{"id":290829,"date":"2025-04-26T09:10:02","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T09:10:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/26\/pope-francis-funeral-200000-people-bidding-farewell-to-pontiff-who-had-open-heart-towards-everyone\/"},"modified":"2025-04-26T09:10:02","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T09:10:02","slug":"pope-francis-funeral-200000-people-bidding-farewell-to-pontiff-who-had-open-heart-towards-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/26\/pope-francis-funeral-200000-people-bidding-farewell-to-pontiff-who-had-open-heart-towards-everyone\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Francis funeral: 200,000 people bidding farewell to pontiff who had ‘open heart towards everyone’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tens of thousands of people have packed St Peter’s Square as the funeral of Pope Francis begins.<\/p>\n

Royals, world leaders and cardinals joined scores of worshippers at the Vatican<\/a><\/strong>, as mourning of the 266th pontiff transcended wealth and social class.<\/p>\n

In keeping with Francis’s life as a breaker of tradition, many of the more elaborate and expensive rituals customary for the burial of popes have been foregone in favour of simpler options.<\/p>\n

Around 200,000 people are attending the funeral, with around 50,000 packing out St Peter’s Square.<\/p>\n

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Pope’s coffin carried out as funeral begins<\/span>
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Follow live: Pope Francis funeral service latest updates<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

His body had been lying in state since his death aged 88 on Easter Monday<\/a><\/strong>, spending the last few days in St Peter’s Basilica to allow mourners to pay their respects.<\/p>\n

The Vatican – where the funeral service is taking place – and Rome<\/a><\/strong> – where Francis will be laid to rest – are under heavy security, with a no-fly zone in place overhead.<\/p>\n

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\n The coffin of Pope Francis is borne aloft by pallbearers. Pic: Reuters
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\n Members of the clergy gathered to say farewell to their pontiff. Pic: Reuters
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President Donald Trump<\/a><\/strong> and Joe Biden<\/a><\/strong>, along with Sir Keir Starmer<\/a><\/strong>, President Emmanuel Macron<\/a><\/strong> and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy<\/a><\/strong>, headline a huge selection of global leaders and dignitaries.<\/p>\n

Read more:
Pope Francis’s funeral – what is happening and when<\/a>
Full order of service for Pope’s funeral<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Francis’s coffin has been taken out into St Peter’s Square where 220 cardinals and 750 bishops and priests are sitting in rows, waiting to say goodbye to the Bishop of Rome.<\/p>\n

The pontiff eschewed the elaborate coffins used by many of his predecessors, opting instead for a simple wooden casket lined with zinc – a reflection of his efforts to reform the papacy and build “a poor church for the poor”.<\/p>\n

A series of readings and prayers are being read before the 50,000 faithful gathered before the basilica, and the coffin will be sprinkled with holy water and incense.<\/p>\n

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Singing rings out at the Vatican<\/span>
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\n Members of the clergy stand in St Peter’s Square. Pic: Reuters
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It began with Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re reading the Penitential Act – a way for the faithful to confess their sinfulness.<\/p>\n

This was followed by the Liturgy of the Word, a part in Catholic mass where faithful gather to hear and reflect on the word of God.<\/p>\n

Cardinal Re then delivered the homily, speaking about Pope Francis’ life and service to God.<\/p>\n

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Applause breaks out as Zelenskyy arrives<\/span>
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\n Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re read the homily
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The cardinal praised the pontiff as someone who “touched the minds and hearts of people” who was “attentive to the signs of the times”.<\/p>\n

He added: “Despite his frailty and suffering towards the end, Pope Francis chose to follow this path of self-giving until the last day of his earthly life.”<\/p>\n

He said Francis “was a pope among the people, with an open heart towards everyone”.<\/p>\n

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\n Tens of thousands pack St Peter’s Square for the funeral. Pic: AP
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\n Clergy seated during the funeral. Pic: AP
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At the end of the mass, the choir will sing in Latin: “May the angels lead you into paradise; may the martyrs come and welcome you and take you into the holy city, the new and eternal Jerusalem.”<\/p>\n

After the service, Pope Francis’s body will be taken in procession through the streets of Rome to his final resting place at his favourite church, the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.<\/p>\n

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\n Worshippers outside the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. Pic: Reuters
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He will be ushered into the basilica – dedicated to the Virgin Mary – by prisoners and migrants, a last reflection of his priorities as pope.<\/p>\n

In a break with tradition, the Pope <\/strong>outlined in his will his request to be buried “in the ground, without particular ornamentation” but simply with the inscription “Franciscus”.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n


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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tens of thousands of people have packed St Peter’s Square as the funeral of Pope Francis begins. Royals, world leaders and cardinals joined scores of worshippers at the Vatican, as mourning of the 266th pontiff transcended wealth and social class. In keeping with Francis’s life as a breaker of tradition, many of the more elaborate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/e3.365dm.com\/25\/04\/768x432\/da7eb925458eb815cfd9cf8795669a275dee7de543d74939a09d560ceac97fee_6897058.jpg?20250426094752","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[69419,9169,18714,19463,2462,39,124,67092,13327],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290829"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290829"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":290831,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290829\/revisions\/290831"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}