Pope Francis‘ funeral service Saturday drew 250,000 mourners to the Vatican, including foreign presidents, prime ministers, and other dignitaries.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re delivered the homily, calling Francis a “pope among the people, with an open heart towards everyone.”
“Rich in human warmth and deeply sensitive to today’s challenges, Pope Francis truly shared the anxieties, sufferings and hopes of this time of globalization,” Re said. “His gestures and exhortations in favor of refugees and displaced persons are countless. His insistence on working on behalf of the poor was constant.”
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, and French President Emmanuel Macron were among the foreign leaders to attend the two-hour funeral; Trump and Zelensky also had a private meeting together at St. Peter’s Basilica.
“Faced with the raging wars of recent years, with their inhuman horrors and countless deaths and destruction, Pope Francis incessantly raised his voice imploring peace and calling for reason and inviting honest negotiation to find possible solutions. War, he said, results in the death of people and the destruction of homes, hospitals and schools. War always leaves the world worse than it was before: it is always a painful and tragic defeat for everyone,” Re added.
“Pope Francis used to conclude his speeches and meetings by saying ‘do not forget to pray for me.’ Dear Pope Francis, we now ask you to pray for us. May you bless the Church, bless Rome, and bless the whole world as you did last Sunday from the balcony of this basilica in a final embrace with all the people of God, but also embrace humanity that seeks the truth with a sincere heart and holds high the torch of hope.”
Following the service, Francis’ coffin was transported in the white popemobile over the River Tiber to be entombed in Rome’s Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore.
Former US Secretary of State John Kerry, who also attended the funeral, praised Pope Francis’ “remarkable character, approach and his humility” to CNN. “You hear it from everybody,” Kerry told CNN. “There’s just a consistent refrain of how people were touched by him. In the end, it speaks to his ability to have been able to touch people of all different histories, different cultures, different religions.”
Pope Francis died of a cerebral stroke and heart failure on April 21, a day after Easter Sunday, at the age of 88. Back in February, Francis spent five weeks in the hospital after being diagnosed with double pneumonia. His condition quickly worsened after an “asthmatic respiratory crisis,” and it wasn’t until late March that his condition was stable enough for him to leave the hospital.
The pontiff made his final public appearance on Easter Sunday, when he appeared in St. Peter’s Square to bless thousands of onlookers, and also met briefly with Vice President J.D. Vance. In some of his final addresses, Francis called for mercy for migrants, as well as peace, advocating for a ceasefire in Gaza and a solution to the conflict in Yemen.
“On this day, I would like all of us to hope anew and to revive our trust in others, including those who are different than ourselves, or who come from distant lands, bringing unfamiliar customs, ways of life and ideas,” Francis said in his Easter blessing. “For all of us are children of God!”
