Pope Francis’ coffin was carried into St Peter’s Square on Saturday morning as a multitude of mourners, including world leaders, clerics and pilgrims, gathered for his funeral Mass.
The wooden coffin, adorned with a large cross, was borne out of St Peter’s Basilica by 14 white-gloved pallbearers, drawing applause from the thousands assembled under a clear, sunlit sky. Bells tolled across the Vatican as the final dignitaries from more than 150 countries took their places in the square.
Among those present was US President Donald Trump, who had clashed with Francis on several occasions over immigration policy, and who, alongside his wife Melania, paid his respects at the late pontiff’s coffin before the ceremony began.
The open-air Mass, led by 220 cardinals, 750 bishops and more than 4,000 priests, was scheduled to last 90 minutes. The pope’s casket was placed on a carpet before the altar, with the book of gospels resting atop it as Vatican choirs filled the square with solemn hymns.
Cardinals robed in red sat on one side of the altar, facing rows of world leaders in dark suits on the opposite side. Ahead of them were hundreds of priests clad in white vestments, and then the vast throng of ordinary mourners who had travelled from around the globe to bid farewell.
Many had camped overnight in the hope of securing a place at the front. “We want to say goodbye because he was a living saint, very humble and simple,” said Sister Mary James, a Franciscan nun who had waited through the night.
Pope Francis, born in Argentina, died on Monday aged 88 following a stroke. His death marked the beginning of a meticulously choreographed period of mourning and transition for the 1.4 billion-member Roman Catholic Church.
Over the past three days, approximately 250,000 mourners had filed past his body as it lay in an open coffin before the main altar inside the grand, 16th-century basilica. The coffin was sealed on Friday night in preparation for the funeral.
Dignitaries in attendance included the Presidents of Argentina, France, Gabon, Germany, the Philippines and Poland, as well as the Prime Ministers of Britain and New Zealand. Several European royals were also present. Applause echoed through the square as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived. A spokesman for Zelensky confirmed that he had met with President Trump while in Rome, though no further details were disclosed.
The Mass was presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, a 91-year-old Italian prelate, before the vast cobbled expanse of St Peter’s Square, which the Vatican had said would accommodate some 250,000 mourners and pilgrims.
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