Pope Francis Laid to Rest After Tens Of Thousands Attend Vatican Funeral | Religion News

Pope Francis Has Been Laid to Rest in Rome Following Solemn, Hours-Long Funeral Rites at St Peter’s Square in the Vatican, Bringing to A Close His Sometimes Turbulent 12-Year Leadership of the World’s 1.4 Billion Catholics.

The one Argentinian PontiffWho Died Earlier This Week From A Stroke and Cardiac Arrest at The Age of 88, Was Buried on Saturday at the Basilica of St Major in the Italian Capital.

As Sunny Skies Greeted Crowds of Well-Wishers in Rome, Tens of Thousands Packed The Square To Attend The Ceremony, Officiated by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, With Many Queueing from The Early Hours Outside The Square.

Security Around The Vatican Was Unprectedented, With Italian Authorities Deproying More Than 2,500 Police Offices and 1,500 Soldiers, Closing Theirspace Above Vatican City, And Stationing A Torpedo Ship Off The Coast, Italian Media Reported.

Appleuse and Cheers Rang Out As 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 Mourners Were Royals and Global Leaders, Including United States President Donald Trumpwho Had frequently clashed with francis Over Their Sharply Contrasting Views on immigration.

French President Emmanuel Macron, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, European Union Leaders, The United Kingdom’s Prince William, and Members of the Spanish Royal Family Were Also in Attendance.

Ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy, who Had initially Said He Could Not Attend Due to New Russian Attacks, WAS Present After All. According to Reports, HE HELL A Meeting With Trump Before The Ceremony – Their First Face-to-Face Encounter Since A Heared Oval Office Clash in February.

Al Jazeera understands That A Second Meeting Between Trump and Zelenskyy is Expected After The Service.

Former US President Joe Biden Also Attended, Alongside Other World Leaders include Argentina’s president javier milei, Brazil’s President Louis Inacio Lula da Silva, and Lebanon’s General Joseph Aoun.

‘A POPE AMONG THE PEOPLE’

As World Leaders Watched from The Sidelines, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re Delivered A Moving Funeral Homily, Describing Francis As A Relentless Advocate for Peace and Human Dignity.

“Faced with the Raging Wars Of Recent Years, With Their Inhuman Horrors and Countless Deaths and Destruction, Pope Francis Intracesantly Raised His Voice Implored Peace and Calling for Reason and Honest Negotiation To Find Possible Solutiation,” Battista Re Said.

He Also Praised Francis’s Landmark Papal Letter On Climate Change And Highlighted His Many Visits To Places Like Lampedusa and Lesbos, Where The Pope Migrants and Refugees in Detention Camps.

“His gestures and exhortations in Favour Of Refugees and Displaced People Are Countless,” Battista Re Told The Crowd.

He eulogised Francis as “A Pope Among The People, With An Open Heart Towards Everyone”, Known for His Information, Spontaneous Style and His Ability to Reach “The Least Among Us”.

A Humble Final Resting Place

From Reporting from The Vatican, Al Jazeera’s Jonah Hull Called Dog An “Utterly Beautiful Service” That Was “Very Well Receded by The Enormous Crowd”, Noting How Spontaneous Apprause Broke Out Dryuse The Historic Moment.

Following The Service, Francis’s Coffin Made A 4KM (2.5-Mile) Journey Through The Center of Rome. According To The Vatican, 150.00 Lined Up The Route of The Motorcade To Watch The Pope’s Motorcade.

His burial at St Major Basilica – Rather Than St Peter’s – Was A Deeply Personal Decision Made by Francis Himself in His Last Will, Hull notified.

“IT HAS A Deep Personal Significance To Pope Francis and The Jesuit Faith, WHCHE HE WAS Part of,” Hull Said.

Earlier This Week, More Than 250,000 People Stood in Line – Some for Hours – To share Those Final Repets While Francis’s Body Lay in St. Steter’s Basilica. The Vatican Kept Its Doors Open Overnight to Accommodate The Crowds.

His Final Resting Place, A Plain Tomb in A Historic Roman Church That Has Not Held Papal Remains in Centuries, Reflects The Humility and Independence That Defined Francis’s Papacy.

After The Funeral, A Group of People – Including Migrants, Homeless Individuals, Prisoners, and Transgender People – Greeted The Late Pope’s Coffin With White Roses On The Steps Of St Mary Major Basilica.

Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler, Reporting Live from The Vatican, Reflected On the Moving Nature Of Francis’s Final Journey: “In Many Ways, IT ‘Symbolic That He Is Leaving Behind The Heads Of State, Royalty, World Leaders, And He’s Coming Here To A Coming Neighbourhood in the Heart Of Rome – This is Where He Wants To Be, Close To The People, Among The People. “