Apr. 26, 2025-Roma: The Funeral of Pope Francis

Huge crowds flock to Vatican for Pope Francis’s funeral

Tens of thousands of mourners are flooding into St. Peter’s Square for the funeral of Pope Francis, the champion of the poor and the Catholic Church’s first Latin American leader.

Some people waited overnight to be first in the queue for the ceremony, attended by world leaders including US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky — who may meet on the sidelines.

The Argentine pontiff, who died on Monday aged 88, sought to steer the centuries-old Church into a more inclusive direction during his 12-year papacy.

Clergy are seated for the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican

Some 250,000 people paid their respects before his coffin during its three days of lying in state at St Peter’s Basilica, and huge numbers gathered from dawn on Friday to attend his final send-off.

Crowds applaud pope’s coffin as Vatican funeral begins

At the packed St Peter’s Square in the Vatican, crowds have cheered and applauded as the pope’s coffin was brought out of St Peter’s Basilica.

Pallbearers carry the coffin of late Pope Francis during the funeral ceremony in St Peter’s Square, at the Vatican, on April 26, 2025.

Many of the more than 50 heads of state attending the funeral entered the Basilica beforehand to pay their respects at the coffin of the Argentine pontiff,

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