Pallbearers process with the coffin of Pope Francis during his funeral at St. Peter’s Square, Saturday, April 26, 2025. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Apr 26, 2025 / 12:00 pm (CNA).
The wooden coffin of Pope Francis arrived at the Basilica of St. Mary Major just after 1 p.m. local time in Rome on Saturday, completing the solemn procession from St. Peter’s Square through the streets of Rome and bringing an end to the funeral of the late pontiff.
Nearly half a million mourners gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday morning, while crowds of faithful lined the route to St. Mary Major as the late pontiff made his final journey to the basilica he visited more than 100 times during his papacy.
Pallbearers carry the wooden coffin of Pope Francis, marked with a cross, into St. Peter’s Square for the funeral Mass on April 26, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Crowds assemble for the funeral of Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square, Saturday, April 26, 2025. Credit: Elias Turk/ACI MENA
Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli kneels next to the casket holding the remains of Pope Francis during the funeral Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday, April 26, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media
Swiss Guards stand at attention during the funeral of Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square, Saturday, April 26, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re incenses Pope Francis’ coffin during the pontiff’s funeral at St. Peter’s Square, Saturday, April 26, 2025. Credit: Vatican MediaHundreds of clergy attend the funeral of Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square, Saturday, April 26, 2025. Credit: Bénédicte Cedergren/EWTN News
Hundreds of thousands of mourners attend the funeral of Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square, Saturday, April 26, 2025. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Pallbearers process into St. Peter’s Basilica with Pope Francis’ coffin at St. Peter’s Square, Saturday, April 26, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media
Cardinals gather as Pope Francis’ coffin passes by during the pontiff’s funeral at St. Peter’s Basilica, Saturday, April 26, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media
Mourners gather in the streets of Rome to see the procession of the coffin of Pope Francis, Saturday, April 26, 2025. Credit: Elias Turk / ACI MENAPope Francis’ coffin processes into the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. Credit: Zosia Czubak
Observers gather on rooftops to watch as the coffin of Pope Francis processes to Saint Mary Major in Rome, Saturday, April 26, 2025. Credit: Zosia Czubak
Vatican officials seal Pope Francis’ coffin as Cardinal Kevin Farrell looks on during the private burial ceremony at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, Saturday, April 26, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media
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Rome, Italy, Dec 20, 2019 / 07:42 am (CNA).- Pope Francis Friday made a surprise visit to a high school in Rome, where he spoke to about 800 students and answered questions about war, peace, and the coexistence of different cultures and religions.
The Pilo Albertelli State High School is close to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major. The pope arrived there by car in the morning Dec. 20.
According to Matteo Bruni, Holy See press office director, students performed a song for Francis and the dean of the school gave an address.
Pope Francis rang the school bell and wished everyone a Merry Christmas.
He also answered several questions from students, Bruni said, including one about different cultures and religions living together. The pope answered the question by speaking about immigration, also in his own country of Argentina, and about the “need to live together.”
“In addressing non-believers, he emphasized the value of witness to awaken curiosity about the Gospel and faith,” Bruni said
Pope Francis reminded the students about the importance of leisure and dreams, which bring “oxygen to the soul.” He also addressed the problem of loneliness, which can lead to melancholy, and spoke about the difficult road of gratuitous love which is made possible through patience and “small sacrifices.”
He also spoke about the important relationship between a teacher and a student.
At the start of the visit, Francis greeted faculty and staff with the director of L’Osservatore Romano, Andrea Monda, who was formerly a religion teacher at the high school.
As religion teacher, in 2018 Monda led a group of 15 students in writing the meditations for the pope’s Way of the Cross at the Colosseum on Good Friday March 30, 2018.
Pope Francis also greeted these students during his meeting.
Monda told CNA in 2018 that he sees the pope’s choice to entrust young people with the Via Crucis reflections as being in line with the greater focus of his pontificate, “trying to give a voice to those who have no voice.”
In Monda’s view, young people are also often at the peripheries. But Pope Francis says not to speak only about youth or to youth, but to “let the youth talk and then listen to them.”
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