It was one of the largest funeral ceremonies in history and the first such funeral procession in the Eternal City. The mass was attended by five thousand concelebrants, including 220 cardinals. On Pope Francis' simple oak coffin, standing at the altar in front of the Vatican Basilica, the Gospel was placed - the pages of which were turned by a light wind. And at the altar - a copy of the Salus Populi Romani icon from the Basilica of Saint Mary Major stood, which was also placed in the square during the Pope's solitary prayer during the COVID-19 pandemic, on March 27, 2020.
"The great devotion and unity that we have seen in these days after his passage from this earth to eternity, testify to how much the pontificate of Pope Francis has touched minds and hearts"
- said in his homily the Dean of the College of Cardinals, 91-year-old Cardinal Re.
"The decision to take the name Francis immediately proved to be a choice of program and style that he wanted to give to his pontificate, trying to draw inspiration from the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi [...] He maintained his temperament and style of pastoral leadership, and also immediately gave the governance of the Church the clear features of his strong personality. He established direct contact with individuals and societies, wanting to be close to everyone"
- added the Dean of the College of Cardinals, noting that Francis "particularly cared for people in difficult situations, he devoted himself limitlessly, especially to the last of this world, to the excluded".
As he stated, the leitmotif of Francis' mission was the conviction that the Church is a home for everyone; "a home with its doors always open". This is how he referred to the often repeated Spanish word: "todos, todos, todos". He also recalled the Pope's countless gestures and appeals on behalf of refugees and his determination to act on behalf of the poor. In conclusion, Cardinal Re recalled the appeal of the Pope who died a week ago: "Build bridges, not walls".
The mass was attended by 160 delegations and dozens of world leaders and crowned heads, including the President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda and his wife. The guests from the world of politics included US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, along with their spouses - who used the meeting in Rome to hold another conversation on stopping Russian aggression against Ukraine.
The funeral of the Bishop of Rome was attended by 40 ecumenical and other religious delegations. Francis' friend and ally, among others in matters of ecology - the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew - was present.
After the end of the mass, a funeral procession set off from the side gate of the Vatican - Perugino with the coffin with the body of Pope Francis placed in the popemobile towards the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, which Francis chose as the place of his burial because it was particularly close to him. He came to pray there the day after his election to the conclave in March 2013, and has since visited the church at every important moment of his pontificate, praying before the Salus Populi Romani, an 11th-century Byzantine icon.
In his will, published on Monday, the pope wrote: "I ask that my mortal remains be laid to rest in the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major, awaiting the day of resurrection [...] The tomb is to be in the ground, simple, without any special decoration and with the single inscription: Franciscus".
The expenses for Pope Francis' burial were covered by a benefactor who chose to remain anonymous.
The Vatican announced that the tomb will be open to visitors from Sunday morning.
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Source: PAP, IAR