Even in death, Pope Francis’ moral voice rang out across the world.
With 40,000 packed into Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Square, another 250,000 in the surrounding streets and millions more watching on TV and online, world leaders, including President Donald Trump, were reminded of Francis’ central messages during his funeral Saturday.
“‘Build bridges, not walls’ was an exhortation he repeated many times,” Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said during the homily for the late pope. “His gestures and exhortations in favor of refugees and displaced persons are countless. His insistence on working on behalf of the poor was constant.”
And war “always leaves the world worse than it was before: It is always a painful and tragic defeat for everyone,” Re said.
People take pictures of the coffin of late Pope Francis as it is transported on a popemobile in Rome on Saturday.Henry Nicholls / AFP – Getty Images
Francis often railed against the geopolitical tides. He urged more compassion for immigrants and refugees at a time when the White House and other governments are cracking down. He called for an end to the war in Gaza and denounced climate change and exploitative capitalism — when those crises have only intensified.
Under warm, blue skies with the world watching, the homily was a reminder of Francis’ often lonely voice in a world characterized by economic and military hard power. It also brought to mind the unspoken questions, on this day at least, about whether the late pontiff’s replacement will continue these progressive notes or revert to a more conservative bent.
The relatively simple funeral for Francis, who died at age 88 on Monday, was attended by some 170 heads of state and other dignitaries. Trump sat among Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, France’s Emmanuel Macron, Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Britain’s Prince William.
World leaders attend the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday.Franco Origlia / Getty Images
Francis’ casket was taken on a final journey in the so-called popemobile through the streets of Rome, past landmarks such as the Colosseum, to St. Mary Major Basilica, where he had chosen to be buried.
The people lining the streets had come from all over the world.
“I could not have been anywhere else today. For me, Pope Francis was a wonderful pope, a gift that the lord gave us,” said Katherine Gilligan, 59, who was visiting Rome last week from Jacksonville, Florida, and decided to postpone her return journey when Francis died. “He has loved us and taught us piety. It will be difficult for there to be another pope like him.”
At St. Mary Major Basilica, his casket was met, according to his wishes, by dozens of Rome’s impoverished and needy, including prisoners, migrants, homeless and transgender people.
Attendees at Francis’ funeral ceremony on Saturday.Piero Cruciatti / AFP – Getty Images
It was just one reflection of a pope who did things a bit differently. He had even adjusted his own funeral plans: Whereas previous popes have been entombed in three nested coffins, made of cypress, lead and oak, Francis requested he be buried in a single, simple wooden casket lined with zinc.
Even so, this was an event of epic majesty. From the arcing dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, one of the largest churches in the world, to the striking image of a square divided between a mass of red on one side — the cardinals and bishops — and black on the other — attending dignitaries.
In life, Francis had declined to live in the Vatican’s gilded Apostolic Palace, choosing instead its far more plebeian guesthouse, Casa Santa Marta, where he died after a period of well-publicized illness.
Francis’ funeral in Vatican City on Saturday.Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
Francis had plenty of critics, both conservatives who believed he focused too much on progressive causes, and more liberal audiences who felt he did not go far enough with his reforms.
Either way, the absence of his frequent and outspoken interjections on world affairs will leave a void to be filled. And though he spoke with a freedom unafforded to more prominent global figures, his funeral was still a deeply political event.
Re’s reminder that Francis preferred bridges over walls conjured the late pope’s criticism of Trump’s first-term promise to build a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
People during Francis’ funeral ceremony along Via della Conciliazione leading to St Peter’s Square in Rome on Saturday.Jeff Pachoud / AFP – Getty Images
“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges is not Christian,” he said at the time.
One day before his death, Francis met with Vice President JD Vance after sharply rebuking the Trump administration for cracking down on immigration and slashing international aid. In February, he said a “major crisis” was taking place in the United States, referring to “a program of mass deportations.”
Perhaps inevitably with so many powerful figures in attendance, the funeral served as a forum for real-world geopolitics. Trump was seen locked in a sit-down discussion with Zelenskyy, two of the parties who say they are trying to negotiate a peace deal alongside Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
Francis’ coffin during the funeral ceremony at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican on Saturday.Penny Karachaliou / AFP via Getty Images
The Ukrainian leader said on X afterward that it was a “good meeting.” But there was little immediate sign that Francis’ death would solve a crisis he was unable to affect in life.
Nevertheless, despite scandal within the church and uncertainty without, there was plenty of Francis’ platform that few would disagree with.
Re reflected this while closing the homily: “Embrace humanity that seeks the truth with a sincere heart and holds high the torch of hope.”
Martina Ucci contributed.
