POPE FRANCIS FUNERAL: MASS BEGINS AS PONTIFF BODY BROUGHT TO ST. PETER'S SQUARE

Vatican says 200,000 people at Pope’s funeral, including world leadersWorld leaders and Catholic faithful bade farewell to Pope Francis in a funeral Saturday (April 26, 2025) reflecting his priorities as pope and wishes as pastor. Though Presidents and princes attended the Mass in St. Peter’s Square, prisoners and migrants will welcome him into the basilica across town where he will be laid to rest.

- KALIDAS NEWDELHI

Pope Francis will be buried in Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome basilica where it will be welcomed by a group of the “poor and needy”.Tens of thousands of people flocked before dawn to the square on a brilliant spring day that was supposed to have been a special Holy Year celebration for adolescentsThe Argentine pontiff, 88, died on Monday (April 21, 2025) after a stroke, less than a month after returning home from five weeks in hospital battling double pneumonia.