Key events
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re’s homily continued:
With our prayers, we now entrust the soul of our beloved pontiff to God, that he may grant him eternal happiness in the bright and glorious gaze of his immense love.
We are enlightened and guided by the passage of the Gospel, in which the very voice of Christ resounded, asking the first of the Apostles: “Peter, do you love me more than these?” Peter’s answer was prompt and sincere: “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you!” Jesus then entrusted him with the great mission: “Feed my sheep.” This will be the constant task of Peter and his successors, a service of love in the footsteps of Christ, our Master and Lord, who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45).
Despite his frailty and suffering towards the end, Pope Francis chose to follow this path of self-giving until the last day of his earthly life. He followed in the footsteps of his Lord, the Good Shepherd, who loved his sheep to the point of giving his life for them. And he did so with strength and serenity, close to his flock, the Church of God, mindful of the words of Jesus quoted by the Apostle Paul: “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
When Cardinal Bergoglio was elected by the Conclave on 13 March 2013 to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, he already had many years of experience in religious life in the Society of Jesus and, above all, was enriched by twenty-one years of pastoral ministry in the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, first as auxiliary, then as coadjutor and, above all, as archbishop.
The decision to take the name Francis immediately appeared to indicate the pastoral plan and style on which he wanted to base his pontificate, seeking inspiration from the spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi.
He maintained his temperament and form of pastoral leadership, and through his resolute personality, immediately made his mark on the governance of the Church. He established direct contact with individuals and peoples, eager to be close to everyone, with a marked attention to those in difficulty, giving himself without measure, especially to the marginalised, the least among us. He was a pope among the people, with an open heart towards everyone. He was also a pope attentive to the signs of the times and what the Holy Spirit was awakening in the church.
Here is the opening of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re’s homily, as delivered earlier during Pope Francis’s funeral mass:
In this majestic Saint Peter’s Square, where Pope Francis celebrated the Eucharist so many times and presided over great gatherings over the past twelve years, we are gathered with sad hearts in prayer around his mortal remains. Yet, we are sustained by the certainty of faith, which assures us that human existence does not end in the tomb, but in the Father’s house, in a life of happiness that will know no end.
On behalf of the College of Cardinals, I cordially thank all of you for your presence. With deep emotion, I extend respectful greetings and heartfelt thanks to the heads of state, heads of government and official delegations who have come from many countries to express their affection, veneration and esteem for our late Holy Father.
The outpouring of affection that we have witnessed in recent days following his passing from this earth into eternity tells us how much the profound pontificate of Pope Francis touched minds and hearts.
The final image we have of him, which will remain etched in our memory, is that of last
Sunday, Easter Sunday, when Pope Francis, despite his serious health problems, wanted to give us his blessing from the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica. He then came down to this Square to greet the large crowd gathered for the Easter Mass while riding in the open-top popemobile.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re’s homily was followed by the liturgy of the Eucharist, where bread and wine are consecrated and then shared.
Pope Francis believed ‘Church is a home for all’: homily
Pope Francis, who famously refused to judge gay or divorced Catholics, believed the Church “is a home for all”, Italian Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said in his funeral homily.
He was driven by “the conviction that the Church is a home for all, a home with its doors always open … a Church capable of bending down to every person, regardless of their beliefs or condition, and healing their wounds”, he said.
Trump had ‘very productive discussion’ with Ukraine’s Zelenskiy before Pope Francis funeral, says White House official
US president Donald Trump had a “very productive discussion” with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican City on Saturday, a White House official said.
Steven Cheung, White House communications director, said Trump and Zelenskyy “met privately today and had a very productive discussion”. “More details about the meeting will follow,” he said, reports Reuters.
However, La Republica reported that Zelensky’s spokesperson, Serguii Nykyforov, told some journalists without providing further details: “The meeting took place and has already ended” potentially suggesting no other meetings. The Ukrainian president was greeted with applause from the crowd in St Peter’s Square.
Il Messagario also reported that Trump met Zelenskyy before the funeral and had a hand shake with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, who he has not met since his inauguration.
Peter Stanford
The election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as pope in March 2013 was unexpected, even to the then cardinal archbishop of Buenos Aires himself. He may have come a distant second in the previous papal conclave in 2005, but at 76 and, following the resignation on the grounds of old age of the candidate who had come first back then, the 85-year-old Benedict XVI – Bergoglio was convinced that a younger man was needed.
