Mourners collect for Pope Francis’ funeral
World Information
The pontiff was laid to relaxation after a funeral Mass in entrance of St. Peter’s Basilica. Dozens of world leaders attended, together with President Trump, who met with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.
VATICAN CITY — Roman Catholics had been gathering Saturday to present Pope Francis a final farewell at his funeral in St. Peter’s Sq. within the Vatican. Tens of 1000’s of trustworthy had been anticipated to attend the open-air Mass — from royalty and heads of state to abnormal individuals removed from the highlight, for whom Francis, who sought to make the church extra inclusive, had a particular affection.
Francis, who died Monday at 88, final yr permitted tips to make his funeral a much less grand affair than these of his predecessors. The centuries-old rites, nonetheless, will nonetheless contain Catholic pageantry, an viewers of world leaders, scores of red-robed cardinals, Gregorian chants and huge crowds filling the sq. exterior St. Peter’s Basilica.
Greater than 150 international delegations are anticipated, with attendees together with President Donald Trump, former President Joe Biden; and President Javier Milei of Argentina, the place Francis was born. A gaggle of refugees and homeless individuals, two teams for whom Francis advocated all through his 12-year papacy, additionally deliberate to attend, in line with the charity St. Egidio.
The funeral Mass began at 10 a.m. native time (4 a.m. Jap).
Here’s what else to know:
— Simplified ceremony: The modifications Francis launched for a papal funeral final yr mirror his view of the pope as a humble pastor fairly than a robust determine, though the rites will nonetheless be on a grand scale.
— Francis’ burial: After the Mass, a automobile will transport Francis’ unassuming wooden coffin to St. Mary Main, a papal basilica in Rome that the pope beloved. A gaggle of “poor and needy” individuals will greet his physique on the steps, the Vatican stated. Then, he can be buried throughout a non-public ceremony in a tomb with a frieze of a cross and the one-word inscription “Franciscus.”
— Selecting a successor: After the burial, the main target will flip in earnest to choosing the following pope, which takes place via an election among the many School of Cardinals. Hypothesis has pointed to a number of names as attainable successors.
— Politics as backdrop: The solemn ceremony will unfold towards a backdrop of geopolitical turmoil and struggle. A few of these anticipated to attend have been straight at odds with each other. Different attendees criticized Francis throughout his papacy. Milei as soon as dismissed Francis, the primary pope from Latin America, as a “filthy leftist.”
This text initially appeared in The New York Instances.
