The Mirror's Matthew Young, who attended the Pope's funeral this morning, reports from St Peter's Square, where an estimated 250,000 people turned out to pay their respects to the pontiff.
At 5:30 a.m., nuns were moving through the darkness, tired police were manning the barriers, and the faithful were queuing to get into St. Peter's Square for a rare historic event: the funeral of a pope.
Shortly after 6 a.m., the faithful rushed through security to claim one of the 5,000 spots on the cobblestones in front of the basilica. Within 20 minutes, every spot was taken, and crowds had lined up back from the square's wooden railings to fill the famous Via della Conciliazione, the street leading to the Catholic church's home.
We were in the front rows, with some 250,000 people behind us. As the moment approached, prayers began to be chanted before the official funeral mass. The Italian words, coming from huge loudspeakers, echoed around the historic site, and the faithful responded in low, haunting tones.
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Security helicopters circled the Vatican, an official drone buzzed ahead, and thousands of photographers set up their cameras from vantage points atop the colonnade, awaiting the arrival of the world’s most powerful people. Large screens mounted on the arches of the square gave us another perspective, showing aerial views of the awe-inspiring event.
Amid the morning chaos, the jostling for space at 4am somehow resulted in a perfect gathering of about a quarter of a million people to witness this historic moment. On Friday, Britain’s Cardinal Vincent Nichols remarked that Rome and the Holy See were “geniuses” at organising major events. “I think they’ve been doing it since Rome had emperors,” he added.
With all eyes on the royals and world leaders in a place so cinematic it’s hard to believe it’s real, one would be mistaken for thinking they still do. As the dignitaries arrived, there was silence, broken only by the cries of seagulls flying overhead and the whir of the rotors of a security helicopter.
Prince William and Sir Keir Starmer took their seats, as did US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania. The applause was reserved for one person only – Ukrainian Volodymyr Zelensky.
Then there was complete silence until 10:04 a.m., when images of Pope Francis's coffin being carried out of the basilica appeared on large screens and applause began again. The sacred hymns resounding in St. Peter's Square and along Via della Conciliazione reached a crescendo as Francis's coffin was carried out and placed on the altar at the top of the basilica steps.
The hours before the service were filled with excitement as people of all ages and nationalities took up their positions in anticipation. People slept in sleeping bags, sat huddled together on the cobblestones, and enjoyed the refreshments they had brought in preparation for the early start.
It was like a festival, a celebration. But when his coffin was carried outside for this open-air ceremony, the atmosphere changed. The faithful looked on solemnly, some with folded hands, others with tears in their eyes.
Just six days earlier, not far from this very spot, Francis made his final tour of St. Peter's Square in the popemobile, wowing crowds after delivering a blessing from the basilica's balcony. “Thank you for bringing me back to the square,” he later told his personal aide.
Now, lying in the coffin before the masses, it was impossible not to be moved by what was happening before our eyes. Francis' funeral oration was delivered by Giovanni Battista Re, 91, and there was frequent applause from the crowd.
He described him as “a pope among the people, with an open heart for everyone.” He drew more applause when he spoke of Francis’s ongoing concern for migrants, including celebrating Mass at the U.S.-Mexico border and visiting a refugee camp on the island of Lesbos, Greece, where he brought 12 migrants with him.
“The guiding thread of his mission was the conviction that the Church is a home for everyone, a home whose doors are always open,” Re said. With world leaders just yards away, Cardinal Re echoed Fran
Sourse: www.mirror.co.uk
