Pope Francis laid to rest, mourned by thousands in Rome

World leaders, refugees, and cardinals alike mourned Pope Francis at his Saturday funeral Mass. The Vatican estimated that more than a quarter of a million people filled St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican for the service. The 88-year-old head of the Roman Catholic Church died of a stroke on April 21, Easter Monday, after a dozen years of leadership.

Before the mass, uniformed pallbearers carried Francis’ simple wooden coffin from St. Peter’s Basilica, where his body had lain in state, to the square outside. Cardinals lined the basilica’s central aisle until the pope’s coffin passed through.

Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals, gave the funeral sermon. He said Francis was a pope of the people, a simple pastor with an informal and spontaneous speaking style. Re said the pontiff’s concern for migrants and refugees and said Francis reached the most overlooked people in the world.

After the funeral mass, a modified popemobile carried Francis’ coffin to the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, where he had asked to be buried. Bells tolled throughout the city. About 150,000 people stood along the 3.5-mile route through downtown Rome to cheer as his coffin passed.

Refugees and prisoners holding white roses met the funeral procession on the steps of Santa Maria Maggiore. The interment service opened with a Latin antiphonal setting of Jesus’ words from John 11:25-26, which begins “I am the resurrection and the life.”

Francis’ coffin stopped for several minutes in front of an icon of Mary Salus Populi Romani, which was important to him, to pay final respects. His tomb, decorated only with the name Franciscus in accordance with his wishes, is near both the icon and an altar dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi. The interment service ended with a hymn to Mary, Regina Caeli.

What else happened before the funeral? United States President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sat down for a one-on-one meeting inside St. Peter’s before the funeral, Zelenskyy said. They had a productive discussion, and also spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Sky News reported.

Dig deeper: Read Christina Grube’s coverage of Francis’ final wishes and cause of death.