POPE FRANCIS LAID TO REST AS 400,000 MOURNERS, INCLUDING WORLD LEADERS, ATTEND FUNERAL OF PONTIFF ‘WITH AN OPEN HEART’

POPE  Francis, the 266^th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, on Saturday, April 26, 2025, was  laid to rest at St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome following solemn, hours-long funeral rites at S.t Peter’s Square in the Vatican.

Hundreds of thousands of mourners joined world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, to bid farewell Saturday to Pope Francis popularly known as the People’s Pope and a champion of the poor.

According to the Vatican, 400,000 people packed St Peter’s Square and lined the streets of Rome for the funeral of the first Latin American leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

Applause and cheers rang out as Pope Francis’s wooden coffin, inlaid with a large cross, was carried by 14 white-gloved pallbearers through the main doors of St Peter’s Basilica to the outdoor funeral service.

Among the royals and global leaders who attended Pope Francis’ funeral aside from Trump were French President Emmanuel Macron, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, European Union leaders, and Prince William of the United Kingdom.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who  initially said he could not attend due to new Russian attacks, was also in attendance.

Also present in the funeral of the People’s Pope were former US President Joe Biden, alongside other world leaders, including Argentina’s President Javier Milei, Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and Lebanon’s General Joseph Aoun.

After a solemn funeral, the Argentine pontiff’s plain wooden coffin — a testament to a life of humility — was driven slowly to Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore church, where he was interred in a private ceremony.

Cardinals marked his coffin with red wax seals before it was lowered into a tomb set inside an alcove, according to images released by the Vatican.

Pope Francis died on Monday at the age of 88.