Pope Francis “the pope of the peripheries” was laid to rest on Saturday following his death on April 21 at the age off 88 with around 200,000 mourners gathering in Vatican City to bid a final farewell—exceeding than initial expectations.
In a departure from Vatican tradition, the pontiff requested a simpler ceremony, choosing a single wooden coffin instead of the elaborate three-coffin arrangement used by his predecessors.
Addressing the crowd during the service, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said Pope Francis’s “final image” will forever be him greeting worshipers despite severe health struggles on Easter Sunday, six days ago.
Pope Francis knew how to communicate to the “least among us” and was able to “touch hearts”. He had always urged people to build bridges “and not walls”, sharing their fears, suffering and hopes “with great human warmth and deep sensitivity.
“The final image we have of him, which will remain etched in our memory, in our eyes and our hearts is that of last Sunday, Easter Sunday, when Pope Francis, despite his serious health problems, wanted to give us his blessings from the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica,” Cardinal Re said.
“He then came down to this square to greet from his open pope-mobile the large crowd gathered for the Easter mass.”
Francis became known as the “pope of the peripheries” and the title was a defining thread of his papacy.
Days before he became pope in 2013, Francis told the cardinals that elected him that the Church must “come out of herself and to go to the peripheries, not only geographically, but also the existential peripheries”.
Among the 170 international delegations attending were US President Donald Trump, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, France’s President Emmanuel Macron, and Prince William. Romania’s interim President Ilie Bolojan was among the official guests.
Zelensky was greeted by applause as he emerged from St Peter’s Basilica for the funeral.
Ukrainian officials posted a picture of Trump’s brief meeting inside St Peter’s with Zelensky, their first since the bust-up in the White House on Feb. 28.
It looked like an ad hoc meeting on chairs and the leaders looked engrossed in deep conversation. The picture came from Andriy Yermak, head of Zelensky’s office.
Former US president Joe Biden, a Catholic, was also present, and was seen being assisted down steps by his wife Jill and a priest.
More than 130,000 mourners had visited Pope Francis’s coffin as he lay in state in St Peter’s Basilica since Wednesday. Security across Rome was stepped up significantly, with anti-drone technology deployed and fighter jets enforcing a no-fly zone.
Following the ceremony, Pope Francis was buried at Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, his tomb bearing the simple Latin inscription “Franciscus,” as per his wishes for an understated burial.
