By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Pope Francis has been buried in Rome after a funeral ceremony and procession attended by hundreds of thousands of people and many heads of state.
The first South American pontiff passed away on Monday aged 88, marking the end of a 12-year pontificate.
His death has drawn famous figures, politicians, and thousands of followers to Vatican City to pay their respects.
The pope’s coffin was laid in the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica. The service was led by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
Guests and dignitaries were seated closer to the basilica and coffin, with thousands of other clergy and members of the public in and around St Peter’s Square, similar to the funeral for Pope Benedict XVI.
As heads of state and foreign dignitaries took their places to the right of the altar, hundreds of photographers in the press area on the roof of the colonnade snapped their cameras furiously, hoping to capture a candid image of US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose last meeting in February gave rise to a combative exchange in the Oval Office.
But soon after, as a striking photo of the two men sitting on two chairs inside St Peter’s began to circulate, it emerged that they had already met around 15 minutes before service began.
Later, Zelensky said the meeting “had potential to become historic, if we achieve joint results”.
No more details were shared, but some on social media later joked that, given the setting, the meeting had been a “miracle”.
Photos showed that UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Trump, Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron had also all met in the Vatican.
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re delivered a moving funeral homily, describing Francis as a relentless advocate for peace and human dignity.
“Faced with the raging wars of recent years, with their inhuman horrors and countless deaths and destruction, Pope Francis incessantly raised his voice imploring peace and calling for reason and honest negotiation to find possible solutions,” Battista Re said.
He also praised Franci’s landmark papal letter on climate change and highlighted his many visits to places like Lampedusa and Lesbos, where the pope met migrants and refugees in detention camps.
“His gestures and exhortations in favour of refugees and displaced people are countless,” Battista Re told the crowd.
He eulogised Francis as “a pope among the people, with an open heart towards everyone”, known for his informal, spontaneous style and his ability to reach “the least among us”.
Earlier this week, more than 250,000 people stood in line – some for hours – to pay their final respects while Francis’s body lay in state at St Peter’s Basilica. The Vatican kept its doors open overnight to accommodate the crowds.
His final resting place, a plain tomb in a historic Roman church that has not held papal remains in centuries, reflects the humility and independence that defined Francis’s papacy.
After the funeral, a group of 40 people – including migrants, homeless individuals, prisoners, and transgender people – greeted the late pope’s coffin with white roses on the steps of St Mary Major Basilica.
Watch Live in the video below:
Video Courtesy of Vatican.