Some mourners had spent the night sleeping in the streets near the Vatican, and they started lining up at dawn on Saturday in St. Peter’s Square to bid farewell to Pope Francis. Hours later, world leaders took their seats in rows near an altar set up in front of St. Peter’s Basilica.
The scene was appropriate for the funeral of a head of state, with red-robed cardinals, royalty and dignitaries attending the open-air Mass. But for a pope who had spent over a decade defending people at the margins of society, many had also come to pay their respects to someone who occupied a deeply personal space in their lives.
“More than a pope, he was a fatherly figure for us migrants,” said Virginia Munos Ramires, 30, an El Salvador native, as she held onto a railing in St. Peter’s Square under the beating sun. “He represented Latinos, immigrants — he was a reference for all of us.”
Some of the mourners wore suits, others the blue and white soccer jerseys of Francis’ native Argentina. Still others were dressed in traditional Polish garments or colorful cloths from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Many broke into loud applause when Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, who was officiating the Mass, recalled in his homily that the pope’s first trip had been to Lampedusa, a southern Italian island that has become emblematic of large numbers of migrants arriving in Europe over the past decade.
Pope Francis was “giving himself without measure, especially to the marginalized,” Cardinal Re said, as he stood within sight of a giant statue of St. Peter, the Roman Catholic Church’s first pope.
With gulls crying out overhead and helicopters roaring higher in the sky, the crowd was largely silent as readings in Latin, Italian and other languages resounded in the square.
For all of its pomp and ceremony, the experience for the crowd also had something of the feel of a stadium concert. The Mass took place on a stage so distant that the figures appeared tiny. What made it feel close were giant screens and a speaker system that resonated around the piazza.
At one moment, the cameras focused on a tiny detail from the pope’s coffin, making the solemnity of the occasion feel all too real. At another, they showed President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine as he walked to his seat, prompting a bout of applause from the crowd.
But no one who was present needed a video display to be captivated by the grandeur of the surroundings. The piazza, arrayed around the Vatican obelisk, is bounded by enormous colonnades topped with sculptures that stand in silhouette against the sky.
Among the mourners were Catholics from places that Francis had made a point of reaching out to. Many, like the retired owner of a grocery story in the northern Italian city of Genoa, said they felt that Francis was a “normal person,” like them. “The world you loved is here today to say thank you,” one banner read.
Francesca Butros, a nun from Egypt, had run into the piazza to secure a spot. She had prayed that Pope Francis, who suffered from knee ailments, would relieve her legs from pain and allow her to make it to St. Peter’s in time for the funeral. She did, although another nun twisted her ankle in the subway, she said.
Epiphana Lubangula, 53, a Tanzania native who works as a nurse in Italy, said, “We are here from the West to the East.” She said she hoped that “the powerful who are here today will treasure Francis’ message.”
A priest from Myanmar, the Rev. Caesar Htoo Ko Ko, said that since the pope’s 2017 visit to the country, people there finally “have an image of what a Catholic is.”
And while the media’s attention turned to a meeting between Mr. Zelensky and President Trump in the basilica before the funeral, many of the mourners were mostly focused on saying goodbye to the pope.
“He was like family,” said Colette Sandjon, 68, a Cameroon native who had traveled from Paris and spent the night standing in a Vatican City side street to secure a spot at the pope’s funeral.
“When he spoke to me, it’s as if he was speaking to the whole of Africa,” she added, her eyes reddened by the sleepless night.
Toward the end of the ceremony, it was approaching midday, and the spring heat was taking a toll on those who had been standing since before dawn. Hundreds sat down for the homily, while others tried to fan themselves with the funeral program booklet.
With the pope being laid to rest, many Catholics were also starting to look ahead. Some wondered who would defend the voiceless now that their loudest champion was gone. Others said they hoped that Francis’ era of emphasizing charity and pastoral work over church doctrine was over.
The Rev. Joseph Jaros, of the Czech Republic, said he agreed with Francis that the church needed to change, but, echoing of a criticism often heard among conservatives, he said that it should be in keeping with tradition. “The world is changing a lot, but the church should not change too much,” he said.
Ms. Munos Ramires, the migrant from El Salvador, said she was more concerned about the pope’s message. “As migrants we are worried,” she said. “We hope we’ll get another advocate.”
After the Mass ended, the cardinals descended the basilica’s staircase in a red cascade and the crowd trickled out. The piazza outside the basilica was cleared. An eerie silence remained.
Jason Horowitz contributed reporting.
Emma Bubola is a Times reporter based in Rome.
Matthew Mpoke Bigg is a London-based reporter on the Live team at The Times, which covers breaking and developing news.
The post ‘He Was Like Family’: Faithful Descend on St. Peter’s Square for Pope’s Funeral appeared first on New York Times.
