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Mighty and meek say goodbye to Pope Francis at funeral where he is remembered as pope of the people

A view of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) A view of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

By NICOLE WINFIELD and COLLEEN BARRY / Associated Press April 26, 2025 10 min read

VATICAN CITY (AP) — World leaders and Catholic faithful bade farewell to Pope Francis in a funeral Saturday that highlighted his concern for people on the “most peripheral of the peripheries” and reflected his wishes to be remembered as a simple pastor. Though presidents and princes attended the Mass in St. Peter’s Square, prisoners and migrants welcomed Francis’ coffin at his final resting place in a basilica across town.

According to Vatican estimates, some 250,000 people flocked to the funeral Mass at the Vatican and 150,000 more lined the motorcade route through downtown Rome to witness the first funeral procession for a pope in a century. They clapped and cheered “Papa Francesco” as his simple wooden coffin travelled aboard a modified popemobile to St. Mary Major Basilica, some 6 kilometers (3.5-miles) away.

As bells tolled, the pallbearers brought the coffin past several dozen migrants, prisoners and homeless people holding white roses outside the basilica. Once inside, the pallbearers stopped in front of the icon of the Virgin Mary that the church is famous for and that Francis deeply revered. Four children deposited the roses at the foot of the altar before the burial ceremony began.

Mighty and meek attend Pope Francis’ funeral, where he is remembered as the people’s pope

Vatican Master of Ceremonies Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli covers the face of late Pope Francis with a silk cloth before closing his casket in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Friday, April 25, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP) — Vatican Master of Ceremonies Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli covers the face of late Pope Francis with a silk cloth before closing his casket in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Friday, April 25, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP)

Clergy take their seats ahead of the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Saturday, April 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) — Vatican Master of Ceremonies Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli covers the face of late Pope Francis with a silk cloth before closing his casket in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican Friday, April 25, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP)

“I’m so sorry that we’ve lost him,” said Mohammed Abdallah, a 35-year-old migrant from Sudan who was one of the people who welcomed Francis to his final resting place. “Francis helped so many people, refugees like us, and many other people in the world.”

Earlier, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re eulogized Francis during the Vatican Mass as a pope of the people, a pastor who knew how to communicate to the “least among us” with an informal, spontaneous style.