170 world leaders, dignitaries, on Saturday joined an estimated 250,000 people gathered in Rome to farewell Pope Francis, whose funeral took place at St Peter’s Basilica.
TheNewsGuru reports that the US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy was among the high-profile figures to take their seats in front of The Vatican. Prince William represented UK’s King Charles and was seen paying his respects in front of Francis’s coffin ahead of the service.
Other guests to confirm their attendance included French President Emmanuel Macron and UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The official funeral service began at 10am local time, led by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, and lasted more than two hours. It included a moment to share a gesture of peace with neighbours, and Trump was seen shaking hands with Macron.
Pope Francis will be buried later this evening, bringing down the curtain on his 12-year tenure as the leader of the Catholic Church.
Then will begin the Conclave, when 90 cardinals will be cloistered to vote for and appoint Francis’s success. This ancient process has been made more familiar to non-Catholics in recent months due to the Oscar-nominated film starring Ralph Fiennes.
