Spontaneous applause rang out as Pope Francis' wooden coffin, inlaid with a large cross, was carried from St Peter's Basilica into a sun-filled St Peter's Square yesterday by 14 white-gloved pallbearers.
Bells tolled as the last of leaders from more than 150 countries took their places on one side of the vast square. Dignitaries included US President Donald Trump, who clashed with Francis on numerous occasions over their starkly contrasting positions on immigration. On the other side sat cardinals who must decide if Francis' successor should continue with his push for a more open church or cede to conservatives who want to return to a more traditional papacy.
“Rich in human warmth and deeply sensitive to today's challenges, Pope Francis truly shared the anxieties, sufferings and hopes of this time,” said Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who presided over the funeral Mass.
The Argentine pope, who had reigned for 12 years, died at the age of 88 on Monday after suffering a stroke.
The crowd broke into applause when Re spoke of Francis' care for immigrants, his constant pleas for peace, the need for negotiations to end wars and the importance of climate change. They clapped loudly again at the end of the service when the ushers picked up the casket and tilted it slightly so more people could see, the church bells tolling in the background.
The coffin was placed on an open-topped Popemobile and driven through Rome to St Mary Major Basilica, with thousands of people lining the route. Francis, who shunned much of the pomp and privilege of the papacy during his 12-year reign, had asked to be buried there rather than in the crypt of St Peter's, which is the traditional resting place for popes.
Aerial views of the Vatican during the funeral showed a patchwork of colours — black from the dark garb of the world's leaders, red from the vestments of some 250 cardinals, the purple worn by some of the 400 bishops and the white worn by 4,000 attending priests.
Choirs sang Latin hymns and prayers were recited in various languages, including Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Portuguese and Arabic, reflecting the global reach of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church.
The Vatican estimated more than 250,000 people attended the ceremony, which lasted two hours.
TRUMP MEETS ZELENSKY
The funeral provided an opportunity for Trump to meet Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, at a time when Trump is pushing for a deal to end the war in Ukraine.
A White House official said they had a “very productive discussion”. A spokesperson for Zelensky's office said the two leaders met in St Peter's Basilica for about 15 minutes and had agreed to have a second meeting later on Saturday.
In one photograph of the encounter released by Zelensky's office, the two men sat on red-backed chairs, knee-to-knee and leaning in towards each other in conversation.
Among the other heads of state who flew into Rome were the presidents of Argentina, France, Gabon, Germany, the Philippines and Poland, together with the prime ministers of Britain and New Zealand, and many royals, including the king and queen of Spain.
BREAKING TRADITION
Francis, the first non-European pope for almost 13 centuries, battled to reshape the Roman Catholic Church, siding with the poor and marginalised, while challenging wealthy nations to help migrants and reverse climate change. “Francis left everyone a wonderful testimony of humanity, of a holy life and of universal fatherhood,” said a formal summary of his papacy, written in Latin, and placed next to his body.
Traditionalists pushed back at his efforts to make the church more transparent, while his pleas for an end to conflict, divisions and rampant capitalism often fell on deaf ears. The pope carried his desire for greater simplicity in the papacy into his funeral, having rewritten the elaborate, book-long funeral rites used previously.
He also opted to forego a centuries-old practice of burying popes in three interlocking caskets made of cypress, lead and oak. Instead, he was placed in a single, zinc-lined wooden coffin, which was sealed closed overnight.
In a further break with the past, he will be the first pope to be buried outside the Vatican in more than a century, preferring St Mary Major, some 5.5km from St Peter's. His tomb has just “Franciscus”, his name in Latin, inscribed on the top. A reproduction of the simple, iron-plated cross he used to wear around his neck hangs above the marble slab.
After the burial, attention will switch to who might succeed him.
The secretive conclave to elect a successor is unlikely to begin before May 6, and might not start for several days after that, giving cardinals time to hold regular meetings to sum each other up and assess the state of the church, beset by financial problems and ideological divisions.
Reuters
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