400,000 followers bid farewell to ‘Pope Among People’ in Rome

By Daniel Okejeme with agency report

In a testament to his global impact, nearly 400,000 devoted followers filled St. Peter’s Square and lined Rome’s historic streets on Saturday, united in grief and admiration, to bid farewell to Pope Francis, the beloved Argentine pontiff and tireless champion of the poor, who had guided the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics since 2013.

The funeral drew an impressive array of world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, who gathered alongside hundreds of thousands of mourners to honour the late Pope.

With solemn reverence, fourteen white-gloved pallbearers bore the coffin into the church, as children gently placed baskets of flowers at the altar and a choir’s ethereal voices sang heartfelt prayers.

Italian and Vatican authorities orchestrated a massive security operation for the ceremony, deploying fighter jets on standby and positioning snipers on rooftops surrounding the tiny city-state.

Cardinals in red robes and bishops in purple hats sat facing world dignitaries across the altar.

Before the altar rested Pope Francis’s simple yet elegant cypress coffin, adorned with a subtle pale cross.

The marble tomb of the Catholic Church’s first Latin American pope bears a simple yet profound inscription: “Franciscus,” his name in Latin.

Francis, who passed away on Monday at 87, was a pope among the people, who strove for a more compassionate and open-minded Catholic Church,” Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said in his homily, capturing the essence of the late pontiff’s ministry.

Following a poignant funeral attended by hushed crowds, Pope Francis’s simple wooden coffin, a reflection of his lifelong humility, was slowly transported to Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore church, where a private interment ceremony took place.

The funeral marked the beginning of nine days of official Vatican mourning for Pope Francis, who rose to the papacy in 2013 following the historic resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.

After the period of mourning, eligible cardinals will enter a conclave to select the next pope.

Persecondnews reports that Francis sought to steer the centuries-old Church into a more inclusive direction during his 12-year papacy, and his death prompted a global outpouring of emotion.

His reforms sparked controversy among traditionalists, while his scathing critiques of injustices—ranging from the treatment of migrants to the devastation of global warming—irked many world leaders.