{"id":24887,"date":"2025-04-26T19:43:54","date_gmt":"2025-04-26T19:43:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/?p=24887"},"modified":"2025-04-26T19:43:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-26T19:43:55","slug":"400000-mourn-as-pope-francis-laid-to-rest-in-rome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/?p=24887","title":{"rendered":"400,000 Mourn as Pope Francis Laid to Rest in Rome"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By AFP<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Pope Francis was laid to rest in Rome Saturday after a Vatican funeral for the \u201cpope among the people\u201d attended by hundreds of thousands of mourners and world leaders including US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Around 400,000 people packed St Peter\u2019s Square and lined the streets in Rome to say goodbye to the Argentine pontiff, a champion of the poor who had led the world\u2019s 1.4 billion Catholics since 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After a solemn funeral in front of hushed crowds, Francis\u2019s plain wooden coffin \u2014 a testament to a life of humility \u2014 was driven slowly to Rome\u2019s Santa Maria Maggiore church, where he will be interred in a private ceremony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Guatemalan Maria Vicente, 52, holding a rosary in her hands, cried as she watched the coffin being carried into Santa Maria Maggiore, the pope\u2019s favourite Rome church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt made me very sad. It\u2019s touching, that he left us like that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Fourteen white-gloved pallbearers carried the coffin into the church, as children placed baskets of flowers at the altar and a choir sang prayers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The marble tomb of the Catholic Church\u2019s first Latin American leader is inscribed with just one word: \u201cFranciscus\u201d, his name in Latin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">More than 50 heads of state were present at the funeral, including Trump \u2014 who met several world leaders in a corner of the basilica beforehand, notably Ukraine\u2019s Volodymyr Zelensky, in their first face-to-face since their Oval Office clash in February.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2013 \u2018An open heart\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Francis, who died on Monday aged 88, was \u201ca pope among the people, with an open heart\u201d, who strove for a more compassionate, open-minded Catholic Church, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said in his homily.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">There was applause from the masses gathered under bright blue skies as he hailed the pope\u2019s \u201cconviction that the Church is a home for all, a home with its doors always open\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Francis sought to steer the centuries-old Church into a more inclusive direction during his 12-year papacy, and his death prompted a global outpouring of emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Maria Mrula, 28, a student from Germany, said she drove 16 hours to be at the funeral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cGiving to the poor and being with the poor\u201d, Francis had inspired many, she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe Church is alive,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was great being here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Italian and Vatican authorities mounted a major security operation for the ceremony, with fighter jets on standby and snipers positioned on roofs surrounding the tiny city state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Red-robed cardinals and purple-hatted bishops sat on one side of the altar in St Peter\u2019s Square during the funeral, with world dignitaries sitting opposite.In front of the altar lay the pope\u2019s simple cypress coffin, inlaid with a pale cross.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2013 \u2018Bridges not walls\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The funeral sets off the first of nine days of official Vatican mourning for Francis, who took over following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in 2013.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After the mourning, cardinals aged under 80 will gather for the conclave to elect a new pope from among their number.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many of Francis\u2019s reforms angered traditionalists, while his criticism of injustices, from the treatment of migrants to the damage wrought by global warming, riled many world leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet the former archbishop of Buenos Aires\u2019s compassion and charisma earned him global affection and respect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHis gestures and exhortations in favour of refugees and displaced persons are countless,\u201d Battista Re said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He recalled the first trip of Francis\u2019s papacy to Lampedusa, an Italian island that is often the first port of call for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, as well as when the Argentine celebrated mass on the border between Mexico and the US.