By Nicole Winfield and Colleen Barry, Associated Press
Vatican City (AP) – Pope Francis He is being buried on Saturday at a ceremony that reflects his priorities as Pope and desires as a pastor: the presidents and the princes will attend their funeral in the Plaza de San Pedro, but the prisoners and the migrants will mark the beginning of the basilica where it will be buried.
It is expected that up to 200,000 people attend the funeral, that Francis choreographed When he reviewed and simplified the rituals and rituals of the Vatican last year. His goal was to emphasize the role of the Pope as a simple priest and not “a powerful man of this world,” said the Vatican.
It was a reflection of Francis 12 years project To radically reform the papacy, emphasize its shepherds as servants and build “a poor church for the poor.” It was a mission that articulated only a few days after his 2013 election and explained the name he chose as Pope, in honor of San Francisco de Asís, “who had the heart of the poor of the world,” according to the official decree of the life of the Pope that was a place.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tac9gqjrwgi
However, never, the powerful will attend on Saturday. President of the United States Donald TrumpFrench president Emmanuel Macron, the leaders of the European Union and UN Chief, join Prince William and the Spanish royal family in the main official delegations. The Argentine president, Javier Milei, had the pride of the place given the Argentine nationality of Francis, even if the two did not get along and Francis alienated many Argentines by Never return home.
Francis is breaking with the recent tradition and Will buried in the Santa María Mayor BasilicaNear the main train station of Rome, where a simple underground grave awaits you with just your name: Franciscus. As expected that many 300,000 people align the 4 -kilometer (2.5 mile) car route that will bring the Francis coffin of the Vatican through the center of Rome to the basilica after the funeral.
Francis, the first Latin American Pope and first Jesuit, He died on Easter At 88 years after suffering a stroke while recovering at the house of pneumonia.
With their funeral, preparations can now start seriously to organize the process of centuries of Choose a new PopeA conclave that will probably begin in the first week of May. Meanwhile, the Vatican, led by a handful of cardinals, including Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the 91 -year dean of the 91 -year Cardinals College Who presides at the funeral and organizes the secret vote in the Sistine Chapel.
The crowds waited hours in the row to respect Francis
About three days this week, more than 250,000 people Stood up for hours Online to present its final respects, while Francis’s body was in a state in the Basilica of San Pedro. The Vatican kept the doors open during the night to accommodate them.
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A man takes a photo of the Basilica of San Pedro while Faithful meets in the Plaza de San Pedro in El Vaticano, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, since the body of the late Pope Francis will be in the state within the Basilica of San Pedro for three days. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
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A man takes a photo of the Basilica of San Pedro while Faithful meets in the Plaza de San Pedro in El Vaticano, on Wednesday, April 23, 2025, since the body of the late Pope Francis will be in the state within the Basilica of San Pedro for three days. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber)
“He was an excellent and humble person who changed many laws and always for the better,” said a pilgrim from his native Argentina, Augustin Angelicola, while Hey waited online. “Now it’s sad for everyone that all this has happened. We don’t expect it, it had to happen but not so soon.”
But even with expanded hours, it was not enough. When the Vatican closed the doors to the general public at 7 pm on Friday, the Mourters were masse.
A special relationship with the Basilica
Even before becoming a potato, Francis had a particular affection for Santa María Mayor. It is the home of a Byzantine style icon of the Madonna, the Salus Popoli Romani, to which Francis was particularly dedicated, in such a way that he would pray before him before and after each of the foreign trips as Pope.
He decided to have his grave located in a niche next to the chapel that houses the icon, with a reproduction of his simple silly pecorted cross on the marble tombstone.
The choice of the basilica is also symbolically significant given its ties with Francis’ Jesuit religious order. San Ignacio Loyola, who founded the Jesuits, celebrated his first Mass in the Basilica on Christmas Day in 1538.
The Vatican said that 40 special guests would greet their coffin in the square in front of the basilica, reflecting the marginalized groups that Francis prioritized the Pope: homeless people and migrants, prisoners and Transgender people.
“The poor have a privileged place in the heart of God,” Vatis said Francisco, explaining the election. The real burial will be private, presented by the cardinals and some nearby aid.
Italy is deploying more than 2,500 police and 1,500 soldiers to provide security, which also includes parking a clumsy ship on the coast and putting squads of combat airplanes on waiting, Italian media reported.
Associated Press’s religion coverage receives support through APS collaboration With the conversation of us, with funds from Lilly Endowment Inc. the AP is solely responsible for this content.
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