World leaders, dignitaries, and thousands of mourners converged on St. Peter’s Basilica Saturday to bid farewell to Pope Francis, who was laid to rest following a solemn funeral ceremony.
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The 88-year-old pontiff, who led the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics for 12 years, died on Easter Monday from a stroke after recently recovering from respiratory ailments.
An extraordinary assembly of global figures attended the funeral, including U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, Finland’s Alexander Stubb, and Switzerland’s Karin Keller-Sutter. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena, Irish President Michael D. Higgins, Ugandan Parliament Deputy Speaker Tomas Tayebwa, and Nigerian Senate President Godswill Akpabio were also among the dignitaries present.
The seating arrangement followed diplomatic protocol, with representatives from Argentina—the Pope’s native country—and Italy given places of honour at the front. Other heads of state and government were seated alphabetically according to their countries’ names in French, the traditional language of diplomacy.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, led the liturgy alongside approximately 250 cardinals, patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, priests, and lay people. In his homily, Cardinal Battista Re praised Pope Francis as “a pope among the people, with an open heart toward everyone.”
“He established direct contact with individuals and peoples, eager to be close to everyone, with a marked attention to those in difficulty, giving himself without measure, especially to the marginalised,” the Cardinal said.
The funeral Mass began as pallbearers carried the Pope’s simple wooden coffin, adorned with a large cross, into the square to the sound of tolling bells and applause from the gathered mourners. Following the service, the coffin was placed on an open-air popemobile for its final journey.
A motorcade transported the Pope’s remains approximately 2.5 miles through the streets of Rome to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, where he was buried in a private ceremony. Thousands of onlookers lined the route, waving and applauding as the procession passed.
Just one day before his death, the frail but determined pontiff had delighted Easter Sunday crowds with an unexpected popemobile appearance in St. Peter’s Square. Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis was known for championing the poor and marginalised, though his progressive reforms often faced resistance from traditionalists within the Church.
On the sidelines of the funeral, President Trump held what White House communications director Steve Cheung described as a “very productive” private meeting with President Zelensky, marking their first encounter since a reportedly tense meeting at the White House in February regarding peace negotiations with Russia.
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