Pope Francis was buried at a church in Rome after a funeral mass in St Peter’s Square.
Global leaders including US President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, were also present during the funeral.
From India, President Droupadi Murmu is attending the funeral, accompanied by Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State George Kurian, and Goa Deputy Speaker Joshua De Souza.
Earlier, the Vatican formally ended the lying in state of Pope Francis, sealing his coffin during a private religious ceremony inside St. Peter’s Basilica after three days of public mourning attended by around 250,000 visitors, ANI reported citing CNN.
Pope Francis, who was the first pontiff from Latin America and the first from the Jesuit order, had requested simpler funeral rites. In keeping with his wishes, his body was placed in a single wooden coffin, foregoing the traditional triple-layered coffins of cypress, lead, and oak that had been used in previous papal funerals.
The rite was led by Cardinal Kevin Farrell, Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, who oversees funeral arrangements following the death of a pope. Farrell, a Dublin-born cleric and naturalised American citizen, previously served as Bishop of Dallas.
(With ANI inputs)
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