Mighty and meek bid farewell to Pope Francis at funeral where he is remembered as pope of the people

By NICOLE WINFIELD and COLLEEN BARRY, Associated Press

VATICAN CITY (AP) — World leaders and Catholic faithful bade farewell to Pope Francis in a funeral Saturday that highlighted his concern for people on the “most peripheral of the peripheries” and reflected his wishes as pastor. Though presidents and princes attended the Mass in St. Peter’s Square, prisoners and migrants will welcome him at the basilica across town where he will be buried.

Some 250,000 people flocked to the funeral Mass and tens of thousands more lined the motorcade route, clapping and cheering “Papa Francesco” as his simple wooden coffin travelled aboard one of his old popemobiles to its final resting place at St. Mary Major Basilica on the other side of the city.

It was then carried into the church, escorted by Swiss Guards.

Earlier, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91-year-old dean of the College of Cardinals, eulogized Francis as a pope of the people, a pastor who knew how to communicate to the “least among us” with an informal, spontaneous style.

“He was a pope among the people, with an open heart towards everyone,” Re said in a spirited and highly personal sermon. He drew applause from the crowd when he recounted Francis’ constant concern for migrants, including when he celebrated Mass at the U.S.-Mexico border and travelled to a refugee camp in Lesbos, Greece, and brought 12 migrants home with him.

“The guiding thread of his mission was also the conviction that the church is a home for all, a home with its doors always open,” Re said.

Re said with his travels, including his last major trip to Asia last year, Francis reached “the most peripheral of the peripheries of the world.”

The Argentine pontiff choreographed the funeral himself when he revised and simplified the Vatican’s rites and rituals last year. His aim was to emphasize the pope’s role as a mere pastor and not “a powerful man of this world.”

It was a reflection of Francis’ 12-year project to radically reform the papacy, to stress priests as servants and to construct “a poor church for the poor.” He articulated the mission just days after his 2013 election and it explained the name he chose as pope, honoring St. Francis of Assisi “who had the heart of the poor of the world,” according to the official decree of the pope’s life that was placed in his coffin before it was sealed Friday night.

Despite Francis’ focus on the powerless, the powerful were out in force at his funeral. U.S. President Donald Trump and former President Joe Biden, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined Prince William and European royals leading more than 160 official delegations. Argentine President Javier Milei had the pride of place given Francis’ nationality, even if the two didn’t particularly get along and the pope alienated many Argentines by never returning home.

Trump and Zelenskyy met privately on the sidelines of the funeral. A photo showed the two men sitting alone, facing one another and hunched over on chairs in St. Peter’s Basilica, where Francis often preached the need for a peaceful end to Russia’s war in Ukraine.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and President Donald Trump, talk as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025.(Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

The white facade of St. Peter’s glowed pink as the sun rose Saturday and hordes of mourners rushed into the square. Giant television screens were set up along the surrounding streets for those who couldn’t get close. The Mass and funeral procession across town — with Francis’ coffin carried on the open-topped popemobile he used during his 2015 trip to the Philippines — were also broadcast live around the world.

Police helicopters whirled overhead, part of the massive security operation Italian authorities mounted, including more than 2,500 police, 1,500 soldiers and a torpedo ship off the coast, Italian media reported.

Many mourners had planned to be in Rome anyway this weekend for the now-postponed Holy Year canonization of the first millennial saint, Carlo Acutis, and groups of scouts and youth church groups nearly outnumbered the gaggles of nuns and seminarians.

“He was a very charismatic pope, very human, very kind, above all very human,” said Miguel Vaca, a pilgrim from Peru who said he had camped out near the piazza. “It is a very great emotion to say goodbye to him.”