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump\u2019s administration drew the pontiff\u2019s ire for its mass deportation of migrants, but the president has paid tribute to \u201ca good man\u201d who \u201cloved the world\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Making the first foreign trip of his second term, Trump sat among dozens of leaders from other countries \u2014 many of them keen to bend his ear over a trade war he unleashed, among other subjects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The White House said Saturday that the president had a \u201cvery productive\u201d meeting with Zelensky before the funeral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kyiv published a photo of the encounter, the two men sitting face to face in red and gold chairs in the basilica, as well as another showing Zelensky huddled with Trump, Britain\u2019s Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the homily, Battista Re highlighted Francis\u2019s incessant calls for peace, and said he urged \u201creason and honest negotiation\u201d in efforts to end conflicts raging around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c\u2018Build bridges, not walls\u2019 was an exhortation he repeated many times,\u201d the cardinal said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Trump\u2019s predecessor Joe Biden also attended the funeral, alongside UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Germany\u2019s Olaf Scholz, Italy\u2019s Giorgia Meloni, and Lebanon\u2019s Joseph Aoun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Israel \u2014 angered by Francis\u2019s criticism of its conduct in Gaza \u2014 sent only its Holy See ambassador. China, which does not have formal relations with the Vatican, did not send any representative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2013 \u2018Brought them together\u2019 \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Italian mourner Francesco Morello, 58, said the homily about peace was a \u201cfitting, strong and beautiful message\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of the world leaders gathered, Morello noted: \u201cHe could not bring them together in life but he managed in death.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Francis died of a stroke and heart failure less than a month after he left hospital where he had battled pneumonia for five weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Church\u2019s 266th pope loved nothing more than being among his flock, taking selfies with the faithful and kissing babies, and made it his mission to visit the peripheries, rather than mainstream centres of Catholicism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His last public act, the day before his death, was an Easter Sunday blessing of the entire world, ending his papacy as he had begun it \u2014 with an appeal to protect the \u201cvulnerable, the marginalised and migrants\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Jesuit chose to be named after Saint Francis of Assisi, saying he wanted \u201ca poor Church for the poor\u201d, and living at a Vatican guesthouse rather than the papal palace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Catholics around the world held events to watch the proceedings live, including in Buenos Aires, where Francis was born Jorge Bergoglio in the poor neighbourhood of Flores in 1936.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe pope showed us that there was another way to live the faith,\u201d said Lara Amado, 25, in the Argentine capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u2013 Refused to judge \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Francis\u2019s admirers credit him with transforming perceptions of the Church and helping revive the faith following decades of clerical sex abuse scandals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He was considered a radical by some for allowing divorced and remarried believers to receive communion, approving the baptism of transgender believers and blessings for same-sex couples, and refusing to judge gay Catholics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But he also stuck with some centuries-old dogma, notably holding firm on the Church\u2019s opposition to abortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Francis strove for \u201ca Church determined to take care of the problems of people and the great anxieties that tear the contemporary world apart\u201d, Battista Re said.\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A Church capable of bending down to every person, regardless of their beliefs or condition, and healing their wounds\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By AFP Pope Francis was laid to rest in Rome Saturday after a Vatican funeral for the \u201cpope among the people\u201d attended by hundreds of thousands of mourners and world leaders including US President Donald Trump. Around 400,000 people packed St Peter\u2019s Square and lined the streets in Rome to say goodbye to the Argentine pontiff, a champion of the poor who had led the world\u2019s 1.4 billion Catholics since 2013. After a solemn funeral in front of hushed crowds, Francis\u2019s plain wooden coffin \u2014 a testament to a life of humility \u2014 was driven slowly to Rome\u2019s Santa Maria Maggiore church, where he will be interred in a private ceremony. Guatemalan Maria Vicente, 52, holding a rosary in her hands, cried as she watched the coffin being carried into Santa Maria Maggiore, the pope\u2019s favourite Rome church. \u201cIt made me very sad. It\u2019s touching, that he left us like that,\u201d she said. Fourteen white-gloved pallbearers carried the coffin into the church, as children placed baskets of flowers at the altar and a choir sang prayers. The marble tomb of the Catholic Church\u2019s first Latin American leader is inscribed with just one word: \u201cFranciscus\u201d, his