200,000 Faithful Attend Funeral Mass Of Pope Francis
on Apr 26, 2025
Pope Francis’ Life And Ministry Celebrated
On Saturday, April 26, an estimated 200,000 gathered in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican City where they would typically see the Bishop of Rome offer blessings.
Today, however, was for the occasion of the funeral for Pope Francis, the 266th apostolic successor of Peter.
Pope Francis died at the age of 88 on the day after Easter Sunday, on Monday, April 21.
About Pope Francis
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1936, Francis — who was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio — was the first pope from the New World. He was also the first pope from the Jesuit Order.
Following the 2013 resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, Bergoglio was selected pope. He took on the name Francis as his papal name, honoring Saint Francis of Assisi, who is the patron saint of animals, the environment, and Italy.
His path to becoming the Bishop of Rome included his ordination as a Catholic priest in 1969, his designation as archbishop of Buenos Aires in 1998, and was elevated by Pope John Paul II to cardinal in 2001.
The environment was one of Pope Francis’ great concerns, having published an encyclical titled Laudato si’: On Care For Our Common Home in 2015.
During his papacy, he was involved in four Ordinary General, one Extraordinary General, and one Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops. From these councils, apostolic exhortations were issued on subjects ranging from the Church being in a “permanent state of mission” to “vocational discernment” for young people.
The Funeral Mass
Among the thousands of people present in St. Peter’s Square, including many world leaders, the Funeral Mass of Pope Francis followed the traditional liturgical structure of Mass in the Roman Catholic Church.
Scripture readings included:
- Acts 10:34-43, an account of a sermon delivered by Peter to a centurion;
- Psalm 23 was sung as a responsorial Psalm;
- Philippians 3:20-4:1, which regards the believers citizenship in heaven; and
- John 21:15-19, being the Gospel account of the resurrected Christ asking Peter, “Do you love me?”
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, presided over the ceremony.
Offering the homily, Battista Re said, “Pope Francis chose to follow the path of self-giving until the last day of his earthly life. He followed in the footsteps of his Lord, the Good Shepherd, who loved His sheep to the point of giving His life for them.”
Battista Re cited Pope Francis’ decades of service within the Church as the foundation for his papacy.
“He maintained his temperament and form of pastoral leadership, and through his resolute personality, immediately made his mark on the governance of the Church,” Battista Re remarked. “He established direct contact with individuals and peoples, eager to be close to everyone, with a marked attention to those in difficulty. Giving himself, without measure, especially to the marginalized — the least among us.”
Further, Battista Re stated:
“With his characteristic vocabulary and language, rich in images and metaphors, he always sought to shed light on the problems of our time, with the wisdom of the Gospel. He did so by offering a response, guided by the light of faith, and encouraging us to live as Christians among the challenges and contradictions in recent years, which he loved to describe as ‘epochal times.’”
Concluding his homily, Battista Re quoted an expression Pope Francis frequently said, “Build bridges, not walls,” adding, “The service of faith, as successor of the Apostle Peter, was always linked to the service of humanity, in all its dimensions.”
To applause, Battista Re said, “Now, Pope Francis, we ask you to pray for us, and we ask that you bless the Church, bless Rome, and bless the whole world from Heaven.”
This was then followed by a prayer before the liturgy of the Eucharist.
Parting with papal tradition, Pope Francis requested in his final will and testament that he not be interred at St. Peter’s Basilica, favoring instead the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, Italy.
Related: Who Will Succeed Pope Francis?
Trump Attends Funeral
As he boarded Air Force One on April 25 for his flight to Rome, President Donald Trump told the press, “We have a long flight today, but we’re going for a good reason.”
When asked why he thought it was important to attend Pope Francis’ funeral, Trump replied, “I just thought it was out of respect. You know, I won the Catholic vote [in 2024], and I think that was the first time that happened where a Republican won the Catholic vote, and I won it by a lot.”
In 2024, Trump initially ran against then President Joe Biden, a Catholic. However, when Biden suspended his run for president to allow then Vice President Kamala Harris to run as the Democratic nominee for president, Trump managed to win the Catholic vote, according to Washington Post exit polls, by 15%, with 56% of Catholics voting for him.
Of this victory, Trump added, “I have a great relationship to the Catholics.”
The president was joined by First Lady Melania Trump, with both scheduled to return to the United States in the evening of April 26.
Watch the funeral Mass here:
