrored image of Francis’ 12-year undertaking to radically reform the papacy, to emphasize clergymen as servants and to assemble “a poor church for the poor.” He articulated the mission simply days after his 2013 election and it defined the title he selected as pope, honoring St. Francis of Assisi “who had the center of the poor of the world,” in line with the official decree of the pope’s life that was positioned in his coffin.
The white facade of St. Peter’s glowed pink because the solar rose Saturday and throngs of mourners rushed into the sq. to get a spot for the Mass. Big tv screens had been arrange alongside the encompassing streets for many who couldn’t get shut.
The coffin of Pope Francis is carried into St. Mary Main Basilica in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Luca Bruno)
The coffin of Pope Francis arrives at St. Mary Main Basilica in Rome Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Francisco Seco)
A view of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Alessandra Tarantino)
A view of St Peter’s Sq. in the course of the funeral of Pope Francis, on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Gregorio Borgia)
The coffin of Pope Francis is transported in entrance of the Colosseum on its method to St. Mary Main the place he shall be buried, Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Antonio Calanni)
The e book of the Gospels lies on the coffin of Pope Francis throughout his funeral ceremony in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Alessandra Tarantino)
The coffin of Pope Francis makes its method to St. Mary Main Basilica in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Luca Bruno)
Devoted holding white roses look ahead to the burial ceremony of Pope Francis at St. Mary Main Basilica in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Luca Bruno)
Devoted collect to observe the burial ceremony of Pope Francis at St. Mary Main Basilica in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Luca Bruno)
Individuals look ahead to the funeral procession of Pope Francis in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Antonio Calanni)
Devoted collect to observe the burial ceremony of Pope Francis at St. Mary Main Basilica in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Luca Bruno)
The coffin of Pope Francis leaves St. Peter’s Sq. on its method to St.Mary Main the place he shall be buried, on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Gregorio Borgia)
The coffin of Pope Francis makes its method to St. Mary Main Basilica in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Luca Bruno)
A nun holds a phot of Pope Francis whereas attending his funeral in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andreea Alexandru)
The coffin of Pope Francis arrives at St. Mary Main Basilica in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Luca Bruno)
Individuals look ahead to the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andreea Alexandru)
Devoted hearken to mass in the course of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
Individuals attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andreea Alexandru)
Nuns and devoted hearken to mass in the course of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
Individuals attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andreea Alexandru)
Devoted pray in the course of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andrew Medichini)
Devoted pray in the course of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andrew Medichini)
Nuns attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andreea Alexandru)
Nuns pray in the course of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
Nuns watch the funeral of Pope Francis from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andreea Alexandru)
Devoted react in the course of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
A devoted reacts in the course of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
Clergy are seated for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Markus Schreiber)
Nuns share fun as individuals collect for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andreea Alexandru)
The coffin of Pope Francis is carried into St Peter’s Sq. for his funeral, on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Gregorio Borgia)
Monks take their seats forward of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Alessandra Tarantino)
Clergy arrive for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Alessandra Tarantino)
Cardinals sit of their seats forward of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Markus Schreiber)
Monks and an assistant make preparations forward of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Markus Schreiber)
Statues on the Charlemagne Wing are silhouetted because the solar rises forward of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Gregorio Borgia)
A nun stands in St. Peter’s Sq. forward of the funeral of Pope Francis on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
A nun holds a rosary as she waits for the funeral of Pope Francis to start, in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
A nun seems above the crowds as individuals collect for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andreea Alexandru)
A Vatican Swiss Guard in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Alessandra Tarantino)
Devoted sit in St. Peter’s Sq. ready for the funeral of Pope Francis to start, on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
Devoted relaxation on the bottom forward of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andrew Medichini)
Nadine, from Germany, is ready for the funeral of Pope Francis to start, in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
Devoted look ahead to the beginning of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
Devoted stand on a lamppost as they look ahead to the funeral of Pope Francis to start in St. Peter’s Sq., on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
Devoted arrive forward of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Markus Schreiber)
Devoted relaxation on the bottom exterior St Peter’s Basilica ready for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andrew Medichini)
A devoted waves a flag with Carlo Acutis, the 15-year-old Italian boy who died in 2006 of leukemia and beatified in 2020, on the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
Monks take their seats forward of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Alessandra Tarantino)
Devoted and Swiss Guards are backdropped by St. Peter’s Basilica forward of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Alessandra Tarantino)
A nun waits in St. Peter’s Sq. as individuals arrive forward of the funeral of Pope Francis on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andreea Alexandru)
A person yawns as individuals arrive in St. Peter’s Sq. forward of the funeral of Pope Francis on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andreea Alexandru)
Devoted relaxation on the bottom forward of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andrew Medichini)
Nuns and pilgrims make their method to St. Peter’s Sq. forward of the funeral of Pope Francis on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andreea Alexandru)
A devoted sporting a flag from Argentina arrives for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Gregorio Borgia)
Cops converse in St. Peter’s Sq. forward of the funeral of Pope Francis on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andreea Alexandru)
Nuns and different pilgrims search for their seats in St. Peter’s Sq. forward of the funeral of Pope Francis, on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Markus Schreiber)
Devoted, one holding a placard with the Ukrainian flag and studying Francis, pray for us, arrive for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Alessandra Tarantino)
A nun smiles as she waits forward of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
The solar rises by way of a statue as individuals start to take their seats in St. Peter’s Sq., forward of the funeral of Pope Francis on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Markus Schreiber)
The coffin of Pope Francis is positioned on the bottom throughout his funeral in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Gregorio Borgia)
Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelenskyy, middle, arrives for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Gregorio Borgia)
President Donald Trump, proper, shakes fingers with French President Emmanuel Macron, left, as Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, seems on, as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Evan Vucci)
Clergy attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Markus Schreiber)
Individuals attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andreea Alexandru)
President Donald Trump, entrance row proper, and Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelenskyy, entrance row left, are seen amongst different dignitaries in the course of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Gregorio Borgia)
Nuns and devoted hearken to mass in the course of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
Devoted hearken to mass in the course of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
President Donald Trump, middle proper, with first woman Melania Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, entrance row left middle, and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, middle left, and different dignitaries, attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Evan Vucci)
The coffin of Pope Francis is positioned on the bottom in St Peter’s Sq. for his funeral, on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andrew Medichini)
Devoted collect in the course of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli, kneeling proper, presides over the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Evan Vucci)
The coffin of Pope Francis is carried into St Peter’s Sq. for his funeral, on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Evan Vucci)
A view of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Gregorio Borgia)
A view of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Gregorio Borgia)
The coffin of Pope Francis throughout his funeral in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Gregorio Borgia)
The coffin of Pope Francis is carried into St Peter’s Sq. for his funeral, on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Gregorio Borgia)
Clergy take their seats for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Markus Schreiber)
The coffin of Pope Francis is carried into St Peter’s Sq. for his funeral, on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Gregorio Borgia)
The coffin of Pope Francis is carried into St. Peter’s Sq. throughout his funeral ceremony, on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Alessandra Tarantino)
The coffin of Pope Francis is carried into St Peter’s Sq. for his funeral, on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Gregorio Borgia)
Dean of the School of Cardinals Giovanni Battista Re prays in entrance of the coffin in the course of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Alessandra Tarantino)
The coffin of Pope Francis is laid into St. Peter’s Sq. throughout his funeral ceremony, on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Alessandra Tarantino)
Clergy in the course of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Markus Schreiber)
An individual prays in the course of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andrew Medichini)
Clergy take their seats forward of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Evan Vucci)
Journalists stand on the colonnade exterior St Peter’s Basilica forward of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andrew Medichini)
Devoted relaxation on the bottom as they look ahead to the funeral of Pope Francis to start, in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Emilio Morenatti)
Individuals collect for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Andreea Alexandru)
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The coffin of Pope Francis is carried into St. Mary Main Basilica in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photograph/Luca Bruno)
Increase
Police helicopters whirled overhead, a part of the huge safety operation Italian authorities mounted, together with greater than 2,500 police, 1,500 troopers and a torpedo ship off the coast, Italian media reported.
Many mourners had deliberate to be in Rome anyway this weekend for the now-postponed Holy Yr canonization of the primary millennial saint, Carlo Acutis. Teams of scouts and youth church teams practically outnumbered the gaggles of nuns and seminarians.
“He was a really charismatic pope, very human, very type, above all very human,” stated Miguel Vaca, a pilgrim from Peru who stated he had camped out all evening close to the piazza. “It’s very emotional to say goodbye to him.”
A particular relationship with the basilica
Francis, who was additionally the primary Jesuit pope, died Easter Monday at age 88 after struggling a stroke whereas recovering from pneumonia.
Even earlier than he turned pope, Francis had a selected affection for St. Mary Main, dwelling to a Byzantine-style icon of the Madonna, the Salus Populi Romani. He would pray earlier than the icon earlier than and after every of his international journeys as pope.
The popemobile that introduced his coffin there was made for a kind of journeys: Francis’ 2015 go to to the Philippines, and was modified to hold a coffin.
The selection of the basilica was additionally symbolically important given its ties to Francis’ Jesuit non secular order. St. Ignatius Loyola, who based the Jesuits, celebrated his first Mass within the basilica on Christmas Day in 1538.
The basilica is the resting place of seven different popes, however this was the primary papal burial exterior the Vatican since Pope Leo XIII, who died in 1903 and was entombed in one other Roman basilica in 1924.
Following the funeral, preparations can start in earnest to launch the centuries-old means of electing a brand new pope, a conclave that can probably start within the first week of Might. Within the interim, the Vatican is being run by a handful of cardinals, key amongst them Re, who’s organizing the key voting within the Sistine Chapel.
German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who will take part within the conclave, stated the outpouring of help for Francis at his funeral confirmed the clear want for the following pope to proceed his legacy.
Crowds waited hours to bid farewell to Francis
Over three days this week, greater than 250,000 individuals stood for hours in line to pay their closing respects whereas Francis’ physique lay in state in St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican stored the basilica open by way of the evening to accommodate them, but it surely wasn’t sufficient. When the doorways closed to most of the people at 7 p.m. Friday, mourners had been turned away in droves.
By daybreak Saturday, they had been again, some recalling the phrases Francis uttered the very first evening of his election and all through his papacy.
“We’re right here to honor him as a result of he all the time stated ‘don’t overlook to hope for me,’” stated Nigerian Sister Christiana Neenwata. “So we’re additionally right here to provide to him this love that he gave to us.”
Related Press writers Vanessa Gera in Vatican Metropolis and Giada Zampano in Rome contributed.
Related Press faith protection receives help by way of the AP’s collaboration with The Dialog US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely answerable for this content material.
