Pope Francis funeral reside: 400,000 bid farewell to pontiff after ‘potentially historic’ Trump-Zelensky assembly

At least 400,000 people filled the streets of the Vatican for Pope Francis’s funeral, Italy’s interior minister has said, an increase on the 250,000 earlier estimated by the Vatican.

“We estimate not fewer than 400,000 people between those present in St Peter’s Square and those along the route,” Matteo Piantedosi said on TG5 news, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Pope Francis’ funeral marks the beginning of the Novemdiales, an ancient tradition of nine days of mourning and masses for the repose of the late Pope’s soul.

The Novemdiales masses will be held each day at 5pm local time in St Peter’s Basilica, apart from the mass on Divine Mercy on Sunday April 27, which will take place at 10.30am in St Peter’s Square.

The meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky has been hailed as “Pope Francis’ miracle” by a priest.

Speaking to Sky News, Professor Father Francesco Giordano said: “It was very a moving experience.

“It was also moving to see what they are now calling ‘Pope Francis’s miracle’ with Trump and Zelensky meeting, there’s so many things that happened today – it was just overwhelming.”

Mr Trump and Mr Zelensky have both spoken positively of the apparently spontaneous meeting in St Peter’s Basilica.

Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Vatican City and Rome on Saturday morning to say a final farewell to Pope Francis.

If you’re just joining us now, here is a recap of how the morning unfolded:

– At around 8:30am local time, thousands began to fill St Peter’s Square ahead of the funeral.

– World leaders including US President Donald Trump paid their respects to the late Pope inside St Peter’s basilica shortly before 10am.

– Trump and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky were pictured speaking inside the basilica before the ceremony, in what Zelensky described as a ‘potentially historic’ conversation.

– The ceremony began at 10am local time with the Pope’s coffin being carried outside into St Peter’s Square.

– The service was led by Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals and took around two-and-a-half hours.

– A selection of readings and prayers were delivered, including a homily which paid tribute to Francis as a “pope among people”, who worked tirelessly to help the poor and disadvantaged.

– World leaders joined the masses in shaking hands in a display of unity during the Sign of Peace, before communion was distributed among the crowds.

– The coffin was then carried through the “door of death” to the left of the altar at St Peter’s, while a 10-ton funeral bell tolled.

– Pope Francis’ body was then carried through the streets of Rome, which were lined by crowds cheering and paying their respects.

– The late pontiff’s coffin was received by a selection of the “poor and needy” at the church, before it was taken inside for a private burial.

Volodymyr Zelensky said he had a “good meeting” with Donald Trump which was “very symbolic” before the Pope’s funeral.

The Ukrainian president posted on X following his meeting with Mr Trump at the Pope’s funeral.

He said: “Good meeting. We discussed a lot one on one. Hoping for results on everything we covered.

“Protecting lives of our people. Full and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from breaking out.

“Very symbolic meeting that has potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results.”

Donald Trump has left Rome, shortly after Pope Francis’ funeral mass concluded.

The US President was pictured boarding Air Force One at Fiumicino Airport with his wife, Melania Trump.

The burial of the Pope, famed for his humble approach towards the grand office, will break with tradition in a number of ways.

Francis’s final resting place will be the basilica of St Mary Major, one of the four major basilicas of Christendom in Rome, situated on the Esquiline Hill.

In Ancient Rome, the Esquiline was used for the burial of slaves, the poor and those condemned to death.

Nowadays, it is home to the Stazione Termini, Rome’s main railway station.

St. Mary Major, around 4km from the Vatican, was dear to Francis because of his devotion to Mary, Mother of God. He prayed there before setting off on and returning from each overseas trip.

Argentina-born Francis prayed in the basilica early on March 14, 2013, the day after he became the first Latin American pope.

He returned at key moments in his papacy, praying for an end to the coronavirus pandemic in a locked-down Rome in 2020 and after his abdominal surgeries in 2021 and 2023.

After arriving at St Mary Major’s basilica, Pope Francis will now be buried in private.

Francis left instructions asking to be buried in a simple underground tomb in the church – which lies a neighbourhood between the Colosseum and Termini train station.

This makes Francis the first pontiff in more than a century not to be buried at St Peter’s Basilica.