Pope Francis has been laid to rest in Rome.
He was buried outside the Vatican at the church of Santa
Maria Maggiore — one of the main Basilicas in Rome — altering a 100-year-old
tradition of the church.
Pope Francis had said he wished to be buried at Santa Maria
Maggiore, a basilica to which he felt deeply connected and often visited to
pray.
The head of the Roman Catholic church died on Easter Monday
at age 88, after a prolonged battle with bilateral pneumonia.
On Saturday, Catholic faithful, world leaders, politicians,
and royalty from all over the world gathered at St. Peter’s Basilica to pay
their last respects to the Pope.
Francis was laid to rest in a simple wooden casket lined
with zinc, honoring his wish to forgo the elaborate tradition of his
predecessors, who had been buried in three nesting coffins of cypress, lead,
and oak.
The late pontiff’s requiem mass was presided over by
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the college of cardinals, joined by
patriarchs, archbishops, bishops, and priests from around the world.
Following his burial, the church will commence a nine-day
mourning period, after which the college of cardinals will elect a new pope.
US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Keir
Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelensky, and Prince William were among the dignitaries present at the funeral.
On Friday, President Bola Tinubu sent a delegation led by
Senate President Godswill Akpabio, alongside Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu, minister
of state for foreign affairs; Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji, president of the Catholic
Bishops Conference of Nigeria, to pay tribute to the late Pope.
Other delegates include Matthew Kukah, archbishop of the
Sokoto diocese, and Ignatius Ayua Kaigama, archbishop of the Abuja diocese.
They will formally deliver a letter to the acting head of
the Vatican conveying Tinubu’s condolences.
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