name in Latin. More than 50 heads of state were present at the funeral, including Trump \u2014 who met several world leaders in a corner of the basilica beforehand, notably Ukraine\u2019s Volodymyr Zelensky, in their first face-to-face since their Oval Office clash in February. \u2013 \u2018An open heart\u2019 \u2013 Francis, who died on Monday aged 88, was \u201ca pope among the people, with an open heart\u201d, who strove for a more compassionate, open-minded Catholic Church, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said in his homily. There was applause from the masses gathered under bright blue skies as he hailed the pope\u2019s \u201cconviction that the Church is a home for all, a home with its doors always open\u201d. Francis sought to steer the centuries-old Church into a more inclusive direction during his 12-year papacy, and his death prompted a global outpouring of emotion. Maria Mrula, 28, a student from Germany, said she drove 16 hours to be at the funeral. \u201cGiving to the poor and being with the poor\u201d, Francis had inspired many, she said. \u201cThe Church is alive,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was great being here.\u201d Italian and Vatican authorities mounted a major security operation for the ceremony, with fighter jets on standby and snipers positioned on roofs surrounding the tiny city state. Red-robed cardinals and purple-hatted bishops sat on one side of the altar in St Peter\u2019s Square during the funeral, with world dignitaries sitting opposite.In front of the altar lay the pope\u2019s simple cypress coffin, inlaid with a pale cross. \u2013 \u2018Bridges not walls\u2019 \u2013 The funeral sets off the first of nine days of official Vatican mourning for Francis, who took over following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in 2013. After the mourning, cardinals aged under 80 will gather for the conclave to elect a new pope from among their number. Many of Francis\u2019s reforms angered traditionalists, while his criticism of injustices, from the treatment of migrants to the damage wrought by global warming, riled many world leaders. Yet the former archbishop of Buenos Aires\u2019s compassion and charisma earned him global affection and respect. \u201cHis gestures and exhortations in favour of refugees and displaced persons are countless,\u201d Battista Re said. He recalled the first trip of Francis\u2019s papacy to Lampedusa, an Italian island that is often the first port of call for migrants crossing the Mediterranean, as well as when the Argentine celebrated mass on the border between Mexico and the US. Trump\u2019s administration drew the pontiff\u2019s ire for its mass deportation of migrants, but the president has paid tribute to \u201ca good man\u201d who \u201cloved the world\u201d. Making the first foreign trip of his second term, Trump sat among dozens of leaders from other countries \u2014 many of them keen to bend his ear over a trade war he unleashed, among other subjects. The White House said Saturday that the president had a \u201cvery productive\u201d meeting with Zelensky before the funeral. Kyiv published a photo of the encounter, the two men sitting face to face in red and gold chairs in the basilica, as well as another showing Zelensky huddled with Trump, Britain\u2019s Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron. In the homily, Battista Re highlighted Francis\u2019s incessant calls for peace, and said he urged \u201creason and honest negotiation\u201d in efforts to end conflicts raging around the world. \u201c\u2018Build bridges, not walls\u2019 was an exhortation he repeated many times,\u201d the cardinal said. Trump\u2019s predecessor Joe Biden also attended the funeral, alongside UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Germany\u2019s Olaf Scholz, Italy\u2019s Giorgia Meloni, and Lebanon\u2019s Joseph Aoun. Israel \u2014 angered by Francis\u2019s criticism of its conduct in Gaza \u2014 sent only its Holy See ambassador. China, which does not have formal relations with the Vatican, did not send any representative. \u2013 \u2018Brought them together\u2019 \u2013 Italian mourner Francesco Morello, 58, said the homily about peace was a \u201cfitting, strong and beautiful message\u201d. Of the world leaders gathered, Morello noted: \u201cHe could not bring them together in life but he managed in death.\u201d Francis died of a stroke and heart failure less than a month after he left hospital where he had battled pneumonia for five weeks. The Church\u2019s 266th pope loved nothing more than being among his flock, taking selfies with the faithful and kissing babies, and made it his mission to visit the peripheries, rather than mainstream centres of Catholicism. His last public act, the day before his death, was an Easter Sunday blessing of the entire world, ending his papacy as he had begun it \u2014 with an appeal to protect the \u201cvulnerable, the marginalised and migrants\u201d. The Jesuit chose to be named after Saint Francis of Assisi, saying he wanted \u201ca poor Church for the poor\u201d, and living at a Vatican guesthouse rather than the papal palace. Catholics around the world held events to watch the proceedings live, including in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-religious-personalities-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24887"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24887\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24889,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24887\/revisions\/24889"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fctnewsgazette.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}