The book of the Gospels lies on the coffin of Pope Francis during his funeral ceremony in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)A nun holds a phot of Pope Francis while attending his funeral in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)People wait for the funeral procession of Pope Francis in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)Faithful gather to follow the burial ceremony of Pope Francis at St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)Faithful gather to follow the burial ceremony of Pope Francis at St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)The coffin of Pope Francis leaves St. Peter’s Square on its way to St.Mary Major where he will be buried, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)Faithful holding white roses wait for the burial ceremony of Pope Francis at St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)The coffin of Pope Francis makes its way to St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)The coffin of Pope Francis makes its way to St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)The coffin of Pope Francis arrives at St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)The coffin of Pope Francis is transported in front of the Colosseum on its way to St. Mary Major where he will be buried, Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)People wait for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)Faithful listen to mass during the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)People attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)Nuns and faithful listen to mass during the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)People attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)Faithful pray during the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Faithful pray during the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Nuns attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)Nuns pray during the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)Nuns watch the funeral of Pope Francis from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)Faithful react during the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)A faithful reacts during the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)Clergy are seated for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)Nuns share a laugh as people gather for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)The coffin of Pope Francis is carried into St Peter’s Square for his funeral, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)Priests take their seats ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)Clergy arrive for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)Cardinals sit in their seats ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)Priests and an assistant make arrangements ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)Statues on the Charlemagne Wing are silhouetted as the sun rises ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)A nun stands in St. Peter’s Square ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)A nun holds a rosary as she waits for the funeral of Pope Francis to begin, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)A nun looks above the crowds as people gather for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)A Vatican Swiss Guard in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)Faithful sit in St. Peter’s Square waiting for the funeral of Pope Francis to begin, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)Faithful rest on the ground ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Nadine, from Germany, is waiting for the funeral of Pope Francis to begin, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)Faithful wait for the start of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)Faithful stand on a lamppost as they wait for the funeral of Pope Francis to begin in St. Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)Faithful arrive ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)Faithful rest on the ground outside St Peter’s Basilica waiting for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)A faithful waves a flag with Carlo Acutis, the 15-year-old Italian boy who died in 2006 of leukemia and beatified in 2020, at the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)Priests take their seats ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)Faithful and Swiss Guards are backdropped by St. Peter’s Basilica ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)A nun waits in St. Peter’s Square as people arrive ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)A man yawns as people arrive in St. Peter’s Square ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)Faithful rest on the ground ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Nuns and pilgrims make their way to St. Peter’s Square ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)A faithful wearing a flag from Argentina arrives for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)Police officers speak in St. Peter’s Square ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)Nuns and other pilgrims look for their seats in St. Peter’s Square ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)Faithful, one holding a placard with the Ukrainian flag and reading Francis, pray for us, arrive for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)A nun smiles as she waits ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)The sun rises through a statue as people begin to take their seats in St. Peter’s Square, ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)The coffin of Pope Francis is placed on the ground during his funeral in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelenskyy, center, arrives for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)President Donald Trump, right, shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron, left, as Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, looks on, as they attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)Clergy attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)People attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)President Donald Trump, front row right, and Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelenskyy, front row left, are seen amongst other dignitaries during the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)Nuns and faithful listen to mass during the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)Faithful listen to mass during the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)President Donald Trump, center right, with first lady Melania Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, front row left center, and Finland’s President Alexander Stubb, center left, and other dignitaries, attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)The coffin of Pope Francis is placed on the ground in St Peter’s Square for his funeral, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Faithful gather during the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli, kneeling right, presides over the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)The coffin of Pope Francis is carried into St Peter’s Square for his funeral, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)A view of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)A view of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)The coffin of Pope Francis during his funeral in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)The coffin of Pope Francis is carried into St Peter’s Square for his funeral, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)Clergy take their seats for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)The coffin of Pope Francis is carried into St Peter’s Square for his funeral, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)The coffin of Pope Francis is carried into St. Peter’s Square during his funeral ceremony, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)The coffin of Pope Francis is carried into St Peter’s Square for his funeral, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)Dean of the College of Cardinals Giovanni Battista Re prays in front of the coffin during the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)The coffin of Pope Francis is laid into St. Peter’s Square during his funeral ceremony, at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)Clergy during the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)A person prays during the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Clergy take their seats ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)Journalists stand on the colonnade outside St Peter’s Basilica ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Faithful rest on the ground as they wait for the funeral of Pope Francis to begin, in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)People gather for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)Show Caption1 of 84The book of the Gospels lies on the coffin of Pope Francis during his funeral ceremony in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)ExpandThe poor and marginalized welcome him

Francis, the first Latin American and first Jesuit pope, died Easter Monday at age 88 after suffering a stroke while recovering at home from pneumonia.

Following his funeral, preparations can begin in earnest to launch the centuries-old process of electing a new pope, a conclave that will likely begin in the first week of May. In the interim, the Vatican is being run by a handful of cardinals, key among them Re, who is organizing the secret voting in the Sistine Chapel.

Francis is breaking with recent tradition and will be buried in St. Mary Major, near Rome’s main train station, where a simple tomb awaits him with just his name: Franciscus. As many as 300,000 people are expected to line the 6-kilometer (3.5-mile) motorcade route.

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Forty special guests, organized by the Vatican’s Caritas charity and the Sant’Egidio community, will greet his coffin at the basilica, honoring the marginalized groups Francis prioritized as pope: homeless people and migrants, prisoners and transgender people.

“The poor have a privileged place in the heart of God,” the Vatican quoted Francis as saying in explaining the choice.

A special relationship with the basilica

Even before he became pope, Francis had a particular affection for St. Mary Major, home to a Byzantine-style icon of the Madonna, the Salus Populi Romani, to which Francis was particularly devoted. He would pray before it before and after each of his foreign trips as pope.

The choice of the basilica is also symbolically significant given its ties to Francis’ Jesuit religious order. St. Ignatius Loyola, who founded the Jesuits, celebrated his first Mass in the basilica on Christmas Day in 1538.

Crowds waited hours to bid farewell to Francis

Over three days this week, more than 250,000 people stood for hours in line to pay their final respects while Francis’ body lay in state in St. Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican kept the basilica open through the night to accommodate them, but it wasn’t enough. When the doors closed to the general public at 7 p.m. on Friday, mourners were turned away in droves.

By dawn Saturday, they were back, some recalling the words he uttered the very first night of his election and throughout his papacy.

“We are here to honor him because he always said ‘don’t forget to pray for me,’” said Sister Christiana Neenwata from Biafrana, Nigeria. “So we are also here to give to him this love that he gave to us.”

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