However, the majority of cardinals who gathered in the Sistine Chapel to vote were looking for something more than (relative) youth. Top of their agenda as they assembled was openness to fresh thinking after 35 years of no change under the almost seamless reigns of Pope John Paul II and Benedict, his erstwhile right-hand man. And so they surprised everyone by opting for Catholicism’s first Jesuit pope, the first Latin American successor to Saint Peter, and first leader from outside Europe in over a millennium.
The break with tradition that Francis, who has died aged 88 from a stroke following double pneumonia, represented even managed to trump the shock value of the resignation of Benedict, who was the first pope for 600 years to take that option rather than die in office. Immediately, Bergoglio signalled unambiguously that he intended to be a different kind of pope, one for the 21st century. He boldly chose to be known as Francis, becoming the first pontiff to take on the name of the radical saint from Assisi who had turned his back on privilege and status in this world, and lived with and for the poor. No more pomp and ceremony, the new pope seemed to be saying, but sleeves rolled up and joining the fight for social and economic justice.
On that night of his election he stepped out on to the balcony overlooking Saint Peter’s Square in simple white robes, refusing the fancy red mozzetta or cape that Benedict had sported when he had been announced as pope. When told to put on white trousers, he later remembered in his autobiography, he replied: “I don’t want to be an ice-cream seller.”
Smiling winningly, Francis described himself as an outsider, someone “from the end of the world”, who wanted to “walk together and work together” with the crowds who greeted him, rather than tell them what to do.
The excitement was palpable for believers and non-believers alike. Next, Francis declined to move into the gilded papal apartment vacated by his predecessor. Instead he was going to remain in the small room in the Santa Marta hostel in the Vatican where he had stayed during the conclave.
This personal modesty never wavered in all his years in Rome. He picked up his own phone, shunned limos and preferred to walk if possible (sciatica later caused him to use a wheelchair) – as, for example, on the day after his election when he slipped away on foot to collect his suitcase and settle the bill at the modest pensione where he had been booked in before the conclave began. If it had to be four wheels, he took a bus, or frequently squeezed his bulky frame into the papal Fiat 500 saloon.
Francis is remembered as a ‘pope among the people’ in his funeral mass
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re eulogised Pope Francis on Saturday as a pope of the people, a paster who knew how to communicate to the “least among us” with an informal, spontaneous style.
Re called Francis “a pope among the people, with an open heart towards everyone.”
He recalled the last image many people have of Francis was of him delivering what would become his final blessing on Easter Sunday, and saluting from the popemobile in the same piazza where his funeral was being celebrated.
Tens of thousands of mourners have packed into St Peter’s Square today for Pope Francis’s funeral.
Some waited overnight to get a seat for the ceremony, with police reporting 150,000 people in the square and surrounding streets even before proceedings began at 10am, local time (9am GMT).
The crowds cheered and applauded as the pope’s coffin was brought out of St Peter’s Basilica into the square, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Here are some images, via the newswires, of mourners in St Peter’s Square:
You can follow the funeral mass via the live stream at the top of this blog (you may need to refresh the page).
We have just heard a reading from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians. Prior to this, Kielce Gussie, a journalist from Vatican News, gave a reading from the Acts of the Apostles.
The funeral mass is being led by the Italian cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the college of cardinals.
Pope Francis’s funeral mass has begun with the entrance antiphon – a selection of psalm verses or scripture passages that are traditionally sung or recited.
The 88-page order of service has been published on the Vatican’s website (NB: opens as pdf) and contains the service in English, Italian and Latin.
Here is the entrance antiphon:
Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.
Praise is due to you in Sion, O God. To you we pay our vows in Jerusalem.
You who hear our prayer. To you all flesh will come.
Our evil deeds are too heavy for us, but only you can pardon our transgressions.
Blessed the one whom you choose and call to dwell in your courts.
We are filled with the good things of your house, of your holy temple.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you.
And with your spirit.
Pope Francis’s funeral begins at St Peter’s Square
Pope Francis’s funeral has begun, with live TV coverage showing his coffin being carried out from St Peter’s Basilica out into St Peter’s Square.
Here is an image of US president Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, arriving at the Vatican for Pope Francis’s funeral.
