Apr 26, 2025, 5:13 AM EDT
200,000 attend funeral, Vatican says
About 200,000 people are attending the funeral of Pope Francis, according to the Vatican press office.
Tiziana Fabi/AFP via Getty Images
-ABC News’ Phoebe Natanson
Pope Francis funeral updates: Pope Francis laid to rest after historic funeral in front of 250,000
Francis, 88, died on Monday at the Vatican.
Last Updated: April 26, 2025, 11:45 AM EDT
Pope Francis, the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, was buried Saturday at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major after dying one week ago at 88 years old.
Francis, who took his name after Saint Francis of Assisi, was known for his outreach to the poor and those in poverty and that will be reflected in his minimalist burial at Saint Mary Major. He is the first pope to be buried outside the Vatican in over a century and the first to be buried at Santa Maria Maggiore in more than 300 years.
Key Headlines
- Apr 26, 2025, 11:45 AM EDT
- Apr 26, 2025, 7:29 AM EDT
- Apr 26, 2025, 7:18 AM EDT
Here's how the news is developing.
Apr 26, 2025, 5:03 AM EDT
Pope’s hearse will be a popemobile: ANSA
The Italian news agency Ansa is reporting that the pope's hearse will be a popemobile.
Francis rode a popemobile through St. Peter’s Square on Easter Sunday, the day before he died.
Evan Vucci/AP
For the funeral procession from St. Peter's to Santa Maria Maggiore, where he is to be buried, the back end of a popemobile that Francis had used has been adapted, ANSA reported.
The open vehicle will allow mourners to see the pope's coffin pass through the streets of Rome at the end of the funeral, the ANSA report said.
Apr 26, 2025, 4:56 AM EDT
Pope Francis remembered as unifying force in rapidly changing world
Pope Francis was remembered on Saturday as a unifying force, a leader who "sought to shed light on the problems of our time with the wisdom of the Gospel."
"Rich in human warmth and deeply sensitive to today's challenges, Pope Francis truly shared the anxieties, sufferings and hopes of this time of globalization," Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said in a liturgy during Francis' funeral.
Yara Nardi/Reuters
Battista Re added, "He gave of himself by comforting and encouraging us with a message capable of reaching people's hearts in a direct and immediate way."
The cardinal praised Francis for giving himself to the church up until his final full day, when he appeared during an Easter celebration to bless the faithful who had gathered at the Vatican.
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ABCNews.com
Francis maintained a "temperament and form of pastoral leadership" throughout his years leading the church, Battista Re said. And he was "guided by the light of faith" as he encouraged everyone -- from world leaders to the leagues of faithful -- to "live as Christians amid the challenges and contradictions in recent years, which he loved to describe as an 'epochal change.'"
Filippo Monteforte/AFP via Getty Images
"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 added, "War, [Francis] said, results in the death of people and the destruction of homes, hospitals and schools. War always leaves the world worse than it was before: It is always a painful and tragic defeat for everyone."
Apr 26, 2025, 4:54 AM EDT
Trump, Zelenskyy met privately, White House says
President Trump and Ukraine's President Zelenskyy met privately earlier and had a "very productive session," White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told the press pool traveling with Trump.
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Ukrainan Presidencial ServiceAFP via Getty Images
Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena Zelenska, are seated about seven people away from Trump and first lady Melania Trump, according to the press pool.
Former President Biden and former first lady Jill Biden are about four rows behind them.
