Pope Francis was known as “a pope among the people” during a funeral mass in Place Saint-Pierre in Rome to which the leaders attended by American president Donald Trump and the president of Ukraine Volodyr Zelenskyy.
Trump and Zelenskyy spoke for a few minutes before the funeral start, according to a senior Ukrainian official. It was the first time they saw each other in person since their deadly public row in the oval office in February.
The pair met in private and had a “very productive discussion,” said a White House official. Zelenskyy’s chief of staff, Andriy Yermak, posted on X that the conversation was “constructive”.
Zelenskyy posted on X to thank Trump, calling him a “very symbolic meeting which has the potential to become historic, if we obtain joint results”.
“We have discussed a lot of one against one. Hoping for results on everything we have covered. Protect the life of our people. A complete and unconditional ceasefire. Reliable and lasting peace that will prevent another war from bursting,” he wrote.
Applause broke out when Zelenskyy, dressed in the black military style costume which has become its basic food in wartime, entered the Place St Peter’s.
There was also “a positive exchange” between Trump, Zelenskyy, the British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the French president Emmanuel Macron, according to the Palais de l’Elysée.
Trump shook hands at both the president of the European Council António Costa and the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen before the start of the funeral, said an EU official. They did not have a substantial conversation.
No president of the EU has met or has received no calls with Trump since he took office in January. The Von der Leyen commission negotiates trade policy on behalf of the 27 EU member states.
In their brief exchange, Von Der Leyen and Trump agreed to meet, a spokesperson for the President of the Commission said, without providing details.
Dozens of other world leaders have also attended mass, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Argentinian right president Javier Milei and Brazil’s left president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
In a tribute to the late pontiff, the Italian cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, 91, recalled Francis’s commitment to the migrants, the refugees and the marginalized, and how he “really shared the anxieties, the sufferings and the hopes of this period of globalization”.
Francis was guided by “the conviction that the church is a house for all, a house with its doors always open,” said Re, recalling the 47 trips abroad of the deceased Pope, including a trip to 2021 in Iraq and a visit to the American-Mexican border, where he celebrated mass.
“He often used the image of the church as a country hospital after a battle, in which many were injured; a church determined to take care of the problems of people … A church capable of leaning on each person, whatever their beliefs or their conditions, and heal their wounds,” said the cardinal.
The Royals, including British Prince William and the Spanish monarchs, Sweden and Denmark, attended mass, as well as chiefs of international institutions such as the UN. Former American president Joe Biden was also present.
The Holy See estimates that around 200,000 people from around the world have gathered on Saint-Pierre square for the funeral mass, including 220 cardinals and around 750 bishops and priests. Some of the faithful agitated national flags, while others have held banners with messages like “goodbye father, teacher and poet” and “may have the courage to be happy” – the title of one of the books of the deceased Pope.
Applause broke out at the end of the mass when the Francis coffin was placed on the white Potemobile open for a 5.5 km trip through Rome, past monuments, especially the Colosseum, to his last rest in Santa Maria Maggiore, his favorite of the many churches in the city.
He has been the first pope for over a century to be buried in front of the walls of the Vatican city.
While the burial was a private ceremony, the church will open later so that the mourning people can pay tribute to the deceased pope, who will be under a tombstone in marble inscribed “Franciscus”.
According to the Vatican.
Francis last year simplified the rites of papal death. Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of apostolic ceremonies, said at the time that changes were intended to emphasize that “the funeral of the Roman pontiff is that of a pastor and a disciple of Christ, not a powerful person of this world”.
During his 12 years on the papal throne, Francis has sought to return the Catholic Church – which has 1.4 billion disciples around the world – more compatiating and accessible, while attacking contemporary problems such as climate change.
His death this week at the age of 88 provoked a wave of admirers’ sorrow but also dissent from criticism, including influential members of influential members of influential members of influential members of influential members Trump’s Magi Movement.
Burial marks the start of an official period of mourning of nine days, after which up to 135 eligible cardinals of less than 80 The new pope.
The first favorites include Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State of the deceased Pope, Cardinal Luis Tagle of the Philippines and Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo BesUngu.
The Funeral Homélème de Re will be interpreted by many Catholics as a spiritual direction to cardinal voters on the qualities they should seek in a new Pope.
Additional report by Giuliana Ricozzi in Rome, Christopher Miller in Kyiv, Leila Abboud in Paris, Henry Foy in Brussels and James Politi in Washington
