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On a sunny Saturday, world leaders and everyday people came together to say goodbye to Pope Francis, celebrating him as a pope who loved everyone, especially those often forgotten.
The St. Peter’s Square funeral highlighted his care for the poorest and his role as a humble pastor. While presidents and royalty attended the Mass, prisoners, and migrants welcomed him to his final resting place in a nearby basilica.
Around 250,000 people filled the square on a beautiful spring day, initially planned for an extraordinary Holy Year event for young people.
The presence of so many youths gave the somber event a touch of joy, with some taking selfies as Pope Francis’s simple wooden coffin was carried out of St. Peter’s Basilica to start the Mass.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, a 91-year-old leader of the Cardinals, gave a heartfelt and lively sermon. He praised Pope Francis as a man of the people who connected with the humblest through his warm, spontaneous style.
“He was a pope among the people, with an open heart towards everyone,” Re said. The crowd cheered when he recalled Francis’s love for migrants, like when he held Mass at the U.S.-Mexico border and brought 12 refugees back from a camp in Greece.
Re-added, “The guiding thread of his mission was also the conviction that the church is a home for all, a home with its doors always open.” Pope Francis had planned his funeral, simplifying Vatican ceremonies last year to show that a pope is a shepherd, not a worldly ruler.
This reflected Francis’s 12-year mission to change the papacy, focusing on priests as servants and building “a poor church for the poor.” He shared this vision soon after his 2013 election, choosing the name Francis to honor St. Francis of Assisi, known for his love for people with low incomes. This was noted in a document placed in his coffin before it was sealed on Friday night.
Despite his focus on the powerless, many influential figures attended. U.S. President Donald Trump, former President Joe Biden, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined Prince William and European royals, representing over 160 delegations.
Argentine President Javier Milei had a special spot, though he and Francis didn’t always agree, and many Argentines felt hurt that Francis never visited home.
Trump and Zelenskyy met privately during the funeral, and a photo of them sitting alone in St. Peter’s Basilica captures their moment together. After the Mass, the cardinals returned to the church.
The basilica’s white facade glowed pink as the sun rose, and crowds rushed into the square. Giant screens lined nearby streets for those far back. The Mass and procession, with Francis’s coffin on the open-topped popemobile from his 2015 Philippines trip, were broadcast worldwide.
Italian media reported that police helicopters buzzed overhead, part of a massive security effort involving over 2,500 police, 1,500 soldiers, and a torpedo ship off the coast.
Many attendees were in Rome for the postponed Holy Year canonization of Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint. Scouts and youth groups nearly outnumbered nuns and seminarians.
“He was a very charismatic pope, very human, very kind, above all very human,” said Miguel Vaca, a Peruvian pilgrim who camped near the square. “It is a very great emotion to say goodbye to him.”
Pope Francis, the first Latin American and Jesuit pope, died on Easter Monday at 88 after a stroke while recovering from pneumonia. After the funeral, the church will prepare for a conclave in early May to elect a new pope. Until then, a few cardinals, led by Re, managed the Vatican and organized the secret vote in the Sistine Chapel.
Breaking tradition, Francis will be buried in St. Mary Major Basilica near Rome’s train station, in a simple tomb marked only “Franciscus.” Up to 300,000 people are expected to line the 6-kilometer route as his coffin travels through Rome.
Forty special guests, chosen by the Vatican Caritas charity and Sant’Egidio community, will greet Francis’s coffin at the basilica. They represent the marginalized groups Francis championed: homeless people, migrants, prisoners, and transgender individuals. The Vatican quoted Francis as saying, “The poor have a privileged place in the heart of God.”
Francis loved St. Mary Major Basilica, home to the Salus Populi Romani icon of Mary, where he prayed before and after every trip. The basilica also holds Jesuit significance, as St. Ignatius Loyola, the order’s founder, celebrated his first Mass there in 1538.
