About 250,000 folks attended the funeral service for Pope Francis on Saturday morning in St. Peter’s Sq. on the Vatican, earlier than the late chief of the Catholic Church was transported to the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Main (Santa Maria Maggiore) in Rome to be buried. Whereas the ceremony adopted many traditions developed over centuries of church historical past, there have been some particulars uniquely chosen by Pope Francis. Watch the ceremony right here on CBS Information, and discover solutions to a few of your questions concerning the historic occasion under.
What time did Pope Francis’ funeral begin?
Pope Francis’s funeral started shortly after 10 a.m. native time (4 a.m. Jap, 1 a.m. Pacific) on the Vatican, outdoors St. Peter’s Basilica. The ceremony was presided over by the dean of the School of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
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The funeral adopted the Vatican’s liturgical ebook for papal funeral rites, known as the Ordo Exsequiarum Romani Pontificis. It was damaged down into three separate phases, or “stations”: The preparation of the physique, the viewing of the physique, after which the burial.
An up to date version of the traditional papal funeral rites was accepted by Pope Francis final yr, altering some longstanding traditions, together with the kind of coffin used.
Saturday’s service started with music sung by the Sistine Chapel Choir. The primary studying was accomplished by American Vatican Information journalist, Kielce Gussie.
In the course of the homily, Cardinal Re stated “mercy and the joys of the gospel” have been two priorities of Pope Francis, “in contrast to the culture of waste.”
“He often reminded us… that we all belong to the same human family and that no one is saved alone,” Re stated.
Re stated Pope Francis “raised his voice, imploring peace,” as a result of “war always leaves the world worse than it was before. It is always a painful and tragic defeat for everyone.”
He stated Pope Francis inspired folks to “build bridges, not walls.”
Who attended Pope Francis’ funeral?
Pope Francis’ funeral was attended by 1000’s of members of the general public, in addition to spiritual leaders and heads of state from around the globe.
President Trump and first woman Melania Trump attended, as did former President Joe Biden and his spouse, Dr. Jill Biden.
Nathan Howard / REUTERS
When Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his spouse Olena Zelenska arrived to take their seats forward of the service, the gathered crowd erupted in applause. Mr. Trump, who’s attempting to dealer a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine, met privately with Zelenskyy earlier within the day.
The Vatican stated there have been delegations from about 130 international locations on the ceremony, with 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs in attendance, together with:
- Britain’s Prince William
- U.Ok. Prime Minister Keir Starmer
- French President Emmanuel Macron
- Germany’s President Frank-Walter Steinmeier
- Outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
- Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni
- United Nations Secretary Normal Antonio Guterres
- EU Fee chief Ursula von der Leyen
- European Council President Antonio Costa
- Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
- Argentina’s President Javier Milei
- Honduras’ President Xiomara Castro
- Philippines’ President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
- India’s president Droupadi Murmu
- President of the Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadera
- President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Tshisekedi
- President of Cape Verde, Jose Maria Neves
Sen. Susan Collins led a bipartisan delegation of Catholic U.S. senators to attend the pope’s funeral.
The place is Pope Francis buried?
In a break from custom, Pope Francis selected to be buried outdoors the Vatican on the Basilica of St. Mary Main (Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome, the place he typically went to hope throughout his papacy. Seven earlier popes are buried there, however he’s the primary in centuries.
The coffin was transported by town in an open-topped popemobile, and big crowds gathered alongside the procession path to pay their ultimate respects to the late pontiff.
Andrei Pungovschi / Getty Photographs
These gathered outdoors St. Mary Main cheered because the procession arrived.
Many popes have been laid to relaxation contained in the Vatican, within the Vatican grottoes, a system of vaults on the decrease stage of St. Peter’s Basilica — however in his final will and testomony, Francis requested he be laid to relaxation within the church that had particular that means for him.
“I wish that my last earthly journey conclude precisely in this ancient Marian sanctuary where I went for prayer at the beginning and end of each Apostolic journey to confidently entrust my intentions to the Immaculate Mother and thank Her for her docile and maternal care,” Francis stated in his will.
Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto by way of Getty Photographs
“The tomb must be in the earth; simple, without particular decoration and with the only inscription: Franciscus,” he wrote.
Burial rites have been to be led on the web site by the Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, Cardinal Kevin Farrell.
Amongst people who have been gathered for the arrival of the pope’s coffin at St. Mary Main have been people from communities Pope Francis supported, together with prisoners with particular permission, homeless folks, members of the trans group and victims and survivors of intercourse trafficking, the Vatican stated.
When will they select the following pope?
After the funeral, 9 days of mourning started, known as the Novemdiales.
Eligible cardinals beneath the age of 80 — at the moment a gaggle of about 135 — will collect in Rome to organize for the papal conclave, the centuries-old course of to pick the following pope. The conclave often begins round two weeks after a pope’s demise, so on this case, doubtless in early Could.
In the course of the conclave, eligible cardinals will isolate themselves and, behind closed doorways within the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, they may solid ballots for his or her selection, repeating the method till a candidate receives a two-thirds-plus-one majority. The ballots, that are paper, are burned after every spherical of voting.
If no selection has been reached, the ballots from that spherical ship up black smoke from the chimney as they burn. When a brand new pope is lastly chosen, a cloud of white smoke is shipped as much as sign the momentous information to the world.
contributed to this report.
