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This Saturday, April 26, Rome resonated with the solemn tribute paid to Pope Francis. Starting at 10 a.m., around 250 cardinals, along with a multitude of bishops, priests, religious men and women, gathered on the forecourt of St. Peter’s Basilica for the funeral Mass. The wooden and zinc coffin, sealed the previous evening, was placed before the altar, facing an immense crowd that had come from all over the world. Several hundred thousand people, from all geographic, social, political, and cultural backgrounds, came to pay a final homage to the one who ceaselessly called to welcome “everyone, everyone, everyone.”

The celebration, the first of nine Masses to be held daily until May 4 as part of the novemdiales, was presided over by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, Dean of the College of Cardinals. In a liturgy filled with dignity and devotion, the patriarchs and cardinals wore purple vestments and damask white mitres, while the bishops wore simple white mitres. The readings, taken from the Acts of the Apostles, the Letter of Saint Paul to the Philippians, and the Gospel according to John, marked the ceremony. The homily, prepared and read by Cardinal Re, captured the essence of Francis’s pontificate. The prayers of the faithful were proclaimed in several languages, reflecting the universal dimension of the Church. With its moving chants, the Sistine Chapel Choir accompanied the liturgy up to the solemn rite of final farewell.

Pope Francis’s coffin was transported to the Pontifical Basilica of St. Mary Major at the end of the Mass. The funeral procession moved slowly through the streets of Rome for about four kilometers, allowing the faithful to offer a last farewell to the one who had often come to pray before the icon of the Virgin Salus Populi Romani. Upon arrival at the basilica, the coffin was received by a group of the poor, representing the steadfast priority Pope Francis had always given to the most vulnerable.

The burial ceremony took place privately. The Camerlengo Cardinal affixed his seal, along with those of the Prefecture of the Papal Household, the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff, and the Chapter of the Liberian Basilica, onto the pontifical coffin. The body was laid in the tomb and blessed according to tradition. The official burial act was drafted and read by the notary of the Liberian Chapter, then signed by the principal ecclesiastical authorities present.

More than 130 official delegations, including ten reigning sovereigns and around fifty heads of state, attended this final homage. Over 4,000 journalists were accredited to cover this global event, reflecting the profound emotion stirred by the passing of the Successor of Peter.

Rev. Fr. George Nwachukwu
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