Pope Francis laid to rest in Rome after funeral attended by thousands
About 250,000 mourners gathered in hushed silence in Vatican City on Saturday morning as the funeral for Pope Francis began.
The church choir’s hymns echoed across the city-state through loudspeakers. Some mourners bowed their heads respectfully, while others clasped their hands in silent prayer.
Just after 10 a.m. (08:00 GMT), the pope’s coffin was carried out of St Peter’s Basilica. Many in the crowd, too far to see clearly, turned to the large screens set up around St Peter’s Square for a better view.
Police officers, stewards, and military personnel — who had been managing the massive crowds along cordoned-off streets since dawn — finally eased up as the soft sounds of prayer songs transformed the morning’s tense atmosphere into one of shared peace.
As readings began in several languages, groups of teenagers who had traveled to Rome for the Jubilee of Adolescents — a three-day event during the Jubilee, a major Catholic celebration held every 25 years — sat cross-legged on the cobblestones of Via della Conciliazione, the grand avenue leading up to the square.
Others edged toward the sides of the street, seeking shelter from the warm midday sun.
One voice of love and prayer
Pauline Mille, a French doctoral student who arrived early with her parents, described the ceremony as moving. She said it was “nice to hear people singing together in harmony and sharing this moment” as they honored the pope’s legacy.
Lebanese American Elie Dib, who traveled with his wife and young son to attend the canonisation of Carlo Acutis — an event postponed due to the pope’s passing — said he felt “blessed to be part of the prayer and funeral today to pray for his soul.” He was touched to witness people from different nationalities united “in one voice of love and prayer.”
His son Antony, perched on his father’s shoulders with a Lebanese flag draped across his back, said that while he was sad about the pope’s death, he was “happy that he is going to heaven.”
In the center of the square, a group of Mexican teenagers knelt in a circle, hands resting on each other’s shoulders, their heads bowed in prayer.
As the ceremony concluded, mourners began slowly dispersing from the Vatican while stewards handed out free bottles of water, especially to the elderly.
The popemobile, carrying Francis’s coffin, departed the city-state and made its way through the streets of Rome, passing iconic landmarks like the Colosseum on its journey to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major.
Messages of love that still ‘carried great weight’
As about 50 heads of state, 12 reigning monarchs, and other dignitaries were escorted away via private exits and motorcades, tens of thousands of mourners set out on foot toward the pope’s final resting place — a walk of about an hour.
Fiorello Maffei, a 58-year-old Londoner who had returned to Italy for the postponed canonisation of Carlo Acutis, described the funeral as “very touching” and appreciated the pope’s simple yet powerful messages of love.
Maffei said this simplicity reflected Francis’s communication style, and he found it particularly meaningful that global leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump, had to listen to these messages of peace.
Two priests from Benin, who attended alongside South African clergy, said that despite their sadness, they were filled with hope and grateful for Francis’s legacy. Watching the coffin’s procession on a large screen by the Tiber River, they praised Francis for his embrace of peace, inclusion, and his welcoming spirit toward migrants and refugees.
Maffei remarked that Francis would have appreciated seeing the thousands of people walking through Rome, even tackling the steep path near Largo Magnanapoli.
“Walking like this is tough. It becomes a time for reflection and meditation, and that’s exactly what he would have wanted,” he said.
At the Basilica of Saint Mary Major — a church close to Francis’s heart, where he had prayed over 100 times during his 12-year papacy — the crowds gradually dispersed, as no public burial ceremony was planned.
The pontiff’s tomb was opened to the public on Sunday. His simple white resting place, bearing only the name Franciscus in Latin, fulfills his wish to be buried “in the ground, without particular decoration.”