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https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/04/26/pope-francis-funeral-vatican/
The Roman Catholic Church bid farewell to the first New World pope Saturday in a funeral attended by monarchs, presidents and cardinals but also a different group of exalted guests — an honor guard of migrants, prisoners, the homeless and transgender faithful who offered white roses to the coffin of a leader who had placed the marginalized at the heart of his “people’s papacy.”
Under crystal-clear skies in the shadow of St. Peter’s Basilica, the nearly two-hour requiem Mass was a solemn spectacle of an ancient faith, an elaborate, multilingual ceremony modestly slimmed down at the behest of Pope Francis, who died the morning after Easter at 88. The most notable difference: a single wooden coffin lined with zinc as opposed to the three-tiered caskets of cypress, lead and oak used for previous popes.
The changes, official said, were meant to honor the wishes of the first Jesuit pope, who had taken a vow of poverty and aimed to make the proceedings seem more like the funeral of a pastor than a “sovereign” who had ruled the lofty Holy See. Before the closing of his coffin Friday night, Francis’s well-worn black shoes peeked out from under the elegant ceremonial robes of a man who eschewed the finery of his office, including the red slippers of popes.
As dawn broke Saturday over Vatican City, thousands of Catholic faithful poured into St. Peter’s Square. Some wrapped themselves in national flags — Brazil, Lebanon, Australia — while others carried banners honoring Francis. Heather Salwach, a 34-year-old health-care professional from Philadelphia, heard about the pope’s death just before boarding her flight to Rome. “For me, the flight became a vigil,” she said. She arrived at 6:30 a.m. with her mother to say goodbye to a man she called “the people’s pope.”
The Roman Catholic Church bid farewell to the first New World pope Saturday in a funeral attended by monarchs, presidents and cardinals but also a different group of exalted guests — an honor guard of migrants, prisoners, the homeless and transgender faithful who offered white roses to the coffin of a leader who had placed the marginalized at the heart of his “people’s papacy.”
Under crystal-clear skies in the shadow of St. Peter’s Basilica, the nearly two-hour requiem Mass was a solemn spectacle of an ancient faith, an elaborate, multilingual ceremony modestly slimmed down at the behest of Pope Francis, who died the morning after Easter at 88. The most notable difference: a single wooden coffin lined with zinc as opposed to the three-tiered caskets of cypress, lead and oak used for previous popes.
The changes, official said, were meant to honor the wishes of the first Jesuit pope, who had taken a vow of poverty and aimed to make the proceedings seem more like the funeral of a pastor than a “sovereign” who had ruled the lofty Holy See. Before the closing of his coffin Friday night, Francis’s well-worn black shoes peeked out from under the elegant ceremonial robes of a man who eschewed the finery of his office, including the red slippers of popes.
As dawn broke Saturday over Vatican City, thousands of Catholic faithful poured into St. Peter’s Square. Some wrapped themselves in national flags — Brazil, Lebanon, Australia — while others carried banners honoring Francis. Heather Salwach, a 34-year-old health-care professional from Philadelphia, heard about the pope’s death just before boarding her flight to Rome. “For me, the flight became a vigil,” she said. She arrived at 6:30 a.m. with her mother to say goodbye to a man she called “the people’s pope.”
