Pope "unites" politicians - Leaders from around the world at funeral ceremony
Pope Francis' final farewell was given today, with the coffin being placed in St. Peter's Square on Saturday at the start of the funeral Mass, attended by a large number of people, including powerful world leaders, pilgrims and prelates.
Applause erupted as the coffin, decorated with a large cross, was carried out of St. Peter's Basilica. Bells rang out as leaders from more than 150 countries took their seats. Notable figures included U.S. President Donald Trump, who clashed with Pope Francis over their starkly opposing positions on immigration.
The ceremony was attended by 220 cardinals, 750 bishops and more than 4,000 priests. Thousands of citizens rushed to the Vatican in the early hours of the morning. Many of them set up camps to secure places at the head of the crowd for the ceremony.
The Argentine pope died on Monday at the age of 88. Over the past three days, some 250,000 people have passed by his body, which was placed in an open coffin in front of the altar of the 16th-century St. Peter's Basilica.
Among the heads of state who flew into Rome were the presidents of Argentina, France, Gabon, Germany, the Philippines, Poland and Ukraine, along with the prime ministers of Britain and New Zealand, as well as many members of European royal families. Applause erupted in the square when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy appeared. Among the first notable figures to arrive were former US President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill.
Unlike his predecessors, Francis has sought a more modest burial. In 2024, he changed the earlier rules that called for three coffins, two made of cypress and oak, and one made of lead, one inside the other. Under the new rules, popes can now be buried in a single wooden coffin, lined with zinc. The rule change also allows for burial outside the Vatican, in accordance with Francis' wishes.
He decided to have his coffin moved to the Basilica of St. Mary Major, a church outside the walls of the Holy See. Francis is the first pope to be buried there since the 1600s, and the first in more than 100 years to be buried outside the Vatican.
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