Mourners gather for Pope Francis’ funeral
The pontiff was laid to rest after a funeral Mass in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. Dozens of world leaders attended, including President Trump, who met with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
VATICAN CITY — Roman Catholics were gathering Saturday to give Pope Francis a last farewell at his funeral in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican. Tens of thousands of faithful were expected to attend the open-air Mass — from royalty and heads of state to ordinary people far from the spotlight, for whom Francis, who sought to make the church more inclusive, had a special affection.
Francis, who died Monday at 88, last year approved guidelines to make his funeral a less grand affair than those of his predecessors. The centuries-old rites, however, will still involve Catholic pageantry, an audience of world leaders, scores of red-robed cardinals, Gregorian chants and large crowds filling the square outside St. Peter’s Basilica.
More than 150 foreign delegations are expected, with attendees including President Donald Trump, former President Joe Biden; and President Javier Milei of Argentina, where Francis was born. A group of refugees and homeless people, two groups for whom Francis advocated throughout his 12-year papacy, also planned to attend, according to the charity St. Egidio.
The funeral Mass started at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. Eastern).
Here is what else to know:
— Simplified ceremony: The changes Francis introduced for a papal funeral last year reflect his view of the pope as a humble pastor rather than a powerful figure, although the rites will still be on a grand scale.
— Francis’ burial: After the Mass, a vehicle will transport Francis’ unassuming wood coffin to St. Mary Major, a papal basilica in Rome that the pope loved. A group of “poor and needy” people will greet his body at the steps, the Vatican said. Then, he will be buried during a private ceremony in a tomb with a frieze of a cross and the one-word inscription “Franciscus.”
— Choosing a successor: After the burial, the focus will turn in earnest to selecting the next pope, which takes place through an election among the College of Cardinals. Speculation has pointed to several names as possible successors.
— Politics as backdrop: The solemn ceremony will unfold against a backdrop of geopolitical turmoil and war. Some of those expected to attend have been directly at odds with one another. Other attendees criticized Francis during his papacy. Milei once dismissed Francis, the first pope from Latin America, as a “filthy leftist.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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