Politics
👉 Pope Francis Funeral: World Leaders and Refugees Gather at St Peter’s Square
At least 130 foreign delegations and an estimated 200,000 pilgrims to descend on St Peter’s Square on Saturday.
Pope Francis Funeral will draw an extraordinary array of attendees to St. Peter’s Square on Saturday, honoring the trailblazing liberal pope who led the Catholic Church for 12 years. Heads of state, royalty, refugees, prisoners, transgender individuals, and the homeless are among those gathering to pay their respects.
Following a stroke and ensuing heart failure, Francis passed away at the age of 88 on Monday at his Casa Santa Marta home. He had spent five weeks in the hospital recovering from double pneumonia.
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During the three days that the late pontiff lay in state, tens of thousands of mourners poured into St. Peter’s Basilica to pay their respects. On Friday evening, a private ceremony was held to seal his coffin.
The dean of the college of cardinals, Italian cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, will lead the funeral mass, which starts at 10 a.m. local time.
With an expected 200,000 visitors and at least 130 foreign delegations in attendance, the burial has necessitated a massive and intricate security operation in Rome and the Vatican, involving thousands of Italian military personnel and police as well as the Vatican’s Swiss Guards, the world’s smallest army. While fighter jets and rooftop snipers are ready, soldiers in St. Peter’s Square have been armed with weapons that can fire down drones.
During the mass, a delegation from Francis’s native Argentina, headed by its president Javier Milei, will sit in the front row. Italian leaders, including Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella, will sit in the second row, followed by other heads of state and royalty in the third.
Alongside Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden, are US President Donald Trump, who for years argued with Francis over immigration, and his wife, Melania.
Prince William, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, and Prince William are among the other guests. Late on Friday, Zelenskyy stated that he was in “military meetings” if he couldn’t fly.
Prior to the burial, the 87-page order of service—which was written in Latin, Italian, and English—was posted on the Vatican’s website.
Pope Francis, a moniker selected in memory of Francis of Assisi, the Italian saint who left a life of luxury to aid the poor, streamlined protocols for papal funerals last year and was quite explicit about the prerequisites for his own , including his visitors.
Invited to his burial service are delegations from Mediterranea Saving Humans, an Italian NGO that works to safeguard immigrants who cross the Mediterranean, and immigrants in Libya, an NGO that advocates on behalf of migrants and refugees incarcerated in detention facilities in the north African country. Both groups became close friends with Francis.
“He was the only pope who truly stood with refugees and vulnerable people, so we are really sorry about his passing,” Daoud added. “He supported us during our difficult time in Libya as well as when we first arrived in Italy.”
Daoud wishes for the funeral to serve as a uniting occasion. He declared, “We will be with those who oppose us, who push us back, or who make us live in dangerous circumstances.” “But ultimately, we are all attending this funeral together, and we sincerely hope that it will serve as a unifying force.”
Following the burial liturgy, Francis’s plain wooden coffin will be gently transported to Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, which is located in the Esquilino neighborhood of Rome and is around 2.5 miles distant.
The Colosseum and other important landmarks will be passed as the procession moves through the heart of Rome. Francis requested that a group of 40 individuals, including homeless and prisoner persons, give him a final farewell when he arrives at the fourth-century basilica.
According to Robert Mickens, a commentator for Union of Catholic Asian News located in Rome, Francis has made it his mission to highlight those who others may view as the remnants of society from the start of his pontificate.
Francis is the first pope in almost a century to not be buried in the grottoes under St. Peter’s Basilica with a lavish funeral.