VATICAN CITY — From some of the world’s most powerful leaders to those on society’s margins whom Pope Francis always made a point to minister to, hundreds of thousands of people participated at the Vatican Saturday for the funeral rites for the late pontiff.
U.S. President Donald Trump and some 60 other heads of state and reigning sovereigns travelled to Rome from around the globe. The Vatican said that “a group of the poor and the needy” would be on the steps of St. Mary Major Basilica to pay homage to the first Jesuit and first Latin American pope before his burial in the church.
The Holy See press office added that the poor had a special place in Francis’ heart. He had chosen for his papacy the name of the medieval Italian saint who famously renounced his family’s wealth when he joined the church.
Already, long lines of the faithful have paid their homage to Francis, who died Monday at age 88, over the three days that his body was lying in state in a simple wooden coffin inside St. Peter’s Basilica.
From the beginning of his papacy in 2013, Francis won over many around the world, Catholic or not, with his advocacy for migrants and the environment. His legacy was more mixed on the topics of clergy sexual abuse and LGBTQ+ outreach, which made waves for increasing inclusion but some criticized for not going far enough.
