Thousands line streets of Rome as Pope Francis laid to rest after Vatican funeral

Pope Francis has been buried in Rome after a funeral ceremony and procession attended by hundreds of thousands of people and many heads of state.

The first South American pontiff passed away on Monday aged 88, marking the end of a 12-year pontificate.

As the Italian capital woke up to a hazy morning, teenage pilgrims, nuns and priests of all denominations filed silently down the streets leading to the Vatican.

Many of the streets around St Peter’s Basilica were closed – both to allow the flow of visitors and for security reasons, as more than a hundred foreign dignitaries were expected to join the funeral mass.

More than 8,000 Italian police of different branches were out in force, as well as firefighters, medics, canine unit handlers, volunteers, members of the armed forces and even park guards.

Many had been called in from all sides of Italy to be in Rome on Saturday – resulting in a rather joyous blend of accents from across the country, from the Sicilian to the Milanese.

Jessica, 22 and from Mexico, and Cyril, 20 and from the US, had arrived at dawn to secure a front row spot to the funeral mass.

“We never thought we’d be this close. We sacrificed a little sleep to be here but it’s worth it,” said Jessica.

She’s a Catholic and said her relatives in Mexico would “never believe it” when she told them she had been at the Vatican for the Pope’s funeral.

As heads of state and foreign dignitaries took their places to the right of the altar, hundreds of photographers in the press area on the roof of the colonnade snapped their cameras furiously, hoping to capture a candid image of US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose last meeting in February gave rise to a combative exchange in the Oval Office.

But soon after, as a striking photo of the two men sitting on two chairs inside St Peter’s began to circulate, it emerged that they had already met for around 15 minutes before the service began.

Later, Zelensky said the meeting “had potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results”. No more details were shared, but some on social media later joked that, given the setting, the meeting had been a “miracle”.

Photos showed that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump, Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron had also all met in the Vatican.

From the bright red of the clergy’s habits to the muted grey and blue of nuns’ veils to the rainbow sun hats worn by pilgrims, all morning St Peter’s Square was a riot of colours glistening in the sun.

Hymns played out on giant speakers, occasionally drowned out by the sound of helicopters flying overhead, as drones and seagulls crisscrossed over Michelangelo’s dome.

Yet the voice of 91-year-old Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re rang loud and clear as he presided over the mass.

The service’s structure was very similar to that of any Catholic funeral mass, although the readings were done in many different languages and all hymns were sung in Latin.

Outside St Peter’s, a crowd the Vatican later said numbered 200,000 applauded as large screens showed Zelensky take his seat. There was also applause when the Pope’s simple wooden coffin was brought out.

The crowd’s applause marked some other salient moments – such as when Cardinal Re, as part of his homily, remembered the Pope’s commitment to migrants and peace.

SOURCE: BBC