Today is the day the world says goodbye to Pope Francis, the most powerful voice of peace. Over 250,000 believers from many different countries are present in St. Peter's Square in the Vatican, while millions more flock to a long line on the streets of Rome.
Also dozens of leaders, heads of state, including US President Donald Trump on his first trip abroad since taking office, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, dozens of monarchs and many others.
Also via TV, over 1 billion people will follow him from every corner of the globe. Pope Francis' funeral will be simpler than that of previous popes, following the instructions he himself gave. Archbishops and bishops have been gathering since 8:30 am in the Colonnade of Constantine, a corridor adjacent to St. Peter's Basilica.
At the same time, Catholic priests are gathering in St. Peter's Square. Now the patriarchs of the Orthodox Church and the cardinals are gathering in the chapel of St. Sebastian, inside the basilica. They will walk in a funeral procession accompanying the Pope's coffin, which has spent the last four days in the center of St. Peter's Basilica. The funeral begins at 10:00 when the coffin is placed in the square in front of St. Peter's Basilica. The service will be led by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
The service will end with prayers for Pope Francis and a final adoration, a closing prayer in which the Pope will be formally entrusted to God. This marks the beginning of a nine-day period of mourning called Novemdiales with a Mass celebrated each day in his memory. Pope Francis, who died at the age of 88 on Easter Sunday, will be remembered as a man who championed migrants and the poor, and for his efforts to reform the Catholic Church.
Francis will become the first pope in more than three centuries to be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore, and the funeral will be held away from the public eye. He was a pope of many firsts. He was the first Latin American pope, the first from the Jesuit order, and the first modern-day pope born outside Europe. Elected in 2013 as an outside candidate from Argentina, Francis has continued to lead progressive reforms, including promoting women’s roles in the church. (A2 Televizion)
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